Pronghorn herd near Pueblo, CO

Boy, I've been distracted by a problem with not being able to access a number of pics I took in So Texas-now recovered I can get back to posting starting with these pronghorn then later I will post some of those So Texas pics. I spotted these beautiful pronghorn as the leaders began crossing a state highway in front of me. I pulled over immediately as there were no other vehicles around and I wanted the herd to quickly get across before vehicles that usually travel well over the 65 mph speed limit came and put them at risk. This strategy worked but I had not realized just how many pronghorn were in the herd--right around 30 animals, which is one of the largest herds I have seen in western Pueblo County in recent memory.

So it took them awhile to all, each following single file, to go under the fence on one side of the road then get across to the other side and safely get under the fence then into a field on the other side. And they did so safely though soon afterwards several vehicles flew through. I then slowly drove up nearer to them to get these photos before they wandered off.

As I edited these pics I realized that I can see the rib cages on several of the pronghorn. I don't recall having seen this on pronghorn before but I am not sufficiently experienced with this species to know for sure if this is a sign of underweight (ie, horses in good health can have their rib cages visible). However I would not be surprised if they were underweight since this and much of southern Colorado was in an 'exceptional' drought last growing season and native grasses suffered. SeEtta

A few more pics of rotor/wave clouds west of Canon City, CO

I took these photos with my new Canon 60d dslr camera, which allowed me to take them at 1/8000 of a second at F16, using my Canon 70-300mm lens. This provides better photos, I think, of these ephemeral cloud formations. I took the top photo less than 10 seconds after the photo that is in the previous post (in which I used my older Canon xti dslr camera with the same lens but at only 1/4000 of a second which the limit for this camera).

I took the top photo above of the same cloud formation but only about a minute earlier and from the same location at Brush Hollow Reservoir as the bottom photo, but used a 200mm setting for the top and 300mm for the bottom pics. Click on photos to enlarge for best views. SeEtta

More rotor/wave clouds due to continuing high winds in Colorado

Colorado continued to have high winds so as I drove around yesterday doing my birding I watched as rotor/wave clouds formed and dissipated. Though many formed into rotor/wave clouds, caused by Kelvin-Helmholz instability, they tended to be pretty wispy and dissipated quickly. This was about the best one, at least in coming out more definitively as a photo. I took this photo from Brush Hollow Reservoir near Penrose,CO looking west past Canon City. More to come from the day before. SeEtta

Long-tailed Duck pursued by coots and Redhead Ducks

I don't know what it was about this female Long-tailed Duck but first the American Coots chased her away then 2 Redhead Ducks did the same. After she swam close to the cliffs she tucked her head, closed here eyes and appeared to rest (though even with the shelter of these cliffs her feet were always moving to keep her in place). After awhile several American Coots swam close in. She opened her eyes to watch them. As they swam at her she untucked her head and swam away. This happened several times and the top pic shows one of the coots as it was pursuing her. Then after she came back in and was resting again two Redheads started swimming after her as shown in the bottom pic. After she swam distant from the other ducks, they let her be. Finally I watched her come back in close to the shelter of the cliffs for a third time and this time she did not let the other ducks intimidate her. She appeared to vocalize as shown in a pic on the previous post which may have communicated that they should let her be?? SeEtta

Closer views of the Long-tailed Duck

I drove around Brush Hollow Reservoir trying to get a closer view of the Long-tailed Duck. After losing track of her for awhile I refound her from the cliff area on the west side of the reservoir. After awhile she came close to the cliff area to rest from the winds as this side provided some shelter which a flock of American Coots, a few American Wigeon and 2 Redhead Ducks were also taking advantage of. The duck was only about 200-250 feet away when I took the top pic. However, this close a photo would not have come out so nicely in the now strong and gusty winds (as I have to stand on a point overlooking the reservoir with no protection from the winds that were shaking everything) because I used a tripod and my new camera let me take photos at 1/8000 of a second which avoided much of the wind shake.

I really like the middle pic as it shows the duck with it's bill open. It may have been vocalizing to the nearby ducks (more on that in next post). And I liked the bottom pic as it shows her very black feet that she has lifted during grooming. SeEtta

Long-tailed Duck near Canon City,CO

This afternoon, while doing a little birding to see what is around now that I am back from a long trip to So Texas, I drove out to Brush Hollow Reservoir about 15 northwest of Canon City to see if the recent high winds had blown anything unusual in. Indeed far in the distance I spotted this female Long-tailed Duck. She was more than 400 feet away when I took the top pic which is greatly enlarged from what I saw since I used my 400 mm lens with a 1.4 extender. Since my new Canon 60d dslr camera is not full frame the photo has an additional 1.6 magnification so the combination is approximately equivalent to a photo taken by a 900 mm lens or about 18 times the size seen with naked eyes. It is hard to see the little duck in that top pic but it, and a slightly larger Common Goldeneye near it, are directly under the text.

The bottom pic is just an enlargement of the top pic. I took the pic from the slight elevation on the east side of the reservoir at the top of the boat ramp because this Long-tailed Duck is small enough that viewing it from the shoreline made it even more difficult to see since the wind was quite blustery and the waves often obscured it. This is the second Long-tailed Duck I have found in my area, the first one was in 2007 on the Arkansas River just east of Canon City. More pics to come. SeEtta

Rotor/wave clouds in Colorado/'Kelvin-Helmholz'

Two years ago I photographed a long set of rotor (that look like ocean waves) clouds southeast of Canon City, Co that I posted on this blog. I shared them with the Pueblo Weather Service meteorologists who confirmed the photos as what are called rotor clouds that are a rare phenomena caused by "Kelvin-Helmholtz instability" that is related to wind shear likely from strong winds near mountains. Well yesterday near dusk I caught this shorter segment of rotor clouds very near to the same location as those I took two years ago--both southeast of Canon City in Fremont County, both just east of the Wet Mountains and both during a period of high winds. I think I may have spotted these at the end of their run as they lasted about a minute (per time stamp on photos I took) before losing their shape. SeEtta

Bright Pine Warbler at Garner St Park/TX Hill Country

I stopped at Garner State Park in the Texas Hill Country to have my lunch 2 days ago and was delighted to find the camping area near the Frio River to be very birdy. In addition to dozens of Yellow-rumped Warblers I found this bright Pine Warbler actively foraging in a mixed flock. Other birds included Carolina Chickadees, Carolina Wrens, Golden-fronted Woodpeckers and Eastern Bluebirds. I think this species, which is usually found a little further east, isn't very common here.

This one is quite bright yellow, very fitting for a warm day with temps in the upper 70's. SeEtta

On my way through the town of Zapata, TX I stopped for lunch in their city park. In the past the rare White-collared Seedeaters have been seen in this area but I didn't see any. I did enjoy this gorgeous male Vermilion Flycatcher. SeEtta

So Padre Island/Little Blue Heron

I visited So. Padre Island yesterday and after the light rain finally stopped I was able to photograph a few birds from the still free portions of the boardwalk that provide wonderful opportunities to view waterbirds, waterfowl and shorebirds much closer than usual. This pretty Little Blue Heron posed for the top pic then looked like it was experiencing pure ecstasy when it scratched an itch as shown in the bottom pic. SeEtta

Radio tracking feeder birds-Cornell Lab video

This should provide some interesting and valuable information--it's pretty cool, way to go Cornel Lab. SeEtta

Crimson-collared Grosbeak, rare visitor at Sabal Palm

I finally made the trip this morning to Sabal Palm Sanctuary, one of my favorite birding hotspots in the Rio Grande Valley. I refound this female Crimson-collared Grosbeak that was first found on December 15 by Jimmy Paz and David Benn during their Christmas Bird Count. This rare Mexican bird had not been seen since Dec 18 but Jimmy Paz optimistically told me the locations it had been seen and promised a hug if I found it. And Jimmy kept his word when I returned to let him know I refound this bird.

I got these photos during the 10 minutes I watched her. She fed in several trees quite actively and stayed in the shade, often partially obscured by foliage or branches making it challenging to get reasonable good photos. SeEtta

Possible Greater Scaup in Harlingen, TX

I found this scaup yesterday while participating in the Harlingen CBC, a count that has never had an identified Greater Scaup in it's history so I am going to be conservative and call this a possible Greater Scaup. The bird was among about 250 Lesser Scaup on the lake in Dixieland Park. I believe it has following characteristics that distinguish female Greater from Lesser Scaup: black nail is large, shape of bill is more spatulate, the bill is larger proportionally to it's head than on Lesser's, and the forehead is not as steep as on Lesser's. Since the bird had just come up from a dive and it's head is wet, I don't think the head shape is helpful in distinguishing the species. Note: the only thing I did to these photos was crop them to enlarge the duck and not other editing. Photos can be enlarged for closer viewing by double-clicking on them. SeEtta