Hiking at the Nature Center

We took a hike at the nature center last week and upon entering the park spied this hawk sitting on top of the tree. We didn't want to scare it off before getting close enough to snap a picture. Right when I was focusing...he took off...I clicked...and this is what I got. We did not see it again the rest of the afternoon. We're having trouble identifying it. At first, we assumed it was a Red-tailed because they're plentiful around this part of Kansas. Upon closer study, the underpart of the wing made me change my mind. We are thinking Red-shouldered??? Please leave comments if you have a different idea.

Beautiful Fall leaves at the Nature Center.

Nuts and berrys for all the little forest creatures.

American Goldfinches eating thistle seeds. We watched about half a dozen chowing down. Now we know where our Goldfinches went.

A serene little glen that we like to visit.

Not snow but sand...we were right near the river.

It was windy and cool. We saw some sort of shorebirds flying high and fast and a pair of ducks. The shorebirds were white with black wing tips. We looked up and down the river for a few minutes, then our fingers began getting cold. We went back to the shelter of the trees and trail. We started back to our base. It wasn't long before we heard two Great-horned Owls calling back and forth. We crept along as quietly as we could. I was determined to get a shot of this one. There are a lot of mature Cottonwood trees...he took off right above us. He saw us first, but we didn't see him until he launched and flew off... (next time) huge wingspan on those things Lastly, we saw 3 White-tailed Deer...super cool to see as you are walking along.