Eastern Bluebird nest cavity

The nest cavity being used by this pair of Eastern Bluebirds is in the dead tree limb marked by an arrow in the photo on the right. It is on a river bank between a hay field where the I have watched the parent's hunt for food many times and the river which also provides good insect habitat.  SeEtta

Eastern Bluebirds: video of pair

The video above shows first the male then the female Eastern Bluebirds fly to the nest cavity to feed their nestlings then 'fecal sacs' to keep the nest clean. I thought the color of the bird's feathers was brilliant in the video clip when the sunlight hit them. Above photo shows the male with it's head inside the cavity--he continues to be very task oriented: he flies in and quickly delivers the food to the nestlings and take the fecal sac, rarely bothering to look in my direction. The female shows less concern about my presence but still looks over at me, and at surrounding area, several times while at the nest.

 I take my photos from inside my car and my videos using a tripod right next to the car door so I can use my car as a 'blind', a technique I use frequently as it disturbs birds less and provides better photos and videos. I stay more than 30 feet away then use a very long telephoto set-up (close to 900 mm equivalent) to get these close-ups.   I try to avoid interfering with birds as they go about their daily tasks and especially nesting birds--I think this is the ethical thing to do  and I believe it also results in  better photos when birds are not distressed by your presence. 
 SeEtta

I spotted this male Eastern Bluebird with the plump worm in it's beak as shown in bottom pic. I was surprised to find one at this time of year as we have only had Eastern Bluebirds in the winter and then usually only one or two small flocks that stayed for only a week or so.

I watched this male fly to a tree snag, linger then fly away so I hunkered down in my car and waited until he returned. He first leaned into a hole in the snag as he was feeding that juicy worm to some apparent nestlings. I watched him for about 20 minutes as he brought more food to the nest, Then the female came out for awhile. After the female left this very devoted father went inside the nest cavity and brought out a fecal sac. The female returned with food once then I left as she showed some reluctance at the nest hole and I didn't want to interfere with her taking care of the nestlings. This is neat as this is the first breeding record for Eastern Phoebe in Fremont County,CO and only 11 previously confirmed on the Colo Breeding Bird Atlas II. SeEtta

Mate for Canon City area Black Phoebe

After a few days of listening to the first year male Black Phoebe singing his heart out, this female Black Phoebe showed up on March 26,2012. She wasn't there all the time when I would see the young male, but she kept coming back and soon was foraging near him (a sign of a developing pair bond). SeEtta

Black Phoebe singing, hoping to attract a mate

Looking a little rugged with wind blowing quite strong, this first year male Black Phoebe showed up about March 20 just east of Canon City,CO at the location where the first Black Phoebes nested in Fremont County (also a frequent nest location over the years). Not long after his arrival he began singing the Primary Song of this species which is employed for "employed for predawn song, patrolling, countersinging, station-calling, and mate association" per Birds of North America online. He continued these song bouts, which lasted several minutes in length, on a frequent basis leading me to believe he was in hopes of attracting a mate. SeEtta

More Peregrine Falcon chowing down

While the Peregrine did not look at me but a few times, it did often look over towards the river or up to the sky as though guarding against some possible threat (I did not see any mammal or people around nor any other raptor above so maybe this is just usual preventative behavior).

Since the Peregrine had already been eating on the carcass of it's prey all I ever saw was this large piece of feathered meat as shown in these pics. It apparently at the foot shown in the photo on the previous post as I looked for it after a truck flushed the falcon and did not find one. As can be seen in the bottom pic it devoured the intestines. SeEtta

Peregrine Falcon enjoying...whose foot is that??

I spotted this Peregrine Falcon perched on top of a utility pole just east of Canon City. I positioned by car so I could photograph from inside, using the car it as a blind, to try to avoid disrupting this bird's meal. Soon after I started taking photos I was surprised to see the Peregrine with a very large foot in it's beak. I had thought it had a duck since it was a large meal and it was very near the Arkansas River; however, this is not a webbed foot but a foot that looks like it came possibly from another raptor as it is not only quite large but has very long nails. It's yellowish foot and leg with the long claws look a lot like that of a Cooper's Hawk's foot, or maybe a  Sharp-shinned foot, but I am open to other species.

Though I was successful in avoiding flushing this Peregrine it did look at me a few times presumably in response to the mechanical sounds of my dslr camera. More pics to follow. SeEtta

Common Merganser pair together

These two Common Mergansers were taking advantage of a spot in the Arkansas River where they could rest and do some grooming. I stayed in my car and shot just a few photos so as not to disturb them since there are now a lot of fishermen on the river making it difficult for birds like this to be undisturbed. I was pleased to see them staying put as I drove away. SeEtta

Handsome Common Merganser pair

I spotted this pair of Common Mergansers loafing in a slow section of the Arkansas River near Coaldale (west of Canon City) a few days ago. I think they make a handsome couple. SeEtta