Birds and Nature

I am trying to get into posting sightings again. Have been birding but the toll of chemo followed by radiation has reduced by energy level and stamina but slowly regaining some. I found this male Williamson's Sapsucker in Red Canyon Park just north of Canon City two days ago. This species does not spend either summers or winters in the pinyon juniper habitat of this park but I have found a lot of sapsucker holes in trees and found one during spring migration. I believe this sapsucker stopped over to feed on his migration. Unfortunately I could not get close to this large pinyon tree and he stayed in the shadows. SeEtta

It has taken a while but I have located 4 male and 2 female Williamson's Sapsuckers continuing to winter in Canon City, CO. This one is located at a private residence in town. SeEtta

Female Williamson's Sapsuckers are not boldly plumaged like their male counterparts. Like in many bird species, females of this species have plumage that blends in with it's environment which is important so when they are nesting they do not draw too much attention to themselves (and where their nest site is located) by possible predators. SeEtta

I found this male Williamson's Sapsucker this week in Canon City. By this time of the year, it is most likely that this and the other sapsuckers are going to winter here. Yesterday I drove from location to location where I have found sapsuckers and came up with 1 juvenile Yellow-bellied, 3 male and 2 female Williamson's Sapsuckers. SeEtta

I birded The Abbey in Canon City this morning hoping to refind a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker I found there yesterday but no luck. However, I found this striking male Williamson's Sapsucker working a siberian-type elm tree (seems to be the favorite tree for a lot of sapsuckers this fall in this area). SeEtta

In the fall of 2010 I found and followed several Williamson's Sapsuckers drilling sap wells in a complex of siberian-type elm trees south of Canon City that were in a dry gulch/wash located in pinyon juniper habitat. I noted some thoughts at that time that they these sapsuckers, that breed in conifer forests and especially aspen stands at higher elevation (7,000 feet+) in Colorado, might be using these dry gulches/washes for migration. Last year was a poor year for Williamson's Sapsuckers around Canon City but this year got off to an early start when I found 2 males and a female in Lakeside Cemetery on August 28, a good month before I have previously seen this species here. Since then I have found several more Williamson's in the area including the these in the top two pics here that were on the siberian-type elm tree (only 2 trunks as much of the complex was destroyed last year) in the dry gulch/wash where I found them 2 years ago. And yesterday I found the R...

This is one of the two male Williamson's Sapsuckers. I didn't see any sapsuckers this morning, but the cemetery employees were mowing and using noisy weed-eaters. So I returned early this evening and had a brief view of one of the male Williamson's. There is some ponderosa pine stands just over 5 miles from the cemetery so maybe this is not too far for this species to fly in to feed in this relatively lush environment. Though I have never found them migrating around Canon City before October, can't rule out that they are migrating through here early and stopped over to feed here. SeEtta

I decided yesterday to look in Lakeside Cemetery to see if any migrating landbirds might have decided to go through there since though there is no lake there is frequent watering of vegetation and lots of trees. I did see a Cassin's Vireo in the canopy of some mature cottonwoods, an insect eater I thought might find this area more productive during our continuing severe drought. However I also found this female plus 2 male Williamson's Sapsuckers, a species that comes to Canon City in fall and stays to late winter. I have never seen them this early here though Birds of North America online states, " In s. Colorado, birds move down-slope in late Aug and early Sep...." More to come. SeEtta

Double-click on this and the other sapsucker pics I posted today for super close-up views. This is another female Williamson's Sapsucker that I refound. This close up came out very nicely. Be aware that my digital camera and lens set-up provides the equivalent of about 900 mm in telephoto view--that's about 18X's the normal view. I took the photo from my car and left quickly without flushing the bird though it did stop feeding for about a minute when it heard my camera sounds. SeEtta

Today I found both a male and a female Williamson's Sapsucker in the town of Florence as well as 4 female and 2 male Williamson's Sapsuckers in Canon City including this female. I was surprised just how different these three pics of the same sapsucker look--I took all within one minute but the sun really made a difference in the lighting. In the bottom pic it appears, when the pic is super enlarged, that there is a small bubble at the end of the bird's bill--or maybe it's just a drop of sap?? SeEtta

Since I have been home I have refound just over half of the Williamson's Sapsuckers, one female Yellow-bellied and the one male Red-naped, that have been wintering in the Canon City area this year. Yesterday, with light snow and temps in mid-twenties (good sapsucker birding weather, really), I refound 12 Williamson's, a female Yellow-bellied and the male Red-naped. Surprisingly I refound 3 more male Williamson's , but missed 2 females that I had in the 2 weeks I have been back. Above is one of the male Williamson's that has been seen regularly on private property. SeEtta

Before I was out of town for a month on my Rio Grande Valley trip there had been up to 23 sapsuckers wintering in the Canon City area. Since I returned home I have only been able to locate 11. I took the top pic of a female Williamson's Sapsucker today at Rouse Park, a city-type park. I took the middle pic of another female Sapsucker earlier this week at a private residence. I also refound a male Williamson's at this private location which was hosting both a male and female of this species in November and December. SeEtta

Another day, another sapsucker--I found this new male Williamson's Sapsucker in a private yard in Canon City today. It is working some pines and is perched next to some sap wells he is enlarging. I have seen these birds making these enlarged and rectangular galleries of sap wells by continuing to drill and probe into the usual smaller and round sap wells they are known to drill. This pic provides a good view of one of these sap well galleries. Interestingly this type of enlargement into rectangles is described for Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers in Birds of North America online but not in the account for Williamson's. SeEtta

I had previously seen fresh sap wells at Lion's Park in Florence,CO but had not had the time to get out there early enough to find the sapsuckers working the pine trees in this fairly small park. Today I found a female Williamson's Sapsucker there but did not get a photo of her. However I also found this male Williamson's in a pine tree near the Florence Municipal Center building. This was such a nice view of it's back plumage I enlarged it to show how the white from the center of it's rump show through the black and white feathers going up the the back. Do double-click on this pic to enlarge it for a great view of details. SeEtta

This is the third female Williamson's Sapsucker I found today in Centennial Park. She was pretty shy as she peaked around the tree or put herself behind small branches that obstructed her view until I caught this view (blurred by some pine needles). It does provide an intimate view as she takes a brief break from feeding. SeEtta

This morning I found 3 female Williamson's Sapsuckers in Canon City's Centennial Park today including the one in this pic. Two were feeding in pine trees less than a hundred feet apart. With the 2 other female Williamson's I saw today, there are at least 5 female Williamson's in Canon City which is a high for this species here. I have pics of one of the other females and 2 males I saw today that I will post next (I didn't get pics of the other females). SeEtta

This female Williamson's Sapsucker has apparently been working the pine trees in Centennial Park for the past several weeks. I have seen a female in this and two other pine trees plus have seen active sap wells in several other pine trees in this park. SeEtta

The Canon City, CO sapsucker-fest continues with Williamson's Sapsuckers taking the very big lead--currently at least 4 females and 2 males in various hotspots in town. I have seen this female in the same pine tree in Lakeside Cemetery on several occasions over the past several weeks. The bottom pic catches this lady with her beak in a sap well. SeEtta

This is one of the male Williamson's Sapsuckers I found in Lakeside Cemetery today. I just love how yellow the bellies are on this species. SeEtta

I had spotted a female Williamson's Sapsucker at Lakeside Cemetery in Canon City, CO last week. This is another location where sapsuckers have wintered in most years. However, I wasn't sure if this female might be the same one that I had found at Centennial Park, which is about a mile from this location (at least as the crow/sapsucker flies) as I have found in previous years that sapsuckers work in areas this far apart. I spotted a sapsucker flying but quickly realized it was a male Williamson's. Soon after I was very surprised to find that there were two male Williamson's Sapsuckers not only working the pine trees in this cemetery but seeming to chase each other from tree to tree then feed only a few feet apart without apparent antagonism--that seems most unusual. To see if one of these males might be the male Williamson I have been following just outside of Canon City and only a few miles from this cemetery I drove immediately to where it has been working in a s...