Birds and Nature

This female Long-tailed Duck was found by a local birder a few days ago. I got this pic yesterday but lost the media card for 24 hrs and just refound it. This species is pretty rare in my area with the last in 2012 that I found at Brush Hollow Res . The current Long-tailed Duck has less black on it's head than the one I found 2012. Interestingly that one was found only one day in January before this one. It is not easy to see and photograph this duck as this property is private. I photographed it from the public parking lot in front but quickly lost the duck as it swam on back where not visible from the public area. SeEtta

I spotted this Peregrine Falcon perched in a tree near the Canon City Valco ponds where it was apparently looking for prey. Before I could get a shot off with it perched it took off and circled the ponds, flying fast. I got this pic at 1/2000th of a second, but even at this fast camera speed it was not fast enough to get a good pic of this fast flyer. SeEtta

Yesterday I photographed this Surf Scoter that was found the day before on a small private reservoir called Valco Ponds along with good numbers of common waterfowl and several Grebes. I got this shot without trespassing on this private property by standing on the large cement blocks by the vehicle gate to get a clear view of the bird as it swam past about a hundred feet away.  I have limited experience with scoters, and they are usually far out on a large body of water, but I believe this is an immature as it has a dark brown iris ( Birds of North America online states , "Pale blue gray or yellow white in adult male; usually pale brown (also pale gray or yellow) in female; dark brown in immature.") SeEtta