Wet Mountain Valley sunset

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Sangre de Christo Mountains are in the background. SeEtta

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Colorful Violet-green Swallows

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If you ever wondered why they named these 'Violet-green' these photos will demonstrate that those these birds are violet, blue and green colored. I took these photos with super zoom and then cropped them a little more to get these close-up views. The weather was a little snowy so light was poor but the birds were perching longer due to the cold weather. This was the day of our big late snowstorm that caused 'fall-out' conditions so there were a lot of swallows that were forced down during their migration. SeEtta
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Ducklings of the Black-bellied Whistling kind

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I photographed the tiny ducklings and  mom above at Estero Llano Grande State Park .  They are Black-bellied Whistling Ducks, a species only that are found in a few southern states in the U.S. but in Mexico, Central America and all the way well into South America.  They both perch and nest in trees and not uncommonly perch on overhanging wires. Their name fits their frequent calls that include a whistling sound. There are more than 20 ducklings with this pair of Black-belllied Whistling Ducks, a species of 'tree ducks' . The AllAboutBirds.org website notes, "Females often lay eggs in the nests of other whistling-ducks—a behavior known as egg-dumping."  So it seems likely that some of these babies came from other ducks but that these parents don't seem to care.  SeEtta
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Yellow-rumped Warbler, fence sitting

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Yellow-rumped Warblers are well known for their 'generalist' abilities-feeding at the top to bottom of a tree canopy, sallying out after a flying insect or foraging on the ground, they are everywhere. However I am used to seeing them in fairly close proximity to trees when not in them: "During winter, Yellow-rumped Warblers find open areas with fruiting shrubs or scattered trees, such as parks, streamside woodlands, open pine and pine-oak forest, dunes (where bayberries are common), and residential areas." This one was out in the middle of some fallowed agricultural fields perching on a fence near the Mountain Bluebirds-maybe an example of the old saying 'birds of a feather stick together.' SeEtta
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