Vulture hit by wind turbine blade survived!!

This just came from American Bird Conservancy today:
>>American Bird Conservancy wrote:
"This posting has generated a lot of interest so I spent a few hours researching the incident. I was able to contact the wildlife rescue center in Greece that received the bird. It suffered a broken wing and was immobilized for several weeks. It has been in rehab for over one year -- it still can't fully extend its damaged wing. It is now in a large aviary. It MAY regain full use of its wing in 1-2 years."

This refers to the video posted below that shows this vulture being hit by the blade and falling to the ground. I am amazed that it only broke it's wing but am delighted that it not only survived but that there is a possibility it might fly again. HURRAY!!

Snow Goose and Golden Eagles

After the Red-tailed Hawk fight I found this immature Snow Goose (in Basic I plumage) with a small flock of Canada Geese at Holcim Wetlands in Fremont County. White geese are quite uncommon here. I also saw 3 Golden Eagles earlier this afternoon--a juvenile soaring then a pair of adults flying circling together (possibly courtship behavior). Very nice afternoon birding. SeEtta

Red-tailed Hawks fight over female

This afternoon I watched a pair of hawks engaged in some aerial courtship displays--first flying near each other at low elevation, then soaring in circles together at high elevation then a series of dives then ascents (like a roller coaster). They landed in a nearby tree as did a third Red-tailed Hawk so I drove closer as I didn't think this threesome would work.

Right after I took the top pic the hawk on the top of the tree in that pic flew down and attacked the hawk just visible on the far bottom right which is shown in the second pic.

The hawks moved away from the tree and continued their combat in the air as shown in the third pic. This ended quickly and the apparent victor flew off with the female. SeEtta

Curve-billed Thrasher acting unusually

I was happy to find this Curve-billed Thrasher on my friend's property east of Canon City. It was near the location that a pair had nested 2 years ago. Since my friend had tore out the very large cholla where the nests (they successfully renested that same year in a nearby cholla) had been located I had not seen any Curve-billed Thrashers in this area until today.

However the bird kept closing it's eyelid and it's nictitating membrane. The bottom pic shows the eyelid half closed. There were times that it had it's eyelid totally closed which is not very adaptive with me standing not far away and especially in the daytime (the nictitating membrane would not have been unusual). SeEtta

Rocky Mtn Bighorn Sheep in Bighorn Sheep Canyon up the road a piece

These are a few of a herd of 8+ Rocky Mtn bighorn sheep I spotted grazing not far off of H50 in Bighorn Sheep Canyon which begins about 11 miles east of my town, Canon City, CO. Note the gorgeous native blue grama grass that surrounds the ewe in the top pic--this location is BLM lands and our public lands can protect our native ecosystems as has been done in this location.

Bighorn sheep spend most of the year in separated herds composed either of mature rams or maternal herds composed mostly of females but including lambs and young rams like the one in bottom pic. I took these pics from my car so I wouldn't disturb these bighorns and this pays off with better photos. Since I was able to stabilize my camera on the window the photos can be even further enlarged than the cropping I did so double click on each one for really close-up views (the teeth on the ewe in the top pic even show a little when pic is further enlarged. SeEtta

One more Williamson's Sapsucker

Double-click on this and the other sapsucker pics I posted today for super close-up views.

This is another female Williamson's Sapsucker that I refound. This close up came out very nicely. Be aware that my digital camera and lens set-up provides the equivalent of about 900 mm in telephoto view--that's about 18X's the normal view. I took the photo from my car and left quickly without flushing the bird though it did stop feeding for about a minute when it heard my camera sounds. SeEtta

Wintering sapsuckers in Canon City area: Williamson's Sapsuckers

Today I found both a male and a female Williamson's Sapsucker in the town of Florence as well as 4 female and 2 male Williamson's Sapsuckers in Canon City including this female.

I was surprised just how different these three pics of the same sapsucker look--I took all within one minute but the sun really made a difference in the lighting.

In the bottom pic it appears, when the pic is super enlarged, that there is a small bubble at the end of the bird's bill--or maybe it's just a drop of sap?? SeEtta

Sapsuckers still wintering in Canon City are: focus on Red-naped

After being careful in looking for those sapsuckers that are overwintering so as not to interfere with feeding or flush them (using valuable energy to escape) after the extremely harsh weather recently, I was less reticent to do a more complete survey as part of the Great Backyard Bird Count, since the weather has been much warmer for over a week (sap appears to be flowing again and not frozen).
I refound this male Red-naped Sapsucker as well as the male that has been in Florence. The top pic gives a good view of how the red feathers on the throat of Red-naped Sapsuckers invade the black feathers that form an incomplete frame around the throat that distinguishes this species from Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers. SeEtta

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Cool 'moonwalking' Club-winged Manakin video

This is a PBS video.

Chihuahuan vs Common Ravens: photo comparison

Since we have been discussing how to differentiate Chihuahuan from Common Ravens on Cobirds (colorado birding listserve), I thought this was an opportune time to upload the two pics of Chihuahuan Ravens (below) I took on 12-19-2010 in Texas I hadn't got up here.

Both sets of pics show very nicely the long and thick nasal bristles on the stout bill of Chihuahuans (more than 2/3 rd's of the bill) versus the long bill (with minimal nasal bristles) found on Commons. It may be useful to enlarge the pics of the Chihuahuan Ravens by double clicking on each one (won't work with Common Raven pics due to technical issues). SeEtta

Vulture hit by wind turbine blade video--long clip

WARNING--THIS IS REALLY GRAPHIC. This is an extended version of the one I posted below. It is quite long as it follows the vulture as circles the wind turbines for awhile including several apparent close calls before getting too close to one and getting hit. The date on this is 2009 and location is Crete. It also has some rather distracting music and ads at the bottom. The worst is the extended video of the bird flopping around and trying unsuccessfully to fly plus close-ups of the injured bird. At the end it says that some paragliding pilots go to rescue the bird which they do successfully. This video was posted on American Bird Conservancy Facebook page so I emailed them asking if they found out if the bird survived. They did respond but said they didn't have any information on what happened with the vulture after what is shown in this video. As I noted in earlier post, this is illustrative of the need for proper siting of wind farms. I support RESPONSIBLE renewable energy which includes proper siting, environmental studies before and ongoing for monitoring and use of newer wind turbines. SeEtta

Vulture hit by wind turbine blade video

This is very sad as you watch a vulture in Crete circle a wind turbine too close and get hit by the blade. This is the less graphic video clip but it does show the vulture being hit, falling to the ground and flopping around briefly. Note the extended video says vulture accident not fatal accident but I could not find clarification. I am posting a longer version that is much more graphic as it shows the bird on the ground trying to fly and just breaks my heart (it brings me to tears just describing it, it is not for the very tender hearted). The longer clip shows the bird being rescued but there is no information on whether it survived. This brief clip is not easy to take either but illustrates the problem with improperly sited wind farms and the need for RESPONSIBLE renewable energy development. SeEtta

Bluebirds sipping snowmelt in the cemetery

These were a few of a small flock of Western Bluebirds drinking yesterday from melted snow in tire tracks in Lakeside Cemetery here in Canon City. SeEtta

Some tasty morsel found by Brown Creeper

The top pic shows a Brown Creeper with some food it found in the crevices of the bark of the tree on which it was foraging. When I enlarge the pic the food item appears to have tiny legs-maybe a small spider??

The bottom pic shows the cinnamon wash found on the rear scapulars and on the distal part of the otherwise white underparts visible below the wings. SeEtta

Foraging together, a pair of Brown Creepers

I first heard Brown Creeper high-pitched calls then found two Brown Creepers following each other from tree to tree as they worked their way up, probing for insects and larvae.

It is noted in Birds of North America online that "pair formation takes place by Feb or early Mar, probably before territory establishment" for this species. SeEtta

The smallest falcon: American Kestral

I think most of us enjoy seeing these colorful female American Kestrals, the smallest member of the falcon family. This little lady was hunting in a field in my town of Canon City,CO when I took these pics today.

I think this species has such a sweet looking face that conceals the reality that are hunters of live food. Their prey includs warm blooded critters such as backyard birds (which can be upsetting to those who feed the birds they take), but it also includes mice (which many of us applaud).

Many who display the photos they have taken of birds include only those with clear head shots and rarely show back views or views of the underparts. Since in the real world we often see birds from behind or underneath I think it is important to post pics showing what that looks like. SeEtta

Family oriented geese: Greater White-fronted

Though I had found a flock of 14 Greater White-fronted Geese on Dec 11 2010 I did not refind them after my trip to Texas until yesterday, and then only 6 of them. I called them family oriented geese as Cornell Lab on their All About Birds website states, "White-front family bonds can last longer than in most geese, and some young stay with their parents through the next breeding season. Parent and sibling associations may continue throughout their lives." SeEtta

Eastern vs Western Bluebirds

The Eastern Bluebirds in the post below were feeding in a mixed bluebird flock with Western Bluebirds, the species that is fairly common in fields around Canon City, CO.

The lighting was not as good with these pics so I have edited them to correct for dark photos. As seen, both Eastern and Western Bluebirds are eating juniper berries. SeEtta

Brilliantly blue bluebirds

These pics are of a male Eastern Bluebird I photographed in Canon City a few days ago. And the only thing I did to the photos was to crop them, no other editing as these came out so bright and so colorful because the light was good. Eastern Bluebirds are fairly rare here as their normal range barely comes over the far eastern border of Colorado. SeEtta

Second sapsucker working at base of tree--where it would be least frozen

I found this male Williamson's Sapsucker at Centennial Park today and like the other sapsucker it was working near the base of the tree--the place on a pine tree where the sun shines the most and where the tree is least frozen. Also they both worked on the south exposures of the trees, again very adaptive. The sap holes visible on this tree are those this bird likely drilled today, one even shows the glint of sap albeit likely quite frozen.

The fact that there have been 4 different sapsuckers trying to feed on bark, wood and sap that clearly is frozen in this harsh weather may indicate some level of desperation for food since leaving wherever it is that they are finding shelter would expend energy that badly need in these conditions, and especially all the flying/moving about I observed by the birds today would seem to use a lot of energy. The fact that the two males today moved around and between trees would seem to point out the difficulty of finding food. Their feeding on the lower trunks of trees and especially near the base would seem adaptive as this is where the trees would get the most solar exposure that might help thaw them out. Each location where I saw them drilling/chiseling was on the southern exposure, again where the most sun would warm the trees. I suspect that these sapsuckers have experience with freezing temperatures and trees during the breeding season as they would be at higher elevation both early and late in that season when temperatures fall quite low at the elevations where they are usually found; however, they would not likely have to deal with such very low and sustained low temperatures, which makes feeding difficult and would logically be the reason they are known to migrate further south in winter. SeEtta

Sapsuckers chiseling frozen trees

Today I went out in late morning to see if any of the wintering sapsuckers would be out after we hit -19 degrees F last night. The temp was up to around 7 degrees F when I located this male Williamson's Sapsucker drilling repeatedly at the lower part of the trunk including the base of a large ponderosa pine in which I have previously seen a male Williamson's feeding this season. It is very unusual to see a sapsucker working at the base or lower part of trunk as they tend to feed above 4 feet or so in my experience (and as documented by the location of thousands of sap wells in Canon City trees).

I watched from across the street to avoid disturbing him and observed him moving around the tree a lot more than I usually observe as though having difficulty finding food. After a few minutes he flew to another pine not far away but stayed only a few minutes before flying high off into the distance. After he left I went up to the tree where he had been chiseling and took photos of the holes (see middle pic for the holes that look reddish) he had made and all the bark and wood chips that had fallen on the snow as shown in the bottom pic.

I also found a second male Williamson's Sapsucker at Centennial Park and he behaved similarly to this one. SeEtta

High of 5 degrees-cold Red-naped Sapsucker

Yesterday was nice compared to today. After a low of minus 3 degrees in Canon City (worse in other front range cities), the high only rose to plus 5 degrees at midday. I went out to check on the wintering sapsuckers to see if they would be trying to drill holes in frozen trees and lap up sap that must be thick from well below freezing temps.

I took care to stay far enough back from trees where I have found them so I wouldn't flush them--they need increased food intake in cold weather so I wouldn't want to disturb any feeding they are able to do in this bitter cold. I was surprised to find this male Red-naped and 2 female Williamson's Sapsuckers, including one I missed on yesterday, at least attempting to feed. When I saw this Red-naped, he was just perched as shown with feathers fluffed--it didn't make any attempts to drill or feed during the short time I was there but as shown in this pic there are a number of sap wells circling around this long-leafed pine tree. SeEtta

Wintering sapsuckers: many still in Canon City

Since I have been home I have refound just over half of the Williamson's Sapsuckers, one female Yellow-bellied and the one male Red-naped, that have been wintering in the Canon City area this year.

Yesterday, with light snow and temps in mid-twenties (good sapsucker birding weather, really), I refound 12 Williamson's, a female Yellow-bellied and the male Red-naped. Surprisingly I refound 3 more male Williamson's , but missed 2 females that I had in the 2 weeks I have been back. Above is one of the male Williamson's that has been seen regularly on private property. SeEtta

Sangre de Christo Mountains in Colorado

I had to take a break from posting for a bit after the intensive almost daily posting I did for a month. Now I'm getting back in the proverbial saddle.

I took these pics a week ago when I drove up the Bighorn Sheep Canyon that runs west of Canon City. The Sangre de Christo Mountain Range begins just south of Salida and extend south/southeast through Colorado into New Mexico.

These pics were taken in Coaldale, CO, which is about 30 miles west of Canon City or from Hayden Creek Road just south of Coaldale. SeEtta