Nestling Swainson Hawks

I found this pair of Swainson Hawk nestlings north of Adobe Creek Res in Kiowa Co. Two adult Swainson Hawks, apparently the parent birds, circled above. SeEtta

Also a Western Snowy Plover

As I noted in my post about the Least Terns, I found a Snowy Plover at Adobe Creek Res. Snowy Plovers are a Species of Concern in Colorado. SeEtta

Pugnacious nest defense by Least Terns

I drove down to Adobe Creek Res (aka Lue Lake) just north of Las Animas, CO two days ago to take advantage of the astoundingly mild temps to do some birding. Usually the temps on the Eastern Colo plains are around 100 degrees in late July, but they only rose to around 80 degrees in early afternoon then dropped to the low 70's as a series of thunderstorms moved through the area. Adobe Creek is one of currently only 2 locations in Colo where Least Terns as well as Piping Plovers nest. Federally listed as Endangered, the area around the locations where they choose to nest are cordoned off to make a nesting exclosure to protect them.
As I stood outside the nesting exclosure looking with my binoculars for nests, I heard then saw one then another Least Tern fly towards me (maybe 50 feet above). When I didn't move away immediately, the apparent tern parent's flew closer to me (maybe 20 feet above me)as they called excitedly. I saw a total of 4 adult Least Terns so there should be at least 2 and possibly up to 4 active nests (though I couldn't see any through my binoculars) Birds of North America online states, "This dainty tern is pugnacious when defending nest and young. Its well-known zwreep call of alarm identifies this tern long before it comes into view." Not wishing to upset them, I left the area and drove to a location on the shore further from the nest exlosure. There were a few shorebirds there including a Snowy Plover (will post those later). Though I was now several hundred yards from the nest exclosure, here came one of the Least Terns calling loudly and diving towards me again! Wow, these are very protective parents. So I had to leave this area.

Raccoon in a tree hollow

While checking for small owls I spotted this raccoon in a tree hollow. As it was still daylight, I interrupted it's nap. As cute as they appear, they are best in wild places like this as they can be very destructive around human habitation. I have an irresponsible neighbor who feeds raccoons and one of them ripped open my next door neighbor dog's shoulder. SeEtta

Black-throated Sparrows refound but not singing

This morning I looked and listened at the location I have seen the Black-throated Sparrows for an hour to no avail. As I started to leave, I spotted two sparrows several hundred yards further east and they were Black-throated Sparrows. I subsequently saw at least 5, of which two were adults and at least 2 were in juvenal plumage, and possibly 6 Black-throated Sparrows at this new location. I have updated the google map to show the new location (link in post below). The top pic is of an adult bird in flight showing it's brownish back and wings nicely.
The other two pics are of a bird in juvenal plumage (both of the bird) showing it's brownish back with coverts and tertials edged in buffy brownish as described in Sparrows of the United States and Canada by Beadle and Rising. SeEtta

Riverwalk chickadee

I did some brief birding on the Canon city Riverwalk this morning before I went looking for the Black-throated Sparrows south of town. I ran into this busy Black-capped Chickadee f2eeding in a small tree next to the trail. It was hard to stand still to take a few pics of the chickadee as the mosquitoes were swarming me, only slightly deterred by the Deet I had just applied to my skin. All the recent rains and hot temps have resulted in lots of mosquito hatches. SeEtta

Black-throated Sparrows-a few more pics

I couldn't help but to put up a few more pics I got today of the Black-throated Sparrows since they came out pretty darn good, especially as they are all hand-help pics with the birds more than 50 feet away (and sparrows are small objects at that distance). The top pic is an adult bird and this pic shows nicely the brownish back feathers over the grayish crown, ear coverts, sides and flanks. I'm not sure if this is the same adult as in the pic in the post below, or possibly the female. This bird was in a snag that the young bird in juvenal plumage in the bottom two pics flew into.
Both of these bottom pics are of the same bird in juvenal plumage, with it's white chin, streaked breast, white eye-crescent and white supercilium. A juvenile chased an adult bird several times, possibly trying to get fed? SeEtta

Link to map showing Black-throated Sparrow location

I can't figure out how to add a map here for the Black-throated Sparrows but here is a link to a google map I put together showing that location. I have marked with the blue line the area in the gulch where I saw the birds. SeEtta

Black-throated Sparrows again today & singing

This morning I went back to see if I could refind the Black-throated Sparrows I saw yesterday just south of Canon City,CO. It took less than 5 minutes and I heard one singing--a very tinkling but varied song. Birds of North America online states that females have never been observed singing so apparently this is a male. His very black throat stands out nicely in this frontal-view pic. Not a bad pic for hand-held with bird over 50 feet away. SeEtta

Black-throated Sparrows near Canon City,CO

As I drove down a gravel road a few miles south of Canon City this morning, I heard some chirping coming from a dry gulch near the road. I stopped and was delighted to see 4-5 Black-throated Sparrows in a small deciduous tree. At least one was an adult and several were in juvenal plumage with a streaky breast but with a bold white supercilium as shown by the two different birds in these pics (while pics not the best, they will enlarge to show very close-up views--just double-click on each pic).
Birds of North America online notes that Black-throated Sparrow adults " feed young for at least 2 wk after nest departure." So I think there is a very good possibility that this is a new Fremont County breeding location for this species. This is a very nice find as there have only been a few locations in southeast Colorado where this species has been documented breeding and most have been quite far south. I will try in the next day or so to refind them in hopes of obtaining more evidence that this is a family group that has bred nearby. SeEtta
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I'm all eyes (Burrowing Owl)

I saw this little owl earlier this week when I made a quick trip down to the Rocky Ford, CO area. Burrowing Owl's large eyes take up most of their face. Those sultry looking eyes are probably what makes them so appealing to us. SeEtta

Cool cat--bobcat that is-

Here are two more pics of that bobcat I saw in full daylight, a great way to get some good pics like these. The cat was about 70 feet away at this point and not seeming to hurry. It ran out across the road just after a SUV passed (they stopped also and kept saying "its a bobcat, but that didn't seem to bother it). It then went under the barbed wire fence, then stopped to turn as shown in the top pic to look back at us (I think mostly at the lady yelling "it's a bobcat"). SeEtta

Unusual daytime bobcat

The previous bobcats I have seen were at dusk so I was surprised to spot this bobcat crossing a gravel road just south of Canon City at 6 pm in full daylight. However a little research shows I shouldn't be surprised: "Highly mobile, the typical bobcat, according to Mallow, ranges widely in late afternoon and early evening, during the midnight hours, and through the early morning hours. In between the times of its longer distance movements, it forages and rests" (from /DesertUSA, a good website with reliable info).
Note the bold bands on the back of it's tufted ears, which are a some identifying field marks. More field marks are the the bobbed tail and the bold bands on top of the tail.
In the bottom pic the bobcat is taking a break in the shade, just over 125 feet away, just before it saunters off towards a canyon. SeEtta

Rock Wrens-up close and personal

I had to post these close-up's of the Rock Wrens I photographed near Canon City. Though I was hand-holding my camera, I got good enough pics to crop them for big enlargement. And they are good enough to enlarge more by double-clicking on them. SeEtta

Rockin Rock Wrens

I ran across a family of Rock Wrens in a canyon only a few miles from Canon City,CO. They appeared as interested in me as I was in them. They kept flying back near to me giving me a chance for these pics. Though one of them was in juvenal plumage, I was unable to get a good pic of that bird so all these pics are of adults. One of the adults was carrying food to feed a young bird so apparently there was at least one fledgling. I included the bottom, which isn't good quality, because it gives an interesting view of the underside of the bird's wings. It is interesting that this bird, which was just taking off, had it's eye's closed?? SeEtta

Handsome pronghorn

The handsome young buck pronghorn (no, they are not antelopes, they are pronghorn) was with a herd composed mostly of young males (that seems unusual?). I think they are such beautiful animals I had to enlarge his photo. I think the photos are enhanced by the warm glow of waining daylight just before sunset.
The bottom pic show a view of the Sangre de Chriso Mountains taken from the Wet Mountain Valley below. SeEtta

Choir singings--Vesper Sparrows

Yesterday I drove up to Lake DeWeese to "chase" a very rare bird for Colorado, a Reddish Egret. Though it failed to show-up, I had a very pleasant day. Lake DeWeese is located in the Wet Mountain Valley, a high park that lies at almost 8,000 feet between the very scenic Sangre de Christo Mountains and the Wet Mountains. So the temps were in the low 80's in the afternoon while back in the Canon City area they were in the low 90's.
There were good numbers of shorebirds in the mudflats of Lake DeWeese including Least, Spotted, Semipalmated, Baird's and 2 Stilt Sandpipers. There were also Greater Yellowlegs, an Eared Grebe in brilliant Alternate (breeding) Plumage, Western Grebes (as well as Mallards and Canada Geese) with young swimming close behind plus about 2 dozen American White Pelicans. In the grassy fields were Horned Larks, Brewers, Savanannah and Vesper Sparrows including the one in these pics. In the early evening the Vesper Sparrows were living up to the definition of vesper--"a religious service in the late afternoon or the evening." Their beautiful singing was like listening to a choir. One of the pics I took caught this Vesper Sparrow just as it was about to lift off giving an interesting view of it's wings and lower back not usually visible. If you look close (it helps to enlarge the pic by double-clicking on it) there are reddish lines close to the bottom of the wings that I think may be a bone showing through the skin and feathers. And do double-click on the top pic as it enlarges nicely for a great close-up view. SeEtta

Easten Phoebe bonanza

After finding the Eastern Phoebe at Pathfinder Park this morning, I thought it might have been one of the two Eastern Phoebes I had seen last evening at my friend's property which is in the area. Whether it was or not, I was surprised to find a total of 3 Eastern Phoebes along with the juvenile Black Phoebe that has been staying by their pond for several weeks. The lighting wasn't good as it was late in the day and cloudy so I didn't see any yellow wash on their underparts, but I suspect 1-2 of these are juveniles. The bird in the top pic shows juvenile characteristics in the cinnamon buff edging shown on coverts.
I don't think these were born on my friend's property but are moving through as they engage in post-breeding dispersal. They could even be from the first brood of Eastern Phoebes born at the old sewer tanks on the western part of the Canon City Riverwalk, about 4-5 miles west of this location. SeEtta

Eastern & Black Phoebes share wetland

I birded Pathfinder Park near Florence,CO this morning to see if the juvenile Black Phoebes were still there. I only found one of the two juvenile Black Phoebes and it was calling frequently as it fed in the wetland area. Then a second phoebe flew into sight. I thought this was the second Black Phoebe, but no--it was a juvenile Eastern Phoebe. I got the top pic of the two as they perched quite near each other. They were about 75 feet away and I took the pic handheld so it is not great but shows how much more brown the Eastern Phoebe is, though the cinnamon edges to the juvenile Black Phoebe's plumage clearly stands out.
The two phoebes foraged near each other, seemingly without problem. However, they did have a fussy interaction at one point but then returned to sharing this small wetland. As I turned to leave the Eastern Phoebe flew out of the wetland and landed about 25 feet from me. It proceeded to forage out in the open and I was able to get the bottom two pics of it that show off it's plumage fairly well. The yellowish gape and bill flanges, found on young birds, is visible in bottom pic. However, the classic yellowish wash on the underparts on not visible in these pics and frankly not visible in the field--possibly a function of the light conditions.
Birds of North America online well describes the other juvenile plumage characteristics: "Wing coverts tend to have cinnamon-buff edgings, along with feathers of the lower back, rump and the upper tail coverts. This edging of the greater and median upper (primary and) secondary coverts gives birds in Juvenal plumage faint wing bars." The bottom two pics are of very good quality so can be enlarged by double-clicking on each of them for great close-ups. SeEtta

Black Phoebe with odd crown

This is the Black Phoebe in the post below but 8 days earlier (photographed within 50 feet of subsequent pics). It has a odd crown plumage but the remainder of it's plumage isn't as rugged (except the rump area) though it has clearly begun to molt. Definitely it's median and greater coverts are still intact but clearly not so in the pics in the post below.
In the middle pic the bird is engaged in 'sunning' behavior, one of things that birds do to get rid of parasites. It is also a great way to see more of a bird's feathers than usually seen as they spread them out for maximum sun-work. With it's beak wide open (likely for the air conditioning effect), it looks like it is exclaiming a very contented "aahhhh." SeEtta

Black Phoebe with very unusual plumage

Yesterday I saw this very unusual looking Black Phoebe at my friends place just east of Canon City,CO. I was fairly stunned by the odd plumage on this bird. In the past 15+ years I have seen several hundred Black Phoebes, many of which I have followed for hundreds of hours but I have never seen one that looked like this. That said, I think I understand why it appears to have a 'mohawk' cut on it's crown--I think it has lost several feathers between the smooth feathers just back from it's beak and the very rugged looking raised crest--this gap in feathering accentuates the difference between the forward and rear crown feathers, giving the bird the appearance of having a 'mohawk'.
I expect that the remainder of the ruffled and rugged look are due to the bird being in a molt though I must add again that I have never seen a Black Phoebe molting so severely. Possibly due to missing feathers due to molt, it's primaries appear unusually long. I believe it is undergoing a Definitive Basic molt which is a complete molt according to Birds of North America online. Not only would this not be a PreBasic molt because that molt is incomplete but I saw this bird 8 days ago when it was apparently in earlier stages of molt and it was clearly already in Definitive Basic plumage.
You can enlarge these pics to see this rare hair-do better by double-clicking on the pic. I took some pics then and will add them in the next post for comparison purposes. SeEtta

Sad ending for W Kingbird nestling

My friend said he checked the jury-rigged nest for the Western Kingbird nestling first thing this morning but it wasn't in there and he didn't see it in the area around the nest. This afternoon I found the poor little thing directly across the dirt road from where we had hung the jury-rigged nest--it appeared it had been run over. Apparently it managed to get out of that wire basket nest then walked/flew about 12 feet across the road to the edge. Unfortunately there are several different people who drive up and down this road every day. And this little bird was difficult to see from inside a vehicle--I drove past it several times myself today and didn't find it until I was on my evening walk with my dogs. Darn it. SeEtta

Jury-rigging a new nest for the W Kingbird nestling

After I moved the young nestling out of immediate harms way in the road, it occurred to me that this little bird would not survive the night on the ground in this area which is a rural area and adjacent to the Arkansas River. Besides farm cats in the area there are racoons, coyotes and other wildlife that were likely to find this quite helpless bird that could barely ambulate and was nowhere near ready to fly (if the mother laid the egg that became this nestling on the date I saw her on the nest, this bird could be as young as 6 days old, though I suspect from it's plumage it is more likely between 8-10 days old; but these birds don't leave the nest until 13-19 days of age)So I jury-rigged a replacement 'nest' to hopefully hold this little bird for a few days until hopefully it is able to fly to a branch where it has some safety. I found an old 3 tier wire hanging basket that my friend was willing to donate to the cause. Though it displayed an open beak as menacingly as a fluffy little thing could. However, it was too young to even try to bite me, it just held it's beak open. It did, though, cling with it's tiny claws to a piece of wood it was on and I had to very gently pry it off. I placed it in one of the wire baskets (pictured here) in which I had placed some dry grass and my friend hung it from a branch as close as he could get to the nest of origin (about 15 feet). It was getting dark so I left with my fingers-crossed that it doesn't jump out.

Update on W Kingbirds that nested in oriole nest

On June 27th I posted about a pair of Western Kingbirds that had it's first nest blown off it's moorings on a utility pole build another nest on the top of an old oriole nest. This unusual nest was directly above the entry road at my friend's and where I walk almost every evening with my dogs so I got to watch them frequently. The longer the female brooded on this oddly shaped nest, the more she pushed the nest materials into a kind of elongated shallow trench that was deeper at one end. This causes the nest to point slightly downhill on the other end, a fact that likely relates to what comes next.
When I walked this evening I saw the tail of only one of the three nestlings sticking over the edge of the nest. As I looked for signs of the other nestlings I heard my younger dog, Chase, investigating something several feet away--it was a nestling! I yelled at my dog to 'leave' and it did (probably because it recently got into a lot of trouble for not going after a Robin nestling). These pics are of that very young nestling that clearly left the nest prematurely, quite possibly due in part to the nest that leans downward at one end and that is really too narrow for 3 nestlings. Double-click on these pics for killer close-ups. Continued in the next post. SeEtta