Long-billed Curlew in far southeast Colorado

Today I birded in far southeast Colorado. I found this male Long-billed Curlew on some grassland on or near the Comanche National Grasslands. This species is an early breeder on Colorado grasslands and migrates south as soon as young are able.

While I photographed it from about a hundred and fifty feet away (using long lens then cropping photo for further enlargement) it called repeatedly--I didn't see any other curlews in the area so wonder if he just got separated from a group he was migrating with. SeEtta

Cedar Waxwings and young offspring in my yard

Last week while I worked in my backyard I kept hearing a soft bird call with which I was unfamiliar. I looked all around and could not locate the bird. Then I heard the distinctive high pitched 'zee-zee' trill call of a Cedar Waxwing and I located it high in one of my large deciduous trees. The other call I was unfamiliar with continued and came from the same area as the adult Cedar Waxwing.

Finally I located the source of the unknown calling--it was clearly a fledgling Cedar Waxwing. It had a head that looked like an adult Cedar Waxwing except the mask was abbreviated. And it had a broad streaking on it's underparts that is not found on adult birds. It didn't have a crest, at least not one that was visible. And it's tail was even shorter than the usual short tail of adult birds.

I watched as one or both parent birds would fly in to the tree to bring food for their offspring. I don't think they nested in my yard as I believe I would have heard the adult's calls before. This fledgling appears quite young, maybe only a few days out of the nest when I first saw it, so they likely nested in my neighborhood or in a greenbelt only a few hundred yards away. They must have brought their offspring to my yard where it would be safe while they foraged for food.

I watched the young fledgling and the parents over the next few days. The parent's brought fruit to their offspring, some they found in my yard and some from other locations in the area. After the first 2 days the fledgling flew to my neighbor's yard but returned to mine for roosting. I had to go out of town for a few days and when I returned I went outside to listen for the calls of the parent or fledgling Cedar Waxwing but they were gone. I expect the fledgling improved it's flying skills and the family moved on. I certainly enjoyed their visit and I am glad I could provide habitat both for the safekeeping of the young bird and some of the fruit needed to feed it as well as the parents.

Rufous-necked Wood-Rail makes it to CBS

The Rufous-necked Wood-Rail made it big-time yesterday when it was featured on CBS This Morning-Saturday. American Bird Association's Jeff Gordon was invited to discuss the bird and the hundreds of birders who traveled to Bosque del Apache NWR to see the mega-rarity. I was surprised to see that I am in 2 of the still photos in this video (I have on the tan hat with the neck protector). SeEtta

Rufous-necked Wood-Rail, very brief video but close views

One last and very short video clip of the Rufous-necked Wood-Rail that I left before because it was so short. However, it shows the Rufous-necked Wood-Rail found as it forages less than a hundred feet away though on the other side of the cattails. This is the closest I saw this bird and I had to shoot it through the cattails that were between the trail and the marsh where the bird was foraging. I shot it on Sunday evening, July 14, at almost 7:30 pm but the lightening was quite good for showing the coloration of this rare bird (you can stop this 5 second video to get good views). SeEtta

Rufous-necked Wood-Rail video: foraging in the rain

I took this short video clip showing this Wood-Rail in late morning on Monday, July 15, before I left to drive back to Colorado. It forages in the open water of the wetland at Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge where it found some great habitat to meet it’s needs in this location hundreds of miles north of it’s normal range. (I suggest watching the video in full-screen mode to truly see this bird as it successfully looks for fish in the water). I am disappointed that Youtube compresses the videos so some quality is lost. Though there is a rear-view much of the time, the Wood-Rail does turn several times, with nice filtered light hitting it, providing nice views of it's colorful plumage. SeEtta

Rufous-necked Wood-Rail: a little closer and in good light

The Rufous-necked Wood-Rail only showed briefly and very early on Sunday morning so I drove up to the nearby mountains to look for birds there where the temperatures were a lot less than the mid-nineties they have been at Bosque del Apache NWR. When I returned in late afternoon the bird had been out for several hours giving it's usual great views to dozens more birders. It came closer to the far end where I was standing and the light was quite good when I got these photos.

I was able to crop these photos larger because the bird was closer. I really like getting these views of it's eyes--they look brownish or even rufous like it's plumage. I can finally see a little of it's whitish chin I have read about plus the following Cornell Lab's Neotropical Birds site: "Dull olive-green back with a triangular gray patch on base of nape." SeEtta

Rufous-necked Wood-Rail with food

After an absence of more than 30 hours the Rufous-necked Wood-Rail made an appearance last evening after 7 pm. I got the photo above showing the bird with a food item in it's bill that I believe is a very large crawfish (aka crawdad) or similar creature. They are said to eat crabs primarily in their native mangrove habitat but they don't have crabs in New Mexico. It is best seen by clicking on above photo to enlarge it.

No food in bottom pic but it shows the colorful yellow base to this bird's large bill.  SeEtta

Rufous-necked Wood-Rail: video of the bird foraging

This shows the Rufous-necked Wood-Rail found by Matt Daw, a highly skilled young birder, at the Bosque del Apache NWR. It is the first report of this species in the United States and has drawn birders from across the U.S. including Hawaii. In this video it is seen foraging in the open water in plain view by myself and other birders who were on a boardwalk over this wetland. Note video taken at 7:55 pm and the light was fading but I did not want to do any editing to avoid distorting this bird's natural and beautiful coloration. SeEtta

Mega-rarity: Rufous-necked Wood-Rail at Bosque del Apache NWR in NM

So I don't chase rare birds much anymore and have never chased a rarity more than 150 miles. But when I saw this mega-rarity Rufous-necked Wood-Rail was found at Bosque del Apache NWR south of Albuquerque, which is great birding hotspot I haven't been to in some years, and it was being seen with a Least Bittern and they were out in the open--well, I decided there were too many interesting birds there to not drive down. And it has been worth the almost 500 mile drive.

The top two pics show the Rufous-necked Wood-Rail as it foraged out in the open in shallow water. I love those bumble-gum pink legs.

Pics #3 shows the Wood-Rail in the top of the pic, a Least Bittern out in the open (wow) in the middle and a Green Heron at the bottom--nice foraging friends.

Pic # 4 shows the Wood-Rail with just the Least Bittern. SeEtta

Recording of Gray Catbird fledgling begging calls

I recorded the Gray Catbird fledgling that I have heard a number of times giving the begging call (ie, parents, please feed me). It took me awhile to figure that this was actually the Gray Catbird fledgling calling and not an American Robin or other bird but I watched it as it gave this call on several occasions. Today it was back in my yard and giving it's begging call repeatedly and I got the following recording. SeEtta

My neighborhood Gray Catbird family visits

My neighborhood Gray Catbirds have been visiting me for a long time. It started a number of years ago when a pair of Gray Catbirds nested right under my dining room window–what wonderful intimate views I had. Unfortunately I had to clean up the very overgrown shrub in which they nested so they haven’t nested in my yard since; but they do come to visit–well, they come to eat here anyway. They like insects as well as small fruit and berries so planting those and avoiding the use of pesticides is important in having a catbird-friendly yard. And the male, or males, engage with me in duetting–or I engage them. They have also brought their offspring back to my yard each year–though I like to think they bring them to show them to me, it is most likely for the food and safety that is provided in my bird-friendly yard.

Two days ago I was visited by one or both adult Gray Catbirds and at least one fledgling. Both the male and female adults look alike so I don’t know if only one or both parents visited. The parent bird, shown below, worked hard at finding and providing high protein food (insects) to feed to the fledgling(s)-I've only seen one but there may be others hidden in the foliage.

Yesterday afternoon the Gray Catbird family visited my yard again. The photo below is the fledgling catbird (sorry the quality isn't great but it stayed in the shadows). You can see a little bit of the chestnut colored feathers that it is already has under it's tail.

The parent bird(s) left the fledgling (semi-hidden in the boughs of my blue spruce tree) my yard while they left (maybe they had another fledgling or still had nestlings located in another location to tend to) for awhile. I am glad they felt comfortable leaving their fledgling here. SeEtta

(posts with photos on visits from my neighborhood Gray Catbirds from previous years can be seen by clicking here)

Immature female Cooper's Hawk nest with nestlings

Note: This photo is more than 50X the image you can see with your bare eyes as I used a long telephoto lens plus did a little cropping to enlarge it also. Today I found a Cooper's Hawk nest with nestlings in it and I was very surprised today to find an immature Cooper's Hawk defending the nest. I didn't think I was very close to the nest when I started taking photos but I heard alarm calls from a likely parent. After I took a couple of photos a large accipiter came from the nest and flew at me giving alarm calls--it was fast and I ducked because it came quite low. Over the next few minutes as I tried to walk away from the nest (it was in the middle of a bunch of tree limbs so I couldn't just walk straight off, I had to make my way around downed tree limbs) that accipiter came at me several more times, and each time low enough to make me duck for fear of getting my head raked by sharp talons. I barely got to look at the bird and this less than good photo showing this was an immature Cooper's Hawk. And when I uploaded my photos I was able to see that this immature bird had been in the nest with what looks like more than one nestling.

I found the following on the Birds of North America online site: "Usually 2 yr but year-old immatures reported as 6% to 22% of breeding females." I was unaware that less than adult accipiters were able to breed before this. In checking some references it appears that the immature female Cooper's is in the transition from juvenal to Basic plumage. Previously I have watched Cooper's Hawks nest on the Canon City Riverwalk and they even nested directly over the trail more than once. This was quite an experience and a good example of how individual birds have different tolerances to humans as today's bird clearly has a need for more space from human intrusion around her nest. SeEtta

Green Heron at Holcim Wetlands

Though I frequently see one or occasionally two Green Herons at the Holcim Wetlands they are usually distant or flying quickly away so I don't get reasonable photos. This one flew out of the reeds to this open area for a few minutes. SeEtta

TRICOLORED HERON continues at Holcim Wetlands

I got these pics this morning. The TRICOLORED HERON has continued to be seen daily at Holcim Wetlands. I usually see it actively foraging as shown in the bottom pic. SeEtta

Mississippi Kite-super close-ups

The top pic shows that the beak of a Mississippi Kite does seem to take a beating.

The middle pic was just because I love their brown eyes.

And the last pic was the last photo I took-I left right after since the bird was now looking at me indicating the clicks of camera was causing it to focus on me instead of going about the tasks of daily living. SeEtta

Ever wonder what birds do with the other foot when they stand on only one?

This Mississippi Kite I photographed in La Junta today is perching on one foot and the other is held up to it's body in the top pic.

This close-up photo just above shows the foot has the toes retracted into a ball or fist.

Bottom pic shows the kite with the unused foot pulled up close to it's body and almost covered with feathers--a good way to keep it warm (though it was not cold yesterday). SeEtta

Mississippi Kite: up very close

I drove to eastern Colorado yesterday and found a lot of Mississippi Kites including about 20 in the town of La Junta where I photographed this one in a tree. I used a very long telephoto lens and even cropped the photos a little more to get these super close-ups. I took the photos from my car in order to reduce disturbing the birds as much as possible (would have been easier to get out and use my tripod but might have flushed this and the 8 others in the tree over the street). I also don't like to draw attention to their location as I understand they get harassed--rocks thrown by children and even so-called adults. SeEtta

Very young Black Phoebe fledgling

This very short tailed bird behind vegetation, and with it's back to us, is a very recently fledged Black Phoebe. Note there is some vegetation in front of it's face but it's eye is visible in the photo though it may have to be clicked on to enlarge it for closer view. Sorry, but it was more important to not disturb this very young bird, than to get a good photo of it. I found it today while showing some friends from Colorado Springs (Jeanie, Mary Ellen, Lynne and Jackie) around Florence River Park. I have followed a number of Black Phoebe families in this area and from the very short tail it is likely fledged within the last day or two. The parent bird left it under overhanging vegetation over the Arkansas River to keep it out of sight and safe while the parent bird foraged for food for this and likely other fledglings nearby (an adult Black Phoebe was seen nearby but other possible fledglings were likely hidden from view by the vegetation). All of us got to see this fledgling without disturbing it--that, to me, is success. SeEtta