Blue-gray Gnatcatcher building nest: video clip

-
Here is the short video clip of a Blue-gray Gnatcatcher working on a nest in Red Canyon Park north of Canon City. I think it is neat to watch birds shaping nests with their bodies as this one does. As noted in prior post I took the video as well as photos in other post from inside my car to reduce disturbance to nesting behavior. SeEtta

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Colorful Violet-green Swallows

-
Image
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
Read more

Glossy Ibis, rarish visitor to Colorado

-
Image
Today I found a small flock of about 25 White-faced Ibis, first of the year birds here, in a flooded agricultural field in Florence. I always check each dark ibis to look for the rarish Glossy Ibis, more likely found in eastern U.S., which I usually find in large flocks of around a hundred or so. Surprise, I found not just first of the year White-faced but Glossy Ibis. These photos show the bluish bare skin on it's face which are arranged as lines above and below the eye, and not going around the eye as with the bare skin on White-faced Ibis. Though the third photo just above is not as sharp, it is good for showing the difference in facial features of Glossy and White-faced Ibis right next to each other. The forth photo also shows the difference in these species though in a different perspective as they are loafing with heads resting on backs. The bottom pic shows the flock feeding in the flooded agricultural field. SeEtta
Read more

Upper Rio Grande Valley birding: 2 Gray Hawks, Zone-tailed Hawk flyover and more

-
Image
Stephanie Galla and I went birding in the Upper Rio Grande Valley yesterday. We were pleased to find not only one but 2 Gray Hawks while we were at Chapeno. The photos of in flight Gray Hawk are of one of the birds. The perched hawk is the second Gray Hawk. They were both pretty near each other for more than 15 minutes without apparent antagonism so seems likely that in this season they are a mated pair. While we were at the feeders in Salineno Michael Marston and a group he was leading arrived and shared the fun. Michael spotted this Zone-tailed Hawk as it did a fly-over. It kept circling as it moved away so the hawk was more than a hundred yards away when I got this photo. Several Atlamira Orioles came in to feed while we were there. We enjoyed watching this Greater Roadrunner at Falcon State Park as it hunted insects on and near the road for more than 20 minutes. There was a flock of about 15 Least Sandpipers on the rocks in the Rio Grande River a...
Read more