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Showing posts from July 25, 2010

More super close up pics of Green Heron

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I was able to get these super close-ups by using my car as a blind. The heron was less than 20 feet away but undisturbed as I was very quiet and moved slowly and stayed in my car. I took the pics with my Canon Xti with a 400mm lens,a 1.4 extender--as the camera is not full framed there is another 1.6 multiplier that nets about a 1000 mm equivalent--plus I cropped the photo but only a little. I really like the deep chestnut color on the plumage of this young heron. SeEtta

Super close-up of Green Heron

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Yesterday I was delighted to find this Green Heron on a farm pond at my friend's near Canon City,CO. I have seen adult Green Herons at this location every summer for the past 5 or so years and can't believe they would keep coming around this area unless they are breeding near here. This is the first evidence of local breeding since I saw a Green Heron carrying nesting material in the middle section of the Canon city Riverwalk which is about 2.5 miles away. This heron is in juvenal plumage but still has a few pin feathers which would indicate it is pretty young. More pics to come. SeEtta

Rocky Ford Mississippi Kites

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My last stop yesterday was in Rocky Ford which is one of the towns along the Arkansas River with Mississippi Kites. I only saw 3 kites including the one in this pic. As it was early evening I was also treated to the chittering of foraging Chimney Swifts flying above. SeEtta

Blue-eyed Darner dragonfly

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I caught this beautiful dragonfly in flight at the John Martin Res State Wildlife Area. It was patrolling some emergent wetlands and about 75 feet away, in a tree, was a singing male Dickcissal! Not far away in one of wooded areas of this SWA I heard a Yellow-billed Cuckoo call. Though it called 3 times I wasn't able to spot it and I didn't want to spend much time as I was being devoured by female deer flies (the females need blood meals to lay eggs just like marsh mosquitoes) and mosquitoes. For super close-ups just double-click on each pic. SeEtta

Black-necked Stilts in yucky water

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Yesterday I birded in the lower Arkansas Valley during a very unusual cool spell (usually close to 100 in this area but lower 70's yesterday). I found these Black-necked Stilts in the yucky water of a stockyard wastewater pond in Ordway,CO. Also enjoying the yuck were some American Avocets and a few Franklin's Gulls. Like other yucky places, this pond is a big hotspot for lots of birds species so I always check it when I'm in the area. SeEtta

Young Mallard chicks, all alone

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I spotted these 7 very young Mallard chicks swimming in the Arkansas River near my friend's place with no sign of a parent bird. As these no more than a few days old, their chance of survival was not good. I had hoped that some Canada Geese upriver might adopt them but though they swam towards the young siblings, they soon moved away. The chicks did survive that night as I found them still swimming together the nest day. I hadn't been back for several days and though I looked for them today, there was sign of them. Makes me wish I had a very long-handled net to scoop up these needy birds. SeEtta