Photographer in Colorado

At this time of the year, birds are in the middle of their spring migration. Once again, we can see the bird species that we missed since last year! Last week, we visited Chatfield State Park, where we had heard that the warbler’s were back in the park. I have wanted to capture an image of a Yellow Warbler since I first encountered the species last year. So last Sunday, I paid a visit to Chatfield hoping to find one.

I found several Yellow Warblers working through the Willow bushes along the path. Little birds are always difficult to capture; they are always moving and their size limits how close one can approach before they take flight. I managed to capture this male warbler; the males have very distinct red stripes on their breasts.

The male warblers spent much of the time calling out to find mates. Once one becomes use to hearing their call, it soon became easier to find other warblers.

I was standing a few feet away from the bank of the South Platte River when photographing the yellow warbler above. After a few minutes, a Great Blue Heron flew in and landed at the river bank. How could I miss this opportunity!

The heron started walking through the river, along a small dammed collection of branches. Maybe a beaver was busy damming the river at this point? Anyway, the heron paused periodically to feed on bugs and small critters in the water.

While the heron was working through the river, the yellow warbler continued calling out. Also, a Cordilleran Flycatcher was also working this location. Periodically, they suddenly take flight to capture a bug, and returning to their perch.

While the warbler and flycatcher were busy, the Great Blue Heron continued working through the river. More opportunities to see what would happen. And a choice of three birds to investigate. The Heron looked across towards me, so I managed to capture a full-face portrait. It is amazing to see that herons’ eyes are angled down so they can get a good view of their prey in the water.

It was soon time to return home. On the way to the parking lot, I noticed an Ibis had landed in the river.

The ibis was working through the low water feeding on bugs and critters in the mud along the river banks.

I heard that several White-Faced Ibises had been sighted at Chatfield last week. So I was lucky to see one and capture an image of one.

A woodblock printing process is used for printing images. For steamroller printing, the block maybe 6ft by 3ft in size. Plywood or MDF is used as the block. After the artist has carved the block, ink is applied to the block with a brayer or roller. For this event, a team of assistants performed the inking process.

Here are images of some of the prints that were made at the event.

Print number 2…

Print number 3…

Finally, a print with a landscape.

This was a fun event at MO’Print 2026. The next event is scheduled to take place in 2028.

While at the Steamroller Printing event, I recorded the sequence of events to print an image. This is a woodblock process. Inking of the block was done under a tent canopy to keep falling leaves, twigs, blossoms, etc. away from the blocks. Here we see the artist (on the left) with an assistant lifting the inked block.

This is block is laid into a jig (or template) that will keep the block from moving when under pressure.

This particular block was printed onto pink fabric, instead of paper. Several assistants are stretching and taping the fabric to the jig.

The next step is to lay two blankets over the jig. The blankets serve to provide even distribution of pressure to all parts of the block when printing.

There is a shallow ramp that leads up to the jig. The ‘roller driver must approach and climb the ramp very slowly to make sure that the jig does not move as weight is applied to the entire assembly.

Here we see the ‘roller driver watching and aligning the steamroller to ensure that it mounts the assembly.

The ‘roller is kept aligned with the jig to ensure even pressure is applied to transfer the ink from the block to the fabric.

Finally the ‘roller reaches the end of the print path and rolls off the jig.

The blankets are now removed from the fabric.

Finally the printed fabric is pulled carefully off the block. Here we see the artist and assistant holding up the finished print.

A woodblock print, like the one illustrated here, uses a relief printing process.

Yesterday, I attended the Steamroller Printing event that takes place on one of the final days of MO’Print 2026 (Month Of Print, 2026). This is the first time that I had seen “steamroller” printing. The Month Of Print is held every two years, between February and April. Printing took place on the parking lot of the Rocky Mountain College of Art And Design (RMCAD). I arrived at this event, just as the steamroller had completed pressing a print.

Here are some images as the print is being pulled from the block.

Pulling…

Pulling…

Prints are made using the same method as for woodblock (or linocut) printing.

One of the first birds that we encountered in the Wildlife Refuge, was this Mountain Bluebird, at one of the parking lots. While watching this bird, it kept looking up into the sky. Perhaps there was a raptor in the vicinity. We did see a few Red-Tailed Hawks later on.

The Bluebird turned to face in my direction, also looking up in the sky.

There are several hundred Canada Geese at the refuge. I managed to capture a single goose in flight soon after we arrived at the refuge.

Soon after this, a pair of geese flew past. I liked the expression on this pair that I managed to capture as they were cackling in flight. Their broken reflections in the water also helped improve this image.

We spent some time at Home Lake, on the edge of the town. This lake hosted a few hundred ducks, but they were too far away. However, I was intrigued by the flocks of Canada Geese that flew in occasionally. In the following image, the three geese are coming in for a water landing, with landing gear deployed. This was one of my favorite images, especially since the birds are reflected in the water.

While entering the refuge, we noticed a pair of doves in the vicinity of the entrance. I managed to find these Eurasian Collared Doves, and made an image of one of the doves.

We spotted a handful of Snow Geese among the flock of Canada Geese while they were feeding. During one of the mass flight lift-offs, several Snow Geese took flight. Here is a small group of these birds.

On the last morning, we made a final stop at the Wildlife Refuge before making the return trip home. It appeared that some of the Sandhill Cranes were having an altercation.

Perhaps, all that “dancing” that was observed in not just courting! That concludes images from this year’s spring visit to Monte Vista.

Continuing with our visit to the National Wildlife Refuge. One behavior that is often seen with Sandhill Cranes is a “dance”. This appears to be a courting behavior where the cranes often jump into the air with wings spread. Here are three images from a sequence between some of the cranes.

While this dance is taking place, several cranes standing nearby, often calling out.

Here is another crane image.

While we we watching the cranes at one location during the afternoon, most of the cranes in the feeding area suddenly took flight. The air was filled by several hundreds of cranes. Maybe something must have spooked the cranes to trigger their response?

This happened two or three times during the afternoon. In a day prior to our visit, a wolf was observed in the Refuge. Perhaps one was observed when we were there? We could not find a wolf or even a coyote after the birds had flown.

Soon after arriving at Monte Vista, we headed out to the National Wildlife Refuge. During the late afternoon, Sandhill Cranes try to organize themselves by finding a roost for the night. I made the image below as a group of cranes flew past. I like the combination of the stack of cranes on the diagonal.

During the next day, we spent a few hours in the morning and afternoon, to spend some time in the wildlife refuge. In the image below, a pair of Sandhill Cranes were arriving at the feeding ground. It is always difficult to capture decent images of cranes in flight, especially where there are hundreds of cranes in the area. Fortunately, this pair found an area that was relatively clear.

In the following image, another pair of Sandhill Cranes flew in, with “landing gear down”, to the feeding ground.

I like the following clean image of a Sandhill Crane coming to land.

Here is another image as another single bird is about to touch down.

I am always fascinated with the images that I capture Sandhill Cranes coming in for a touch down. As the crane alights with wings wide open, the air flow disrupts the tips of the feathers along the wings. The wings look like an “untidy mess” as the feathers lift up, as can be seen in the following image.

That completes a selection of some flight images.