Birds and Nature

There is nothing like a snowstorm to bring out the bluebirds, they seem to materialize from nowhere when the flakes fall. We had our first real snowstorm in Canon City this season, with 5-6 inches of wet snow falling overnight and into yesterday morning. These were a few of the two dozen Western Bluebirds I watched as they picked berries from some tall juniper trees. Sometimes a bluebird would just perch on top of a small pile of snow on a branch as though sitting on a soft pillow. They would also hover as they picked off the berries inside the foliage. SeEtta

Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers, a woodpecker usually found in the eastern United States, have been wintering in Canon City every year since November, 2003. They have also wintered in Pueblo for a number of years beginning before this. Subsequently they have been found wintering at the Lakeside Cemetery and Centennial Park most years, and in a few other locations in the Canon City area occasionally. Most members of this species migrate south to the southeastern quarter of the United States, southward to Panama and the West Indies in the winter with females generally migrating further south. The top pic shows most of the field marks for this species: relatively narrow black stripes on head; complete black border framing the throat; broad white stripe crossing upper part of nape; large white wing patch; red forehead and crown with black border; black bib on upper breast; and extensive white barring on back. Females like this bird have all white throats. The middle pic provides a less commo...