After spending the majority of this weekend inside editing photos, I was happy today to have time with my Father and go photographing. We decided to visit the open space along Clear Creek in Wheat Ridge, CO and arrived just before the sunrise. There are a few ponds/lakes along the creek and at West Lake we spotted two Beavers cruising the placid waters. With the sun rising at our backs we walked upstream to a favorite location of ours. In the Spring and Summer, the area with the crudely made structure is usually inundated with high waters. But this late in the season the waters of Clear Creek have lowered enough to expose the complete structure as well as small waterfalls.

Finished with exploring the area we decided to head back downstream and catch the early morning light on the large groves of Cottonwoods along the path. In many ways the Cottonwoods are my favorite tree in Autumn because of their large canopy and often gnarled existence. One particular grouping of trees, just East of West Lake, have always captivated me and did so again this morning. While I was photographing the wonderful trees I noticed a Great Horned Owl perch on a high branch. I took a few photos before our presence alerted the bird and it took flight. The wingspan was just awesome to see up close and we felt lucky to have seen such a wonderful bird. On our way back to the parking area we spotted a Belted Kingfisher up in a tree and was fortunate to have captured him flying as he looked for fish. What a great morning!