Birds and Nature

After finding the Eastern Phoebe at Pathfinder Park this morning, I thought it might have been one of the two Eastern Phoebes I had seen last evening at my friend's property which is in the area. Whether it was or not, I was surprised to find a total of 3 Eastern Phoebes along with the juvenile Black Phoebe that has been staying by their pond for several weeks. The lighting wasn't good as it was late in the day and cloudy so I didn't see any yellow wash on their underparts, but I suspect 1-2 of these are juveniles. The bird in the top pic shows juvenile characteristics in the cinnamon buff edging shown on coverts. I don't think these were born on my friend's property but are moving through as they engage in post-breeding dispersal. They could even be from the first brood of Eastern Phoebes born at the old sewer tanks on the western part of the Canon City Riverwalk, about 4-5 miles west of this location. SeEtta

I birded Pathfinder Park near Florence,CO this morning to see if the juvenile Black Phoebes were still there. I only found one of the two juvenile Black Phoebes and it was calling frequently as it fed in the wetland area. Then a second phoebe flew into sight. I thought this was the second Black Phoebe, but no--it was a juvenile Eastern Phoebe. I got the top pic of the two as they perched quite near each other. They were about 75 feet away and I took the pic handheld so it is not great but shows how much more brown the Eastern Phoebe is, though the cinnamon edges to the juvenile Black Phoebe's plumage clearly stands out. The two phoebes foraged near each other, seemingly without problem. However, they did have a fussy interaction at one point but then returned to sharing this small wetland. As I turned to leave the Eastern Phoebe flew out of the wetland and landed about 25 feet from me. It proceeded to forage out in the open and I was able to get the bottom two pics of it th...