Monarch Butterfly migration still happening-this time in Red Canyon Park

When the Monarch Butterflies had decreased from 10 to 2 at Brush Hollow SWA a few days ago I thought that M3 onarch Butterfly migration was over for south central Colorado. But I was wrong-I found 3 Monarch Butterflies in a large patch of Rabbitbrush at Red Canyon Park less than 10 miles north of Canon City. 3 may not seem like many but this has got to be about the most westerly area that Monarch from the central flyway likely can be found. I have been birding at this park several times over the past week and have checked this Rabbitbrush patch each time for butterflies and this is the first time I have seen Monarch Butterflies there. Red Canyon Park is right up against the foothills, actually the beginning of the foothills that precede the Rocky Mountains in this area of Colorado. (there is a western flyway for Monarch's that is not currently believed to cross to the east side of the Rocky Mountains though research is just beginning).

This big patch of Rabbitbrush was very busy serving nectar to many Painted Lady Butterflies, a lot of bees and a few other species of butterflies. They were sipping nectar as fast as they could as a big storm system was coming in with rain and very strong winds-hope the Monarchs found good shelter. SeEtta

Mountain Chickadees already moved down to lower elevation

I found a couple of Mountain Chickadees at Brush Hollow Reservoir yesterday a location that is 25-30 miles from the foothills. I had spotted a single Mountain Chickadee on the Canon City Riverwalk last week but since this is only about 5 miles from the foothills a stray Mountain Chickadee sometimes comes down early but with those at Brush Hollow there may be an early plains invasion of this species. I found the one in these photos feeding on larva that is inside of most of the leaves in the cottonwood trees around my area in the fall. I looked that up two years ago when I first noticed this with warblers feeding like this and found that leafminers are insects that feed inside of leaves and that they produce large 'blotches' that are irregularly round.

There were a lot of Yellow-rumped Warblers in the trees around the reservoir at this location as well as the first Orange-crowned Warblers, a group of 3 moving together, I have seen in migration this fall. Also many Pine Siskins were foraging here. SeEtta

Large flock of White-throated Swifts feeding in Royal Gorge Canyon

Over the week-end I did some birding at the Royal Gorge Park (not the for-pay now amusement park but the free and not-yet developed park owned by the City of Canon City). One can get to the edge of the Royal Gorge Canyon which is breathtaking and not uncommonly flown by White-throated Swifts.

There was a fairly good sized flock of White-throated Swifts that were in a feeding frenzy--one came so close past me, only a few feet, that I reflexively pulled my outstretched camera back close to my body.

As can be seen by the pic just above this is a very scenic backdrop for watching these aerobatic swifts.

The pic just above shows about 20 of the flock that totaled more than 50 birds, evidently a migrating flock that had stopped over to feed. SeEtta

Large flock of Cedar Waxwings

In addition to migrating landbirds I found a large flock of Cedar Waxwings this past week along the Arkansas River in Canon City. There are more than 25 in this photo and about twice that many in total in the tree. SeEtta

Landbird migration strong through south central Colorado

Landbird migration has been pretty good this past week. Birds like the Blue Grosbeak above and the House Wren(s) I saw today were few but I have seen well over a hundred Wilson's Warblers with the largest number just over a week ago. Surprised I am still seeing Western Tanagers as so many had moved through during the first half of the month-but I saw about 10 tonight in just two trees (that were above a lot of wild grapes) by the Arkansas River. SeEtta

Burrowing Owl: very close up

Day before yesterday I drove to the area north of La Junta, CO to bird under unusually cold temps (in the 40's, which is especially unusual for this lower elevation area in early Sept). Among the several Burrowing Owls I spotted was this one perched not far from the road.

I approached carefully in my car (stayed in the car and was very quiet to reduce disturbance) until I was able to get these close up photos that I have cropped to provide very close up views. I took these with my Sony Cybershot at 50x under challenging overcast conditions that were of high quality so I could crop them (except the one just below that was too close up to crop any).

When I drove away the owl was still perched in the same location and after I turned my car around and drove back past it remained in the same spot--undisturbed, which is my goal when photographing birds. SeEtta

Desert Whitetail Dragonfly and Ovipositing Common Green Darner

Here are two more odonata that I photographed over the week-end at the Dragonfly Festival at Bitter Lake NWR in New Mexico. Bitter Lake National Wildlife Refuge is one of the top locations for number of odonata species in the U.S. The top odonata is a Desert Whitetail Dragonfly.

This pair of Common Green Darners just above are perched in tandem while the female deposits her eggs. Following is a great description from the Animal Diversity Web: "Once mating is complete, common green darners remain in tandem and oviposit in pairs. The pairs fly low over the water, with the male still grasping the female, and they land in the open to oviposit. They lay eggs on floating stems and leaves, including alive and dead material, as well as on woody branches." Fyi, the male is the brighter colored dragonfly and is in the front. SeEtta

Inquisitive Virginia Rail

Though it seems unlikely this Virginia Rail kept coming out almost into the open, seeming to be curious about me. Even if that was not the case it did provide me the opportunity to get these pics.

There was a second Virginia Rail less than 25 feet from this one but it was busy hunting so moved to quick for any pics. SeEtta

Black Saddlebags Dragonfly

This is a Black Saddlebags dragonfly and I think it is pretty cool looking. "Black saddlebags, although fairly common, are striking insects. The hind wings are long and wide, with irridescent black bands on the parts of the wings closest to the body. This gives them their common name "black saddlebags," because the black patches make them look like they're wearing saddlebags. The rest of the wing is clear." SeEtta

Common Green Darner pair in tandem

A photo of a pair of Common Green Darners in tandem as she oviposits. SeEtta

Harrowing rescue on steep canyon walls off Tunnel Drive

I drove to the west end of Canon City this morning to do some birding but when I got there I saw that a rescue was starting on the steep canyon walls above Tunnel Drive on the other side of the river from where I was located. The top photo gives a good view of what I could see without the use of optics--note the white arrows pointing that are pointing at the young woman who was the subject of the rescue. Though I was several hundred yards away I had close up views through my 45X spotting scope lens. And since I photograph birds, flowers, mountains, just much of what I observe I started photographing this rescue by our local Canon City Fire District.

I was fearful on several occasions as I watched the firemen climb without safety ropes. Once the lead fireman in the red helmet got to her he started cutting a large cactus that is shown in front of her in the top pic so she could late come down past it. Then other firemen climbed to the top then threw a safety rope down to be attached to the victim. All of that took more than an hour.

I am not posting photos that show the young woman's face clearly--she climbed without proper gear and I am sure had a frightful as well as embarrassing time. I will share all the photos with the Fire Department if they are interested in using them for their action review.
The rest of the photos here show the rest of the rescue as the lead fireman got the victim down and eventually put in a rescue basket for the trip down.

Again look for the white arrows pointing to the fireman who are carrying the victim in the rescue basket down this steep canyon.

In the bottom pic they are almost down to the trail/service road that goes up Tunnel Drive. The firemen with the victim in the rescue sled are to the right of the white arrows. Further to the right are two more Fire Department members waiting for them to get down. Glad this was successful. The firefighters did a wonderful job of rescuing this young woman. SeEtta