Birds and Nature

I spotted this female bighorn sheep in a small maternal herd in the Bighorn Sheep Canyon about 30 miles east of my home.  Female sheep live in small groups of ewes and their lambs.   I think this ewe has such a bright eye that she must not be very old.  Both top pics are of the same female bighorn sheep. The pic below is one of the several lambs in this herd. SeEtta

I drove up the Bighorn Sheep Canyon that runs west of Canon City where I live along the Arkansas River two days ago and spotted this adult Bald Eagle perched above the river but not far off the road. I was able to stop and get my photos from about 150 feet away, taking pics from inside my car to avoid risking flushing the eagle. I am pleased to report that after taking pics and driving off the eagle was still perched as it was when I got there. I took the top 2 pics at 600 mm equivalent focal length and additionally cropped them significantly. The bottom pic is the second pic before I cropped it. SeEtta

  I celebrated part of Earth Day today watching wildlife in our Bighorn Sheep Canyon that starts just a few miles west of Canon City and ends near Salida.  This little cutie was with it's family herd.  While the others were foraging this young one laid down on a rocky outcrop to watch (it may well still be nursing).  SeEtta

When I drove up Bighorn Sheep Canyon west of Canon City earlier this week I was looking for bighorn sheep as this is the time of year they begin their annual mating season. I didn't have to squint to see the big ram as he was right in the traffic lanes of H50. I drove slowly towards him in hopes he would leave the highway and he did. See bottom pic for view from inside my car of this ram and some of his harem. His harem was right grazing on the side of the highway and he joined them while keeping an eye on me. This ewe is wearing a monitoring collar--provides info to wildlife officers on where the bighorn sheep go during different seasons.

I spotted this small herd of Bighorn sheep in the Bighorn Sheep Canyon west of Canon City this past week. Though their coats are often pretty rugged they have such beautiful brown eyes. A little further down the canyon I spotted another small herd of Bighorn Sheep showing off, and practicing, their skills at traversing steep locations. SeEtta

On Saturday I located a total of 4 American Dippers at three locations along the Arkansas River in the Bighorn Sheep Canyon west of Canon City plus two nests at two locations. The photo just below shows one of the dipper nests. I videoed this American Dipper as it fed on the multiple insects on the shore. While this species is best known for feeding in and under rapidly moving water there had been a good caddis hatch so seems likely this bird as well as it's mate, that I also watched feeding on the shore, were enjoying the caddis flies. SeEtta

After birding with some friends today I went on to do some birding in the Bighorn Sheep Canyon west of Canon City. I spotted 2 Pinyon Jays that I followed by car for a ways then unable to drive where they flew I went on to check on American Dippers. When I drove back that way I refound the jays in some pinyon juniper. I watched from my car as some unknown number of Pinyon Jays flew about and called. I wondered if this could be a nesting area. Though I have found Pinyon Jay creches before I have never found a nesting area. I walked in and found this bird perched rather quietly. It allowed me to approach on foot most unusually close, only about 40 feet away when it moved further inside the tree. Then I spotted the bird in the photo below walking further away, maybe a 100 feet. As I watched it pulled grasses with it's bill, apparently gathering nesting material. Sorry the photo isn't sharper but it was pretty distant for this handheld photo, but you can see the ...

Just as the Bald Eagles are in the Bighorn Canyon to forage along the Arkansas River that runs through this scenic area, so are the American Dippers. I was also disappointed in the low number of dippers I found--only 2. They are usually beginning to nest around now but I saw no evidence of nest building at each of 3 long term nesting locations. And generally they are in pairs by now. Possible reasons could be the ongoing drought which has reduced the Arkansas River to much lower levels than usual or maybe the drought has reduced their food source? It is difficult for them to nest as recreation has increased substantially on this areas of the Arkansas River, both from boaters (most rafted river in U.S.) and fishermen. There were even 3 goldpanners near one of their traditional nest locations today and they get flushed by people so close to the places they nest. I like how all the small eddys showed so well in the top photo. In the bottom pic I believe the dipper was grab...

During the winter Bald Eagles move south to areas with open water and the Arkansas River through the Bighorn Canyon is always open for at least much of the way even in severe winters. I was disappointed to find only this one Bald Eagle but this is around the time they start migrating back north. Sorry for not getting good close-ups but this eagle was perched about 350 feet away. This is a subadult IV, meaning it is an eagle in it's 4th year. While some eagles attain full adult plumage at this age some, like this bird are only close. It has dark smudges on it's yellow bill, it's white head and neck have dark markings, some white feathering on both it's body and flight feathers, some retained white splotches on it's belly and flanks, and dark markings on it's tail feathers. SeEtta

I spotted 3 bighorn sheep ewes near the side of the highway near Cotopaxi, CO in the Bighorn Sheep Canyon this week. The top two photos are of 2 of the 3 ewes feeding on the more lush vegetation near the road. The middle photo shows some the grasses projecting from that ewes mouth as she chews. The ewes kept looking up the hill behind them and later the lamb in the bottom photo came into view. SeEtta

These are a few of a herd of 8+ Rocky Mtn bighorn sheep I spotted grazing not far off of H50 in Bighorn Sheep Canyon which begins about 11 miles east of my town, Canon City, CO. Note the gorgeous native blue grama grass that surrounds the ewe in the top pic--this location is BLM lands and our public lands can protect our native ecosystems as has been done in this location. Bighorn sheep spend most of the year in separated herds composed either of mature rams or maternal herds composed mostly of females but including lambs and young rams like the one in bottom pic. I took these pics from my car so I wouldn't disturb these bighorns and this pays off with better photos. Since I was able to stabilize my camera on the window the photos can be even further enlarged than the cropping I did so double click on each one for really close-up views (the teeth on the ewe in the top pic even show a little when pic is further enlarged. SeEtta

To top off a great day filled with Bald Eagles and Pinyon Jays, I spotted this bighorn sheep ewe just as it was getting dark. She and a second ewe were high up the canyon walls on the top of this rock formation. What a wonderful way to end the day. SeEtta