Birds and Nature

I further cropped one of the photos below to super enlarge the face of this Yellow-billed Cuckoo to show it's grayish orbital ring. I haven't often either viewed a Yellow-billed Cuckoo up close or taken photos that provide the close-up views as I did with the bird I found yesterday in Van's Grove. I have seen in Sibley's and National Geographic (6th ed) that they have a yellow orbital ring and show drawings of both adult and juvenile birds with yellow orbital rings. When I cropped my photos to enlarge them it was clear that the bird I found did not have a yellow orbital ring-it was grayish. So I did some reading and now am confused. Birds of North America online states, "Orbital skin pale yellow in nestling; grayish in adult." McGill Bird Observatory (has banding photos) states, "A quick and reliable way to determine age in Yellow-billed Cuckoos is by the orbital ring, which is yellow in HY/SY birds (until late winter or spring) and grayish in o...

Though this is the second Yellow-billed Cuckoo I have found this year (actually in the past 3 days), I could only hear the other cuckoo giving it's 'coo' song but was unable to find it visually. I found this Yellow-billed Cuckoo this afternoon at Van's Grove in southeastern Colorado. SeEtta

While this male Blackpoll Warbler, another rarity in Colorado, was not nearly as accommodating as the Magnolia Warbler, I did a couple of good shots. Though not brightly colored it is still stunning in it's crisp black and white breeding plumage. This was in the same area of southeastern Colorado (Van's Grove) as the Magnolia. SeEtta

This Magnolia Warbler appeared to pose for photos. SeEtta

I found this male Magnolia Warbler at mid-day at a local hotspot called Van's Grove in Bent County, CO. Thanks to having to drive through Pueblo plus 4 small towns along mostly 2 lane H50 it takes over 2 1/2 hours to drive to this location (plus I had to make several stops in Pueblo) so I didn't even get there until almost 1 pm. I spotted a second and different warbler but had not been able to see it for id when a local birder, Duane, drove in. I was trying to find a photo of the other warbler but Duane told me that another birder, Eric had been there early this morning and called him to let him know he had seen a Magnolia and a Blackpoll Warbler there (I got good looks at it later and photos that I will upload after the Magnolia photos). Duane said he only had a few minutes as he was going to work. After several minutes of looking I refound the Magnolia and got Duane on it. This bird was very cooperative as we watched it for several minutes. Later as I was trying...