Birds and Nature

I have traveled to Holcim Wetland the past 3 days to monitor the Tundra Swans. I got this better flight photo on Thursday but not the way I would prefer. When I drove into the parking lot above the wetlands I could see the swans were still there and in the northwest section of the pond--they had their heads under the water feeding on "Aquatic plants, seeds, tubers, grains, some mollusks and arthropods." (from Birds of North America online). I had walked down the south trail to the west end as the swans were on the northwest part of the pond. As I walked west they began swimming east so I ended up at the west side with them on the east side of the pond--and clearly a move made to avoid me. So I waited about 10 minutes to see if they would see I was not going to bother them and return, but they did not. So I walked back on the trail with only minimal views of them as they stayed closer to the thick cattails which hid much of their bodies. When I got closer (almost direc...

We rarely get swans of any type in the Canon City area, the last were a few years ago. So it was nice to hear that a local birder had found two at the Holcim Wetlands just east of Florence. I was out of town all day so stopped by in the afternoon as I drove back. I was pleased to spot the two of swans flying back in to the wetlands after looking as much as possible with most of the trail still not repaired and off limits. I guess they might have been off somewhere feeding and were now  returning for the night. Thought I was photographing swans landing so was surprised to find this Canada Goose had photo-bombed on of the pics. This swan landing shows that swans are not always the graceful looking birds they are said to be. The swan below shows only a small amount of yellow in it's lores while the other swan shows a lot of yellow as is found on Tundra Swans. SeEtta When the two were right beside each other they look like exactly alike but the amount of ye...

These are photos from yesterday afternoon when the Tundra Swans were disturbed by a greedy photographer--they were not at the pond today and I doubt they will return. The impact that this one person had on these swans is demonstrated by the fact I observed these swans when a train went by, sounding it's horn as it crossed the busy intersection very near the pond--they didn't fly off, they just swam to the side of the pond more distant. I had to remember their exquisite beauty and gracefulness in the photos I took yesterday as they circled and circled, rising higher and higher, as they gained altitude as they flew away. SeEtta

I drove down MacKenzie Ave in mid-afternoon as I wanted to check to see if any more swans had been added. I spotted the birds taking off from the water so I quickly turned into the drive across from the ponds to take these photos. All 10 swans circled as they rose higher and higher, appearing to be gaining altitude to take off from here. I couldn't understand why they would leave at this time then I spotted a man with a camera that had been far back inside the private property on which he trespassed. He said he had flushed them but had gotten some very good photos. As can be seen by his camera in pic below, he only has a mediocre zoom lens and this guy is clearly an amateur photographer.  That sucks. I checked late this afternoon and they had not returned. Who knows how far these swans had traveled to find a pond where they could rest undisturbed. And the two that arrived today had little time to rest up. SeEtta

This morning I stopped across the road from the Valco Ponds where the Tundra Swans were. Due to warm temps and chinook (snow and ice eating) winds, the ice that had kept the swans closer to the road was gone and the swans were far back and difficult to see from the road. There looked to be more swans so I drove down the road looking for a better viewing location. That turned out to the the bridge over the Arkansas River. These pics were taken from the bridge looking northeast to the pond where there were now 10 swans, one of which was an immature. The bottom pic is a tightly cropped photo showing the immature closer up. SeEtta

The close-up photo above shows the field marks for Tundra Swan nicely including the small amount of yellow lores that many of these swans showed. Click on the photo to enlarge it for a very close-up view. And I enjoyed the photo below as the swan was stretching as it provides a view of much of the bird not usually visible when they are on the water. SeEtta

Here are some closer photos of 7 of the swans. I was hiding behind vegetation and the group all swam closer so I got some closer pics including these. All appear to be adults. All of them showed field marks for Tundra Swans as identified by Sibley: "Tundra’s eye appears nearly separate from the bill";rounded borders (not pointed like Trumpeters), 'relatively short-necked and goose-like', showing 'curve at gape'. SeEtta

I found this group of Tundra Swans this morning in Canon City,CO. They reminded me of the song "8 Days of Christmas". Click on pic to enlarge.  More pics to follow. SeEtta