Scaled Quail at John Martin State Park

Thanks to the amazingly mild mid-summer temps (today the highs were in the low 70's down here) after a strange cold front I did some birding in the lower Arkansas Valley where temps are usually 100 or over. Thanks to pro-wildlife habitat changes in the John Martin State Park the habitat has improved substantially--first due to no longer allowing ATV's there as they were tearing up habitat by driving off road (that is why many people buy them so they can drive off road and tear up the ground) and then by closing a lot of duplicative and other user-created 2-tracks that have been used by street legal vehicles but that have fragmented the habitat. Kudos to the local Colo Parks & Wildlife for requesting these changes and to the State Parks & Wildlife Commission for approving them (I went to a Wildlife Commission, some years ago to support the restriction on ATV's).

I was delighted to find 2 flocks of Scaled Quail, a species that is likely doing much better with the improved and less fragmented habitat due to these good changes. Recent rains will help there too so hopefully Scaled Quail can flourish. SeEtta

Rare mid-summer visit from a juv. Broad-tailed Hawk in Florence, CO area

Yesterday I was walking in Florence River Park at the edge of that small south central Colorado town when I spotted this juvenile Broad-tailed Hawk fly by. Broad-tailed Hawks are most often seen in Colorado during migration with most sightings in the spring. This young hawk quickly flew out of view so I did not get very good photos. The top photo shows the profile but not features. So I used photo editing software to lighten up a second similar photo as shown below that now provides a view of field marks for this heavily marked light morph juv Broad-tailed Hawk: dark and very pointed wing tips;; black trailing edge to wings;heavily marked underparts; pale secondaries. SeEtta

Scissor-tailed Flycatchers in south central Colo: the female foraging

Yesterday (Saturday) I got the top 3 pics of the female Scissor-tailed Flycatcher that is nesting south of Florence, CO when flew near to where I was parked (the driveway several hundred feet north of the nest tree). I watched her catch a couple of insects and could see that at least one was a grasshopper.

The pic below is very interesting both because I caught her in mid-flight so the salmon-pink underwing patches show nicely but also because there is a grasshopper in the air just above her. In a photo below that I took today the female had lost the grasshopper apparently because it's leg came off so this might be the reason for the grasshopper in this pic too.

The next 4 pics that I took today, again when the female foraged near to where I was parked, show a very interesting sequence.

In the pic above the female has a good sized grasshopper in her bill that she has caught.

In the pic now above the grasshopper has come out of her bill--note the grasshopper leg noted below her, it has apparently come off the grasshopper and likely the reason she is now having to re-catch it.

She does re-catch the grasshopper and eats it. Note the bulge starting to show around her throat/gullet in the pic just above. Then in the last pic with her head turned the bulge of the grasshopper being moved down into her digestive tract is quite evident. SeEtta

Rare Scissor-tailed Flycatcher south of Florence, CO: the female

All the photos I got earlier this week were of the male Scissor-tailed Flycatcher and all the photos I have seen posted on Facebook and ebird have also been of the male. I had a meeting in a town not far from the location these rare birds have been located so dropped by just after 6:30 pm. When I saw her it was obvious this was the female as her tail is much shorter than the males. She did not stay put though and this was the only photo I got of her before she flew off. I couldn't stay but a few minutes to get this pic as I had to go the meeting but I returned afterwards at close to 8 pm. I saw the female perched on the tree on which she and the male have most often been seen, mostly right above the nest that is there. I did not see the male tonight. She flew off for about 5 min then returned briefly then flew off to unknown location at about 8:15 as it got dark. SeEtta

Rare Scissor-tailed Flycatchers, and two of them, south of Florence,CO

A Scissor-tailed Flycatcher, the first in our county, was found my Rich Miller a little over a week ago south of Florence. I have been jammed with projects and then went out of town so had not gone out to see it. When I read last night that Mike Gaylord had seen two of them I got more motivated to go see if they were nesting as was suggested.

I drove by them a couple of times and pulled over a little when safe (narrow 2 lane highway with dirt shoulders) for a few photos but only saw one bird. I then parked in a pull-out over a hundred feet from the tree where the birds have most often been seen and watched--and it was an overcast morning so it didn't heat up quickly so I watched for just over an hour. After about 10 minutes the second Scissor-tailed Flycatcher flew into the tree where the first was still perched.

While I watched the flycatchers appeared to take turns watching the tree or maybe the nest in it that is shown in the pic just above. While this nest seems consistent with what a Scissor-tailed Flycatcher would build ("bulky stick nest" in isolated tree) it does look larger than those I read about.

But not only did the two flycatchers appear to take turns near this nest and tree but they twice fly after small groups of American Crows, as show in pic below, that flew too close to chase them away--it sure looked like they were defending their nest or at least their nest area. However I never saw either bird get into that nest or look like they were bringing food to babies in it--and though I checked it often with my spotting scope I never saw any indication that nest was occupied or that there were fledglings in the tree. It will be interesting to see what develops if they stay. SeEtta

Dickcissels: singing males, a female and song

I found a few singing male Dickcissels in the Ft Lyon, CO area on a quick trip to the are on July 3 in an field of unknown plants that they had begun to harvest so I expected that the Dickcissels would be displaced and leave. On my way down to Lamar this past week I drove down the road where I had seen these and was surprised to hear Dickcissels singing in the field, this one with the more expected alfalfa, next to the one that they had been in previously which was now completely mowed to the ground. It was close to dark so I didn't stay long but with plans to return while down in the lower Arkansas Valley.

I returned with local birder Jill from Lamar and we enjoyed not just hearing them but watching them as they perched on top of the utility wires as well as tall vegetation to sing.

The photo below is a female Dickcissel, which I only infrequently see and rarely get to photograph. The sun was so bright that it really washed out the photos of her.

The female looks like the male but does not have the black bib and duller than the male. You can see the yellow stripe over her eye if you enlarge the photo. Since this female was present near the singing males and at least one male flew down by her, I suspect they are nesting in this new alfalfa field/

Below is a recording of one of the males singing--this is the song that is most often sung by the Dickcissels I sometimes have in Canon City but different from the northern front range birds. There were at least two different songs being sung by the four (or possibly more) Dickcissels we heard in that field. SeEtta

I also found Dickcissels in a field north of this field, in a field in the Ft Lyon State Wildlife Area and in a field near Lamar. Not as many as I have found in some years but more than I have found in several of the years during the drought conditions. SeEtta

Yellow-billed Cuckoo family in Lamar Woods

This morning as I birded in Lamar Woods, a riparian woods located behind the Lamar Community College that is awfully degraded, I spotted an adult Yellow-billed Cuckoo and saw it feed an apparent fledgling cuckoo. I wasn't able to get any photos of the adult though I saw it several times.

It was surprising to see that this young fledgling does not have any yellow on it's bill. Though Yellow-billed Cuckoos are named for having a yellowish lower mandible and black upper mandible, it turns out that according to Birds of North America online fledglings have "dark gray upper mandible; lower mandible mostly light gray, but slightly darker at tip." Their bills do not change to black and yellow until they are about 60 days old

The adult cuckoo called a number of times giving a 'coo' call-but much softer than any recordings of coo-calls I have heard. It appeared to be trying to get it's offspring to follow it to another tree. However the fledgling did not follow the parent for quite awhile; however, it stayed mostly partially to fully hidden behind foliage and tree branches making it difficult to get reasonable photos. At one point the adult cuckoo flew maybe 10 feet over my head to a tree close to the fledgling and calling soft coos in what appeared to be an unsuccessful attempt to get the fledgling to come after it--that was a cool experience.

This apparent young fledgling finally flew off with it's parent. I followed and found one perched higher in a tree where I got the photo below--I am sure if this is the same fledgling or a second fledgling. SeEtta

Chimney Swifts in Lamar

I spent some time tonight watching Chimney Swifts in Lamar, CO where I observed at least 8 birds as they foraged. It is clear from the top pic why these are called 'flying cigars' of a cigar with wings.

I was happy I was able to find a chimney where two swifts flew into at dark, presumably a pair that is nesting there. SeEtta

Sanderlng, a early migrant I found at Lake Meredith, CO

I found this early Sanderling at Lake Meredith earlier this week when I birded the lower Arkansas Valley on an unusually cool day (high of 82 instead of more normal 102). This bird is transitioning from alternative (breeding) to basic (winter) plumage.

It looks very different from what we usually see as it is still mostly in breeding plumage. SeEtta

Burrowing Owls: close-up photos

I also got a few closer shots with my extra long Sony camera--also taken from car to reduce disturbance but these owls were slightly closer to the road.

They are standing next to burrow entrance which is visible in photos. SeEtta

Burrowing owls: successful nesting this year in parts of Otero County

Severe drought conditions have plagued much of southeast Colo for the past 5 to 7 years with reductions in some bird species and nesting. This year some parts of the area have received rain that is not a lot but adequate. I was delighted to find a section of a county road going north from Lake Holbrook with a veritable boom in young Burrowing Owls: 15 owls (both parents and young) along both sides about a quarter mile long. SeEtta

Small wildfire I spotted in the Beulah, CO area over the week-end

While driving up to Pueblo Mtn Park over the week-end I spotted this small wildfire in the forest in the Beulah area. I quickly went to a residence near where I could see the fire to have them call it in as I correctly figured they would have be able to describe better than I where it was located in those mountains. I was told they had lightening the night before so it seems likely that it had been smoldering and finally flared up with the winds. It looks very small, possibly only one tree. In the past when I have reported such a small fire the firefighters choose to just watch it as these small ones often burn themselves out they told me. However since this is not far from the town of Beulah, where many have done no mitigation around their homes, they may have made an effort to put it out just in case. In fact, the home at which I stopped to have them call the fire in had a number of full grown ponderosa pines close to it--I took advantage of this opportunity to remind the gentleman that those trees put his home at risk from wildfire. He said he knew and was 'working on it.' SeEtta

Fledgling American Crow at Pueblo Mtn Park

There were several fledgling Am Crows learning to fly and making lots of noise while I birded Pueblo Mtn Park over the week-end. This young crow, with obvious juvenal gape, had recently fledged as it's flying skills left a lot to desire. It hopped around tree branches better than it flew. SeEtta

Acorn Woodpeckers still going in and out of apparent nest hole

My trip to Pueblo Mtn Park over the week-end was intended to be focused on the Acorn Woodpeckers there and whether they were nesting. However it was very difficult to look for them as there was a large wedding celebration going on nearby with a lot of people drinking and being loud not far from the apparent nest tree. So I birded other parts of the park and even the town of Beulah hoping the wedding would be over in later afternoon--not so much as still a number were there close to dusk with loud music and continued drinking with about a hundred 100-200 feet of the nest tree. I did observe and photograph what appeared to be a pair of Acorn Woodpeckers between 6:30 and 7 pm as they went in and out of an apparent nest hole, behavior usually associated with having nestlings. They would fly off after leaving the nest hole then return a short time later as though they were obtaining food, but I did not see any as they would quickly go into the nest hole. Sure seemed like they are feeding nestlings. SeEtta

Cordilleran Flycatchers feeding babies on nest in Pueblo Mtn Park

Yesterday I drove up to Pueblo Mtn Park where I found this pair of Cordilleran Flycatchers attending a nest in a picnic shelter. Soon I could see they were bringing food to what must be small babies as I could never see even a beak sticking up from the nest.

Each parent took turns bringing insects to the nest. In between they occasionally interacted including flying close to each other and vocalizing.

I felt bad when I drove away to look for other birds then drove back by to find a bunch of people had taken over the shelter and making it very difficult for these very conscientious parents to feed their offspring as frequently as they had been doing.

As can be seen in the pic below the nest was located below the roof and in between the log rafters, a protected location (except from humans). They are often found in association with riparian areas and this picnic shelter was only about 10 feet from a small stream.

In many of these pics you can see the distinctively bold eyering that expands at the back to make a tear-shape along with the light wing bars. The long and wide bill including bright yellow bottom mandible are visible in several photos.

I took all these photos with the same digital camera (sony hx-300) with same settings--the changes in natural lighting caused the difference in the color of the plumage of these birds. SeEtta