Birds and Nature

In this short clip one of the American Dippers, with a big mouthful of nesting material, flies up under the mechanical arm that runs the gate to this small dam. The nest is located on a shelf on that mechanical arm just above where it connects with the gate. SeEtta

I recorded this pair of American Dippers that were building a nest on the mechanical arm that opens and closes the flood gate to a small dam in the Canon City, CO area. In this short clip the dippers are foraging and grooming at the bottom of the gate next to one where they were building their nest. SeEtta

The top two pics show an American Dipper, with nesting material in it's mouth, perched on the mechanical arm of a dam gate. Both are the same pic but the second is much enlarged. The nest is located behind the gate arm and a foot or two directly below where the bird is perched. The bottom two pics show a dipper that I caught in flight as it approached the nest site that is behind the gate arm. SeEtta

I used a little alliteration to describe the nesting of a pair of American Dippers in the mechanical structure of a dam near Canon City,CO. I think you can easily see the nesting material in the mouth of the dipper in the top pic. The two middle pics show one of the dippers feeding on the base of the dam. The third pic is so classic dipper--head stuck down into the water where it searches for little micro-invertebrates floating by. And the bottom pic shows the pair together--the top bird fishing at the bottom of a dam gate and the other gathering some nesting material. SeEtta

I took this pic of the SuperMoon from near Canon City,CO with my Canon xti dslr with 400mm 5.6 lens and Kenko 1.4X extender--since camera is not full frame it gives a 1.6X multiplier on top of this for an approx 900mm shot. There were some thin clouds that show a little in this pic. I think it's cool to see the little roundish craters on the moon. SeEtta

Sandhill Cranes are migrating north to their breeding grounds including a population found in the interior West. I first heard (as usual) this flock of around 65 Sandhill Cranes near dusk yesterday when I was checking up on a heronry at Holcim Wetlands in eastern Fremont Co.,CO. SeEtta