Prairie canyons trip--ducks, frogs, warblers & heron!

Yes, indeed, there are duck,frogs,warblers and herons on the prairie. We saw several Yellow-rumped Warblers foraging in some junipers that had grown near some stock tanks (filled from water pumped from a well) on the prairie. It's a long way between riparian greenbelts on these prairies and these warblers were apparently finding some insects to nourish them before continuing their migration.

The water from the stock tank had overflowed and made a pond on which we saw a pair of Blue-winged Teal. And a Great Blue Heron flew off from a stock pond as we approached.


In the canyonland area just below the prairie, we hiked a short way to a spring-fed pond around which we saw more than 30 frogs as they jumped into the water or remained loafing on the cool mud. Those are the frogs in these pics (do double-click to enlarge them to see details) and they are Northern Leopard Frogs. They are a species of special concern in Colorado. Check out the bottom pic carefully--there are 3 frogs together there.

This trip was truly an adventure with some very interesting finds.
SeEtta