Birds and Nature

This photo was so good I was able to crop it for a very close-up view and like the others is tweak-free (no other editing). It is really nice to see the rufous shoulders that are not always seen on these birds. And what a coincidence, today I heard a Dickcissel singing in a farm field in the Canon City, CO area;however it was so distant I was unable to locate it visually. That was a surprise as this is the far edge of their range so they are not always in this area every summer. SeEtta

I drove down to the lower Arkansas Valley a few days ago to look for some special species and I was successful in finding Dickcissel, a species I truly enjoy listening to. I was concerned that they would have a difficult time finding suitable habitat as they use hay fields since we have converted much of the grassland. And this year due to very warm spring the hay fields were high and being cut sooner than usual. In fact I found many hay fields had already been cut but did find 3 or 4 male Dickcissels still singing their hearts out in uncut fields. I had such great mid-afternoon light that these photos came out so nice all I did was crop them to enlarge the birds. SeEtta