Sunday bird blogging

I think that must be a dragonfly that this blackbird at Lily Lake is showing off so proudly (picture is unfortunately not as sharp as it could be.)

She was strutting back and forth, clearly very pleased with herself, but paused so I could offer my admiration and capture this permanent record of her hunting prowess.

Practical architecture

This is the bread and butter of Denver area buildings -- small, square, a little squat. Completely practical, and yet lovely in their own understated way -- yes, those are the windows in the reflections from last weekend.

(Sorry, I was sleepy last night and posted the wrong picture originally, in case you're wondering where the parking lot went.)

Denver architecture

Apart from some interesting ultramodern structures, like the art museum and the nearby library, and the typical glass boxes in the business district, there's a lot of red in Denver architecture. The building on the left is a former school, now being turned into apartments; on the right is Salvation Army headquarters.

Denver Art Museum

Saturday reflections

Rows of cowboy hats in a store window at the 16th Street Mall in downtown Denver.

Civic Center Park

This is adjacent to the State Capitol in downtown Denver.

As you can see, the skyline in the business district is not very inspiring; the glass towers are as generic as they come. More interesting is the view through the columns on the right: the skewed angles of the Denver Art Museum, which if not completely original was at least something fun and different.

Mostly what I remember is what a slog it was walking across that huge concrete plaza on a hot, hot day. Once I'd taken the pictures, I headed for the trees.

Urban poetry

I have nothing against cows, but I don't think of them as art, especially when Mama Cow is the size of a Manhattan apartment. Obviously they feel differently in Denver.

I have a raging sinus infection that presented as a toothache so bad I went to the dentist. Advil keeps the pain at a low throb, but I'm giving fair warning to anyone who approaches me today -- think very carefully about how stupid your question or request is before you ask it.

Because I might have a cow. And it would be a big one.

Astronomy Tuesday

This image reminds me of the Eye of Sauron in the Lord of the Rings movies. On the other hand, it also looks a lot like a flower. I think I prefer the flower -- let's go with that, shall we?

The Ring Nebula, M57, is about 2000 light years away. The image is a composite of deep exposures from three different large telescopes, which is why there's so much beautiful detail.

Image Credit: Hubble, Large Binocular Telescope, Subaru Telescope; Composition and Copyright: Robert Gendler

Denver in (mostly) black and white

And welcome to the working week.

I'll post more of the art and architecture in Denver this week; in the meantime, here are some random shots I just liked in black and white.

Sunday bird blogging

It was early in the morning in Riverfront Park in Denver, and I heard birds rustling in the bushes so I wandered around trying to get a look at them, and then this guy flew out and paused to say hello.

And it was just a robin, of course. I'd been hoping for something a bit more unusual, but in birding, as in life, you get what you get.

Bonus reflections

Another, closeup view of the reflected windows.

Saturday reflections

These charming windows in downtown Denver created equally charming reflections.