THE DOWNY'S SANDHILL CRANES (ANTIGONE CANADENSIS) A female monarch butterfly sips

A female monarch butterfly sips nectar from the common milkweed flower while the morning sun illuminates the scene at Wildflower Park

I quickly panned a little to my left and quickly pressed the shutter release as the loon swam right in front of me before diving beneath the surface of Wildflower Lake

I wanted to have a shallow depth of field to have the flowers stand out but

A morning walk around the lake with views of an incredible sunrise

Many species of plants thrive throughout Wildflower Park including common milkweed

THE DOWNY'S SANDHILL CRANES (ANTIGONE CANADENSIS) A female monarch butterfly sipsAs I make my way through this corridor of the park, I had been photographing the red bellied woodpeckers for awhile when this pair of downy woodpeckers came into view. I decided to follow the smaller downey's for awhile. While watching this pair, they were usually quick and could be elusive so I had to be also with the camera. It was interesting following them as one would fly off to a tree and the other would be right behind as they listen and peck