Birds and Nature

I had a meeting this morning so didn't get out to look for the Dickcissel until noontime. It sang a lot from a tree several hundred feet away. I returned this evening after 7 pm and it flew onto the utility line nearby where it sang for a good 5 minutes. We have terrible smoke from wildfires so no blue sky, just gray smoke that eats up photos. SeEtta

I also found at least one male Dickcissel in the same hay field as the Bobolink here in Canon City this week. In fact I heard the Dickcissel as I drove down the road next to this hay field. It has been singing more than the Bobolink but not as continuously as I have heard this species sing when they first arrive and are announcing their availability to females. It had been difficult to see as it was perching on trees on the west side of the field but on the side of the field not the side of road. This morning this one flew in almost right above my head (so close I had to take my camera off the tripod as it was directly above). Have only heard and seen one of these at a time so far also. SeEtta

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