Birds and Nature

While I have 3 Mountain Chickadees coming to feeders in my yard I photographed this one elsewhere in town. I do enjoy these cute little acrobatic birds. SeEtta

The Juniper Titmice in the previous two posts and the one below are located in trees in the dry gulch near Canon City where I have been following the Williamson's Sapsuckers (that are not feeding in the pines in the urban area of town). They fly in from the surrounding juniper woodlands and flit around in not only the siberian-type (non-native) elms in the gulch but in the tamarisk that are also in the gulch (which is obviously not dry all the time). The titmouse in the top pic has it's bill poked into a sap well. Also feeding at the sap wells drilled by the sapsuckers in these elms are Mountain Chickadees including the one in the middle and bottom pics. Note the whitish object in the mouth of the chickadee in the bottom pic--it looks like a grain of rice but I think it may be a insect larva, possibly a bark beetle larva or eggs? I have also found what appear to be pretty fresh sap wells in some ponderosa pine trees a mile or so from the dry gulch area but have not found...

This Mountain Chickadee is another winter visitor to the Canon City, CO but it comes not from afar. Like it's name implies, this species is a resident of our mountains (or at least the foothills). In fall and winter Mountain Chickadees engage in an attitudinal migration. Some find their way to the eastern plains with most seen in areas near the foothills like Canon City. In most winters I have at least one Mountain Chickadee that comes to my feeders and they seem to really like the raw peanut pieces I put out. There have been times when a Mountain Chickadee would repeatedly call until I put out more peanuts, seemingly telling me to bring more of their favorite food. Though some would consider this anthropomorphizing, I have experienced the same repeated calling by Blue Jays and being buzzed by hummingbirds when feeders were dry--and the behavior stopped when I brought out their food--hmmm. SeEtta I photographed this chickadee at The Abbey. As noted on the pics, it has a seed...