Golden Eagle close-up

I was delighted on Thanksgiving day to spot 4 Golden Eagles, 3 in Fremont County, Colorado (The first 2 I saw were flying a distance away and I did not get photos of them), all adults including this one that was perched on a utility pole along the highway. I parked on the other side of the 2 lane highway (naturally no shoulders and a downward slope so had to stay near the traffic lane) so I was about 50 feet from the utility pole it was on and may 75 feet from the eagle--this photo is the result of a very long telephoto lens plus cropping to enlarge it. I stayed in my car for safety and as I try to do anyway to reduce disturbance to the birds.

I really like the middle photo that shows the back of the eagle's head with it's golden feathering. I always try to not flush raptors from their perches as they need to be able to conduct your tasks of daily living and have chosen the perch because it is good is some way for them. I am pleased to say I did not flush this eagle, it was still on the pole as I drove off and I could see it in my side view mirror from a distance--that to me is success. SeEtta

Two dark morph Harlan's Hawks

Yesterday I found two dark morph Harlan's Hawks on private property in Canon City. Both were more than 300 feet away so have cropped the photos tightly just to get these views.

The top two photos are of one Harlan's that has a small amount of white streaking on it's breast. As shown on the tree limbs, we had about 2 inches of snow at that point.

The bottom two pics are of the second Harlan's and it had more white streaking on it's chest. Interestingly these two were perched within a few hundred yards of each other though likely the trees obscured their view. SeEtta

Two late Greater Spreadwinged Damselflies, one munching on another insect

Greater Spreadwinged Damselfly (Archilestes grandis). After I found the Western Pygmy-Blue butterfly on November 21 I went looking near a pond on the Canon City Riverwalk for odonata and found two Greater Spreadwinged Damselflies (Archilestes grandis)-the one in the top two photos and a different damselfly at the bottom (see the difference in the ragged wings).

I didn't see until I cropped the top photo that this damselfly is munching on another winged insect!

This Greater Spreadwinged Damselfly has less damaged wings than the one in the top photos. SeEtta

Western Pygmy-Blue: a tiny butterfly

Yesterday I found this Western Pygmy-Blue, a very small butterfly that is listed as having a wing span of only 1/2 to 3/4 inches--and it was very tiny and flighty so hard to photograph. Interestingly I found a record of this species photographed on October 17, 2011 in my county on the ButterfliesAndMoths.org website. It had this note from the person who verified the sighting: "Not uncommonly found in the Arkansas R. valley in late summer and early fall."

Thanks to my friends Dan, Lisa and John for identifying this butterfly for me. SeEtta

Kind-of-late Buckeye butterfly also in Canon City

Two days ago I found this Buckeye butterfly in a location that was sheltered; however, there were not any flowers there but there were a number of clumps of rabbitbrush with a few flower blossoms on them a hundred + feet away.

Though it is battered some, it seems in good condition for this late in the year here. SeEtta

Hooded Mergansers with males displaying for a female

This is one of the male Hooded Mergansers I watched yesterday at Sell's Lake in Canon City as they displayed for females in hopes of being chosen as a mate. This guy has his head feathers all erect to show off his handsome plumage. Do click on the video clip below to watch how several males circle around a female doing their courtship display behavior. And listen for their interesting call that sounds almost frog-like or a gurgling noise. I strongly recommend that you click on the video settings button (looks like a wheel at the bottom of the video screen) and set to the highest HD setting your internet supports to get a crisp video stream. SeEtta

Late small sulfur butterfly in my yard November 14-confirmed as Dainty sulfur species

I was quite surprised day before yesterday to spot a small yellow butterfly in my yard--though we have had pretty warm temperatures in Canon City this fall, the temps have fallen well below freezing on a number of occasions which has stopped flowering of most plants so not much for butterfly to nectar on. It was quite small, with a wingspan of about an inch.

I think it is a Dainty Sulfur (Nathalis iole) described here in BugGuide where I will submit it for expert identification. Also described in ButterfliesAndMoths.org which notes a documented sighting in my county (Fremont) of Colorado, albeit only one and several decades ago. SeEtta

Follow-up 11-17-13-BugGuide.org confirmed this as a Dainty sulfur butterfly.

Local Lewis's Woodpeckers

Just a couple of the nice close-ups I have gotten recently of some of the Lewis's Woodpeckers in my area. You can click on these photos to enlarge them even further for super close-up views and they will remain sharp . SeEtta

Unusually large group of Red-breasted Mergansers at Brush Hollow Reservoir

Yesterday I found 16 Red-breasted Mergansers at Brush Hollow Reservoir which is about 15 miles from where I live. Compared to many reservoirs in southern Colorado this is a fairly small body of water; however there are very few lakes or ponds in my county and it is the largest of them.

We don't get Red-breasted Mergansers often in my area and this is an unusually large number for us. In addition to these mergansers there were a number of other common waterfowl including a nice raft of about 20 Redheaded Ducks. I also had a small flock of Bushtits work their way past me in the junipers on the hill above the reservoir where I was parked.

Since boats are allowed and most are motorized it is difficult for waterfowl to get any rest on this man-made reservoir. Not long after I got there a motorboat put in and the these mergansers were moved around the reservoir. I checked there today on my way to Pueblo and didn't see any mergansers. SeEtta

Harlan's Hawk, first in Canon City this season

. Yesterday I spotted what looked like a Harlan's Red-tailed Hawk perched in a tree in the Canon City area. It was one of the most skittish hawks I have photographed--I stayed in my car the entire time as I try very hard not to flush hawks but it still flushed when I took photos from several hundred feet away/

After I gave up looking for it I was driving back home when I ran into the same hawk again as it soared in large circles so I was able to get the photo at the top. I followed it in my car and it came down to perch for a short time so I got the bottom two pics.

I believe this is an Intermediate morph Harlan's as described by Wheeler in Raptors of Western North America. It is very blackish, the auriculars are white and so is it's forehead, it has whitish streaks on it's throat, it's breast has streaks of white but more black, the rest of it's underparts are black with white speckling and smaller streaks, remiges are barred, tail is barred with black sub-terminal band and rufous only showing on upper tail. SeEtta

A couple of Marbled Godwits

This is one two Marbled Godwits in the Big Marsh at Quivira National Wildlife Refuge today.

This short video shows one the godwits as it bathes and does so quite vigorously. SeEtta