Birds and Nature

I first heard these Evening Grosbeak giving soft inter-flock contact calls near where I had stopped my car in Red Canyon Park yesterday. There were about a dozen of them feeding in this and nearby juniper shrubs. Interestingly all that I saw were females or immatures as shown in these photos. And each one I saw eating had pieces of juniper berries all over their bills, they are pretty sloppy eaters. SeEtta

I had the pleasure over the week-end of having a flock of at least a dozen Common Nighthawks feeding overhead above my home. They were evidently a migrating flock that flew around and around for about 45 minutes as they fed on whatever insects were in the air. I had a similar flock feeding over the Canon City Rivewalk not far from my home 2 weeks ago but couldn't get the photos I was able to crop for enlargement as here to see the field marks. The bird in the first photo is a male--see the white tail band and large bar on primaries. The next two are of a female-no white tail band and primary bar more limited. The bird just above and below are males. The bird above and the bird below are females. And the last one is a male-it's white tail band is not as obvious but can be seen if clicked on to enlarge further and the primary bar more extensive. SeEtta

This past Monday I birded Red Canyon Park about 10 miles north of Canon City where I stumbled upon some very young fledgling Gray Flycatchers. There was definitely one parent in attendance that I observed feeding one or more of the young birds, and I believe the other parent was nearby. They were in thick vegetation and I was unable to get a photo in focus and also the parent(s) quickly moved the young away. Yesterday I returned and looked for the family. I found what is likely the same family about 75 feet from where I had last seen the Gray Flycatcher family earlier this week. An adult bird flew into a shrub less than 30 feet in front of me and I got the top photo of that bird. It was quickly followed by a calling apparent fledgling that flew into the same shrub as the parent bird flew out. I believe the 2nd, 3rd and 4th photos are of that apparent fledgling but cannot be certain. In support of my belief that this is a fledgling, or at least a young juvenile, is the ...

As I was walking on Canon City Riverwalk today I heard a cicada fly right behind me. When i turned I saw that the cicada was in the grasp of this Cicada Killer on the ground just a few feet away. The Cicada Killer started dragging it away. I surprised at how fast the Cicada Killer moved especially since it was carrying the cicada beneath it. This short video clip shows that: It moved quite fast for ~75 ft to a tree then climbed the tree with the cicada in it's grasp. Lost sight of them -~25 ft above the ground.

When I last checked on the Acorn Woodpeckers in Pueblo Mountain Park on July 8 the pair were flying in and out of the nest hole repeatedly so I had the impression they were caring for nestlings. This visit these rare woodpeckers were not near the nest tree but in another area of the park where I found them foraging. And I found 4 of them and it appeared that two were juveniles. The bird on the limb in the pic above has bluish eyes which are found on juveniles . The center pic shows the parent bird on the far right as it was feeding the fledgling, the bird in the center. The bottom pic is a few seconds after the feeding and when enlarged the eye on the bird in the center is blackish, which is the color of very young juveniles. I think the bird on the far left is the other juvenile (the one with the bluish eyes) as it dropped down from a limb above when the parent came to feed the other young bird. SeEtta