Another day at Red Canyon Park, add a Townsend's Warbler

It was so productive last Saturday I went back yesterday (Tues) to Red Canyon Park--and it was fabulous. Saw 2 flocks of Pinyon Jays fly over, on flock with about 75 birds and the other flock with only about 8 birds.

Western Tanagers: migrating through Canon City in good numbers this week

I spotted this Western Tanager, I believe a first fall male, as he flew up after taking a bath in a ditch yesterday. There was a big push of these migrants with at least 2 dozen in areas along the Arkansas River as it flows through Canon City. SeEtta

Ws

Successful field trip to Red Canyon Park: Gray Flycatchers, Pinyon Jays, Juniper Titmouse and more

I led a very productive field trip to Red Canyon Park yesterday with 11 participants from Broomfield, Denver, Manitou Springs, Colorado Springs, Salida and Canon City. I refound the Gray Flycatcher family I have been following for the past 2 weeks and everyone got excellent views of them and heard their frequent contact calls. The juvenile in the photo above was one of the young from that family--the buffy wing bars that are a field marks for juvenal plumage show well in this photo. In addition to these Gray Flycatchers, we saw a couple of more individuals plus another family that foraged nearby as we had lunch and provided views of a parent feeding a fledgling.

Other target species for the pinyon-juniper habitat in this park that were seen were several Pinyon Jays (heard well by all participants then seen in flight), Juniper Titmouse (2 birds with fairly close views for all), Virginia Warbler (several birds), several Western Shrub Jays and Blue-gray Gnatcatchers. Other flycatcher species included an Olive-sided, Western Wood-Pewee and at least one empid spp. Hummers included both Broad-tailed and Black-chinned with one flying right up to the group as if to say 'did you bring me anything.' We had very good fairly close views of 2 Canyon Wrens who sang repeatedly at a close distance. We did have several singing Plumbeous Vireos and Bewick's Wrens but no visual views of them. Also saw a Golden Eagle soaring, an accipiter and a few Turkey Vultures, 1 Loggerhead Shrike, several Black-headed Grosbeak, Canyon & Spotted Towhees, many Chipping Sparrows, a lot of Lesser Goldfinch and a few other species common in the state. We did not find any of the Evening Grosbeaks I had seen earlier this week nor any Western Tanagers. SeEtta

Evening Grosbeak chowing down on juniper berries

I first heard these Evening Grosbeak giving soft inter-flock contact calls near where I had stopped my car in Red Canyon Park yesterday. There were about a dozen of them feeding in this and nearby juniper shrubs.

Interestingly all that I saw were females or immatures as shown in these photos.

And each one I saw eating had pieces of juniper berries all over their bills, they are pretty sloppy eaters. SeEtta

Flock of Common Nighthawks feeding overhead during their migration

I had the pleasure over the week-end of having a flock of at least a dozen Common Nighthawks feeding overhead above my home. They were evidently a migrating flock that flew around and around for about 45 minutes as they fed on whatever insects were in the air. I had a similar flock feeding over the Canon City Rivewalk not far from my home 2 weeks ago but couldn't get the photos I was able to crop for enlargement as here to see the field marks.

The bird in the first photo is a male--see the white tail band and large bar on primaries. The next two are of a female-no white tail band and primary bar more limited.

The bird just above and below are males.

The bird above and the bird below are females.

And the last one is a male-it's white tail band is not as obvious but can be seen if clicked on to enlarge further and the primary bar more extensive. SeEtta

Gray Flycatcher family

This past Monday I birded Red Canyon Park about 10 miles north of Canon City where I stumbled upon some very young fledgling Gray Flycatchers. There was definitely one parent in attendance that I observed feeding one or more of the young birds, and I believe the other parent was nearby. They were in thick vegetation and I was unable to get a photo in focus and also the parent(s) quickly moved the young away. Yesterday I returned and looked for the family.

I found what is likely the same family about 75 feet from where I had last seen the Gray Flycatcher family earlier this week. An adult bird flew into a shrub less than 30 feet in front of me and I got the top photo of that bird. It was quickly followed by a calling apparent fledgling that flew into the same shrub as the parent bird flew out.

I believe the 2nd, 3rd and 4th photos are of that apparent fledgling but cannot be certain. In support of my belief that this is a fledgling, or at least a young juvenile, is the sharpness of the terials as shown--that is a characteristic in many birds that is indicative of juvenile status (I could not find this confirmed in internet documents but there is not a lot of info on this species).

The last two pics are definitely a young fledgling as I clearly remember this bird and confirmed by it's short tail. SeEtta

Eastern 'Cicada Killer' with cicada

As I was walking on Canon City Riverwalk today I heard a cicada fly right behind me. When i turned I saw that the cicada was in the grasp of this Cicada Killer on the ground just a few feet away. The Cicada Killer started dragging it away.

I surprised at how fast the Cicada Killer moved especially since it was carrying the cicada beneath it. This short video clip shows that:

It moved quite fast for ~75 ft to a tree then climbed the tree with the cicada in it's grasp. Lost sight of them -~25 ft above the ground.

Acorn Woodpeckers at Pueblo Mtn Park-confirmed nesting success

When I last checked on the Acorn Woodpeckers in Pueblo Mountain Park on July 8 the pair were flying in and out of the nest hole repeatedly so I had the impression they were caring for nestlings. This visit these rare woodpeckers were not near the nest tree but in another area of the park where I found them foraging. And I found 4 of them and it appeared that two were juveniles. The bird on the limb in the pic above has bluish eyes which are found on juveniles.

The center pic shows the parent bird on the far right as it was feeding the fledgling, the bird in the center. The bottom pic is a few seconds after the feeding and when enlarged the eye on the bird in the center is blackish, which is the color of very young juveniles. I think the bird on the far left is the other juvenile (the one with the bluish eyes) as it dropped down from a limb above when the parent came to feed the other young bird. SeEtta

Wilson's Warbler-one of the early landbirds moving through

I spotted this male Wilson's Warbler in Florence River Park yesterday. About a week ago I saw a very shy Western Tanager in that park, another on the Canon City Riverwalk and earlier this week I saw one in Red Canyon Park. Landbird migration is on. SeEtta

Ladder-backed Woodpecker- in riparian forest

While we usually think of Ladder-backed Woodpeckers in pinyon-juniper habitat in Colorado, they are known to inhabit lowland riparian forest in and south of the U.S. I found this male in Florence River Park last week.  I must say I have rarely seen them in riparian habitat, the only other sighting for me was along a creek on the other side of Florence a few years ago.  SeEtta

Scissor-tailed Flycatchers: my last photo of female & she was on the nest

I took this photo on July 28 of the female in the pair of rare Scissor-tailed Flycatchers that were nesting south of Florence. I was on my way out of town and forgot I had this photo that was good enough to crop a lot for a closer view than I had published before. And it turned out this was the last day the female was seen that I have been able to find out-though I was out of town and she may have still been around another few days (when I returned and looked for them on Aug 2 I did not find the female so queried other birders). Do not know if something happened to the female or if there was a nest failure that caused her to leave. The location has snakes (per landowner) and there could be badgers around (a few weeks ago I saw a badger late in the day while driving about a mile from this location). There also was bad weather with thunderstorms and heavy rain during that period. And though the male stayed in the area for more than a week after the female had not been seen, he may now be gone as the last time I know he was seen was on August 10 when the landowner saw him near the nest tree. SeEtta

White-lined Sphinx Moths

Post by SeEtta Moss.

These are White-lined Sphinx moths I took with my Samsung Galaxy III smartphone. The top three pics were in the Bighorn Sheep Canyon area west of Canon City a few days ago.

Post by SeEtta Moss.

This moth is nectaring on Rocky Mountain beeplant (Cleome serrulata),  that is native in many states.

Post by SeEtta Moss.
I found this perched moth last week on the back of my car that was in a parking lot in Lamar,CO.

Post by SeEtta Moss.
Shortly after I spotted the first one, I found that there were now two and they were mating.

Post by SeEtta Moss.

I found this perched moth last week on the back of my car that was in a parking lot in Lamar,CO. Shortly after I spotted the first one, I found that there were now two and they were mating. Since I had to leave and there was little vegetation in and around the parking lot I drove slowly about a block so I did not dislodge the 'couple'. Once I got to a nice natural area I carefully put a stick under them and transferred them, still attached to each other, to a tree.

Post by SeEtta Moss.

Apparent family group of Olive-sided Flycatchers in mountain area of Colorado

I found an apparent family group of 3-4 Olive-sided Flycatchers on Thursday just southwest of Salida where the coniferous forest was edged by a deciduous riparian area at about 8,000 feet in elevation. There were at least 3 and maybe 4 Olive-sided Flycatchers and to have that many in one location would seem to indicate this was a family. Additional at times more than one of flycatchers perched near each other on a branch of one of the large cottonwood trees. Since it was late in the afternoon the lighting was poor plus the birds either perched high above or at a distance.

The following information from Birds of North America online leaves open the possibility that the birds did not nest in this location: "Fledglings typically observed with adults on territory 10–15 d after fledging, but reported with adults near the nest up to 17 d (Wright 1997) and 19 d (Altman 1999) after fledging. Mearns (1890) suggested that family groups stay together until fall migration, and those nesting in higher elevations move down-slope after breeding season."

The bottom pic show the white feather tufts coming from the bird's lower back, a possible field mark that in this instance was very prominent. Also in that location was a family group of Western Tanagers including at least one fledgling that I observed being fed and a Western Wood-pewee. SeEtta

Ladder-backed Woodpecker, a surprise on the far west side of Canon City

Canon City is on the northern boundary for sightings of Ladder-backed Woodpecker but most are seen in the area around Brush Hollow Res east of town. I spotted this bird in juniper/cholla grassland on the far west side of Canon City off of Tunnel Drive Road a location I don't recall them being reported before. Actually the west if Canon City has had sightings on a rare basis over the past 15 or so years but none in recent years. This male worked on a couple of these old wood fence posts before venturing away. SeEtta

Ever-faithful male Scissor-tailed Flycatcher--still guarding the nest tree and no sign of female for 3 days

I didn't find either the male or female yesterday morning-stayed about a half hour then went birding nearby and returned but neither in site. When I got there this morning I spotted the male right off but still no sign of the female. The male spent more than 20 minutes perched to look for prey on the utility line above where I was parked so I got some nice photos from fairly close.

The bottom pic shows the bird with a big grasshopper in it's bill and almost sticking him in the eye. This was one of several he caught and ate before flying back to the nest tree. A raven flew close to the nest tree and this male defended the probably non-viable nest by flying after the raven. It is sad to see this male waiting for the female to return and defending a nest that has been abandoned for too long. SeEtta

Scissor-tailed Flycatchers in So Central Colorado: only the male, female not seen

I have been out of town a few days so have not gone out to observe the pair of rare Scissor-tailed Flycatchers that have been nesting south of Florence,CO so I was dismayed when I was unable to find the female this morning. I observed the nest tree for over 2 hours and drove by it to look for the female on the nest without success. Though the nest is difficult to see, I do not believe the female could have been sitting on it. I can only suspect that something bad has happened to her. I do not know how long it has been since she sat on the nest as a request for sitings on our state birding listserv produced no sightings since I saw her last five days ago on Monday.

I did see the ever-faithful male who has always been nearby the nest tree on the days I have observed. In fact he would usually fly up to near the nest while the female left to forage. Today I saw him sitting in the nest tree quite awhile, still guarding the nest. SeEtta