Birds and Nature

Last week I saw this Bald Eagle perched on a utility pole just under a hundred feet from the road. I carefully stopped, stayed in my car to use it as a 'blind' and go these two photos. I am happy to report that after I drove off the eagle was still there, undisturbed by my presence. The fun thing about this sighting is this was far from open water (nearby Brush Hollow Res was frozen over)where this species is most often found. Instead it was perched over a prairie dog town, an alternate food source to their more frequent food choice of fish. They do predate on prairie dogs. I believe this eagle is a sub adult IV, or 4th year bird. It has a number of dark markings visible amongst the otherwise white feathers on it's head but has he yellow bill and pale yellow iris found on adult and near adult birds. SeEtta

I drove up to Red Canyon Park yesterday morning and walked too close to a tree with this female Willamson's Sapsucker who flushed literally over my shoulder. She is so well camouflaged I had no idea she was in the tree until she flew out. I have in the past noticed hundreds of sap wells drilled by sapsuckers in the pinyon and juniper trees in Red Canyon Park just north of Canon City but though I have birded there in spring, summer and fall I have never spotted a sapsucker in the park. Since I found the first Williamson's Sapsucker in Canon City in the winter more than a decade ago many sapsucker have been documented overwintering in the Canon City area, a few other areas in the region, while most migrate south to New Mexico or further for the winter. Though one bird does not confirm that this species overwinters in the pinyon juniper habitat of this park, it certainly seems most likely. She returned a short time later and I watched her drilling into the deeply pockete...