Birds and Nature

This Townsend's Solitaire was in between the Ladder-backed Woodpecker and the two White-throated Sparrows on the Canon City Riverwalk this morning--all were within 150 feet of each other and adjacent to the trail. At one point the Townsend's Solitaire flew to a small native juniper (only about 4 feet tall) on the dry hillside near the cholla cactus where the Ladder-backed was feeding. The Townsend's spent several minutes picking juniper berries off that tree. Then it flew into the tree in these photos and proceeded to sing. It's beak is parted in the top pic as it was singing when I took this photo. I rarely see Townsend's Solitaire along the Canon City Riverwalk and they are seldom reported in there. I have seen more in town in the past few months and wonder again if they are moving into these less traditional areas looking for food due to the extended and severe drought conditions in juniper type habitats. SeEtta

I was very surprised yesterday when this Townsend's Solitaire landed less than 10 feet away and stayed put while I photographed it. I have never found this species to be quite so tolerant of humans. And I was standing out in the open and had been taking photos so it would have heard the sounds of the mechanical shutter on my dslr releasing. There were several Townsend's Solitaire nearby and one had sang their sweet warbling song that brightens a winter day. Both pics are the same, just the one on top was severely cropped to get a super close-up view. SeEtta