Birds and Nature

I only had a few minutes to see what birds had come in to the Canon City Riverwalk this morning due to an out of town appointment. As I looked in the mature cottonwoods by the river for a Plumbeous Vireo I spotted, I noticed this Black-chinned Hummingbird sitting on a branch about 35 feet above the ground. Upon further inspection I could see she had already built this nest on the branch and it just blended in very well. SeEtta

I photographed this White-breasted Nuthatch this week at the Canon City, CO Riverwalk. I heard this one and several more calling as they foraged along tree trunks and limbs, probing for tidbits between crevices.as the bird in the middle pic is doing. The White-breasted Nuthatches found in the Interior West make a rapid fire double-noted call which sounds to me like 'bidi-bidi-bidi-bidi' (various sources describe the call differently). The call of these birds is usually different from Eastern and Pacific populations and Nathan Pieplow has done fantastic work on this. Read his posts on this species here . Check out the beautiful chestnut undertail and lower belly which is shown nicely in the bottom pic. SeEtta

Just a couple of pics of a male Red-shafted Northern Flicker I took at the Canon City Riverwalk yesterday. I love to hear them calling in the fall and especially giving their 'wicka wicka wicka' calls. SeEtta

I received 4 emails, all from very skilled and experienced birders, with 3 stating they were convinced the warbler I posted below was indeed a Northern Parula. One suggested the possibility of a Magnolia Warbler. SeEtta

I stopped at the Canon City Riverwalk for a short time this morning to see what might be around while I drank a cup of coffee after my class. I heard then saw 1 Cedar Waxwing, something akin the poster child for an oxymoron (we always expect to see them in a flock and only rarely find one alone). I walked a little further and soon heard the sounds of more several Cedar Waxwings including this one. SeEtta

This is one of a pair of White-breasted Nuthatches foraging near each other in the same tree on the Canon City Riverwalk. According to Birds of North America online, this species is socially monogamous, maintains their pair bonds year round, and "pairs remain together from the time they establish a territory until one of the partners disappears." These birds emitted soft calls, mostly the "hit and tuck" call that sounds like "ink." SeEtta

I saw this attractive caterpillar on the Canon City Riverwalk this morning, it's full name is Banded Woolly Bear . I have read that they are often seen in the fall after they emerge from the egg to overwinter in the caterpillar larva form. When winter is over, they pupate and emerge as Isabella tiger moths . Folk tales had it that the amount of black on these caterpillars predicted the severity of the coming winter--not true as this is related to it's age. The bottom pic shows the interesting pattern of their bristly hairs. The small tan spots are grains of sand from the trail as it rolled up in a defensive move when I moved it into the clearing for a better pic. SeEtta

I also found this Clouded Sulfur along the Canon City Riverwalk. Like so many of the butterflies I have seen, it was on rabbitbrush. With about a 2 inch wingspan, Clouded Sulfurs are large enough to be easily seen especially when compared to the many small yellow butterflies. A common species, it is found throughout Colorado and many other states. The proboscus, the (straight dark) tubular feeding tongue that extends from the butterfly mouth, can be seen by double-clicking on the lower pic. SeEtta

As I noted in my post on Painted Lady migration, I saw a fritillary species butterfly in the same rabbitbrush shrub in which I found 8 Pained Ladies (must have been some great flowers on that shrub) along the Canon City Riverwalk. As I am a novice at butterfly identification, I checked to see which fritillaries are found in Colorado and found that there were a number of this family that occur here and several look like this butterfly. So I will have to call this a fritillary species. SeEtta