Birds and Nature

I did a little birding at Sell's Lake this afternoon, right before/during and after a nice rain shower. The Black-crowned Night-Heron appears to have moved on but I found this first-of-the-year Green Heron. Wish I could have got a really good photo of it but it had started raining plus I was shooting through the chain link fence that surrounds this private pond. There were also dozens of Yellow-rumped Warblers, most in bright new plumage working the trees around the pond. SeEtta

This very large common snapping turtle is also inhabiting Sell's Lake along with a number of both resident and migrating bird species. SeEtta

Boy, today was filled with lots of uncommon birds including this very uncommon Black-crowned Night-Heron. Along with a number of other birds including all three phoebes, a few Blue-winged Teal, some gorgeous Tree and Barn Swallows in their bright new plumage was this roosting Black-crowned Night-Heron. Unfortunately it was resting it's head to the opposite side from where I was located outside this fenced private pond so I couldn't get a photo with it's head showing. SeEtta

This is one of two Black Phoebes I found foraging at Sell's Lake today. There was also a Say's Phoebe and an Eastern Phoebe feeding there. At one point they were feeding near each other so that all three phoebes were within 25 feet of each other. I subsequently found 2 more Black Phoebes at the MacKenzie end of the Canon City Riverwalk. This is a species that has undergone a major population expansion in Fremont County since I found the first one in 1995. SeEtta

I was really surprised when I saw about 15 or more Hermit Thrushes in less than 15 minutes in and around the Sell's Lake parking area for the Canon City Riverwalk. I subsequently found 2 more Hermit Thrush almost 3 miles east of there near the McKenzie Ave parking area for the Riverwalk plus one more on agricultural lands about a half mile north of the Riverwalk. This is also an unusual number of birds for this area as this species is usually seen as single birds in Fremont County. Seems likely the snow storm and winds yesterday were involved in this also. SeEtta

I was surprised to find this lone Wilson's Phalarope swimming in Sell's Lake. Phalaropes are usually found in flocks so I suspect this lone bird got lost from it's buddies in the snow storm and winds yesterday. So about an hour later I found 18 more Wilson's Phalaropes a 4-5 miles east of Sell's Lake, swimming in the Arkansas River. This species is seldom seen in Fremont County. SeEtta

I found a good sized flock of 30-35 American Pipits in a flooded agricultural field just to east of Canon City. This is a rather high number for my area as we usually see only 1 to a few of this species and they have been reported on a rather uncommon basis in this area. SeEtta

I photographed this Northern Parula yesterday morning at Neals Lodges where the Tropical Parula continued to be present. A group of us saw and heard the Northern Parula yesterday morning but could not see it well and it's song sounded so much like the Tropical that we believed it was a likely a second Tropical Parula. One of the group uploaded his photos on his computer and saw the black and orange bands on it's chest (also has split white eye ring and the yellow does not extend into the bluish face like on a Tropical Parula) Lesson learned: just because it sounds like a zebra and looks basically like a zebra and there is another zebra in the area, don't believe it isn't a horse until you check the field marks. SeEtta