Birds and Nature

Yesterday I found an unusually large flock of at least 20 but more likely 30 or more Eastern Bluebirds just east of Canon City. As we are right up next to the mountains where they are not found they are fairly uncommon in this area. However while we do usually get some of these in the winter it is generally 5-10. I found and photographed these on private property where they were coming down to drink from a canal that was mostly iced over. I followed the flock as it flew over to the Pathfinder Park where they appeared to be foraging in some Russian Olive trees that had good numbers of olive fruit on them and they were fairly small in size. SeEtta

While many neotropical migrants apparently found a clear sky sometime last night to continue on their migration, there were still lots of bird diversity around the Canon City area. I found both these Eastern Bluebirds (fairly rare here though this species has bred here in the past) and the Western Tanager below at Pathfinder Park--we do often get both eastern and western species. In fact I saw Eastern, Western and Cassin's Kingbirds at that location today. Also an Ash-throated Flycatcher, a continuing Olive-sided Flycatcher, several remaining Wood-pewees (most now identifiable as Western Wood-pewees as they are singing), a few Yellow-rumped and Yellow Warblers. And from some cliffs on the other side of the river from Pathfinder Park I could hear a Canyon Wren singing it's song. More in other areas next. SeEtta

For several years at least one pair of Eastern Bluebirds has nested near Canon City. Yesterday I found several Eastern Bluebirds on my friends farm just east of Canon City. They were in the company of several Mountain Bluebirds, a mix I have not previously seen. I refound the Eastern Bluebirds today and they were on their own--two males and at least one female though there was likely a second female staying somewhat distant and difficult to see. This eastern species is uncommon this far in south central Colorado while both Mountain and Western Bluebirds are both common in this area. SeEtta

)  I heard these male bluebirds singing yesterday and was privileged to watch their competition for a female Eastern Bluebird. This species is very uncommon in my south central Colorado location but I did document a nesting by Eastern Bluebirds in my area a few years ago. These male bluebirds chased each other and had a song competition that enjoyable to hear (and I suppose the female bluebird thought so also). This series of short video clips start with the boys singing then the chase begins. )     The males just sing from nearby perches in the second video clip. Sorry about the noise-though not that close to a highway the sound really carried when loud vehicles drove by. )    Towards the end of the last video clip there are sounds of people approaching then a chickadee 'audio-bombs' (tried to find this term but didn't locate it as a term so you may have heard it hear first-just the same as photo bomb but for sound) the video with it's song. SeEtta ...

Though I would like to have been there when the baby bluebirds fledged I had to leave. When I returned a few hours later they were gone from the nest. After some searching I found them in the nest tree and trees nearby. Now I had to leave my ‘car blind’ and take my Canon 60d dslr camera (it also shoots these HD video clips) on a tripod to a location where I could see the bird through the trees. I spotted the baby bluebirds with my binoculars which I find very important when photographing birds as they provide better visual acuity than does any camera/camcorder viewfinder I have used. I was amazed that two of these baby bluebirds that had fledged within the past 4 hours had managed to fly to a tree over 50 feet away. There were at least 4 and possibly 5 fledglings and they kept the parent birds very busy flying to different locations in 3 trees to feed them. The video below is a short clip showing one of the bluebird babies grooming itself from where it was perched in the crook of a...

I spotted this male Eastern Bluebird with the plump worm in it's beak as shown in bottom pic. I was surprised to find one at this time of year as we have only had Eastern Bluebirds in the winter and then usually only one or two small flocks that stayed for only a week or so. I watched this male fly to a tree snag, linger then fly away so I hunkered down in my car and waited until he returned. He first leaned into a hole in the snag as he was feeding that juicy worm to some apparent nestlings. I watched him for about 20 minutes as he brought more food to the nest, Then the female came out for awhile. After the female left this very devoted father went inside the nest cavity and brought out a fecal sac. The female returned with food once then I left as she showed some reluctance at the nest hole and I didn't want to interfere with her taking care of the nestlings. This is neat as this is the first breeding record for Eastern Phoebe in Fremont County,CO and only 11 pre...

The Eastern Bluebirds in the post below were feeding in a mixed bluebird flock with Western Bluebirds, the species that is fairly common in fields around Canon City, CO. The lighting was not as good with these pics so I have edited them to correct for dark photos. As seen, both Eastern and Western Bluebirds are eating juniper berries. SeEtta

These pics are of a male Eastern Bluebird I photographed in Canon City a few days ago. And the only thing I did to the photos was to crop them, no other editing as these came out so bright and so colorful because the light was good. Eastern Bluebirds are fairly rare here as their normal range barely comes over the far eastern border of Colorado. SeEtta