What's Still Here in September?

I'm a bit behind posting photos due to the short trip to Denver...besides the golden eagle sighted on the 10th, I saw several other, more usual birds in the farm/ranch community E of the Hills that day...

Heading towards the pond on Elk Creek Rd., I found this...red-tailed hawk? on a tall, distant power post...

Another visit to "the pond" where the adult eared grebes are a lot more lax...

Beings that the chicks (above and below) are a lot larger now and more independent...(I did see one feeding itself)...no more piggy back rides I'm sure...

The female ruddy ducks are still around...

The coot chicks are bigger too... (above and below) ...probably wondering why they never got piggybacks...

Heading back toward the hwy., I saw another hawk on a post...

Changing landscape...the grass is a lot less green now, phoey...

The meadowlarks are still post posing...above I think is a juvie...below could be too...

The Maximilian sunflowers are small and clustered and were seen in a few spots along the roadside.