Birds and Nature

These bluebirds were so striking with their chestnut and blue feathers contrasting with the snow, I couldn't help but take a bunch of pics. The bird in the bottom pic has a whitish colored berry in it's bill that it just plucked from the tree (berries are generally blue colored). SeEtta

There is nothing like a snowstorm to bring out the bluebirds, they seem to materialize from nowhere when the flakes fall. We had our first real snowstorm in Canon City this season, with 5-6 inches of wet snow falling overnight and into yesterday morning. These were a few of the two dozen Western Bluebirds I watched as they picked berries from some tall juniper trees. Sometimes a bluebird would just perch on top of a small pile of snow on a branch as though sitting on a soft pillow. They would also hover as they picked off the berries inside the foliage. SeEtta

This male Yellow-bellied Sapsucker has been drilling sapwells in the pine trees at Centennial Park in Canon City. His bright red crown and throat are quite striking. The broad white patch on the wing is barely visible in this pic. View the field marks up close by double-clicking on pic. SeEtta

Cassin's Finch usually breed in conifer forests in Colorado at high elevation then do migrate to lower elevation foothills and nearby plains in fall and winter. I usually see at least a few at my feeders in Canon City, but I haven't had much interest even by more common feeder birds since I filled my feeders several weeks ago (I don't feed in summer or early fall) let alone any of the mountain species like Cassin's Finch that often visit. So I was delighted today to find a male and several female Cassin's Finch including the one in this pic in the Royal Gorge Park just west of town. I was also delighted to spot a flock of Pinyon Jays. Unfortunately they were on private property in the area and flying away but so I just got to hear their distinctive calls for brief period. I also saw a Canyon Wren, a species that overwinters in this area, near the Royal Gorge canyon (though it was actually flying in and out of a wheel well on a pick-up truck--go figure). Though...

American Dippers spend their lives in and around water. They feed almost entirely on aquatic insects and "occasionally other invertebrates, small fish, fish eggs, and flying insects" according to "Birds Of North America" online. This dipper has been in and near the Arkansas River on my friend' place just east of Canon City, a location where 1-2 dippers have wintered the past several years. Last week this dipper flew towards me as it chased another dipper, likely in a territorial dispute. As it chased the other dipper, it sang some of a melodic tune then launched into it's rattle-call (similar though higher pitched than the rattle of Belted Kingfishers) Double-click on the pic for a closer view. SeEtta

Yesterday morning I got out in the cold (lower 20's) to do some birding before sunrise. I caught this adult female Cooper's Hawk in the warm glow of the dawn sunlight. I included the bottom pic because it shows the head profile--squarish appearance of head that is distinctive from rounded smallish head on Sharp-shinned Hawks. Other field marks not apparent in pics but were visible in the field. Double-click on pics to enlarge them. SeEtta

Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers, a woodpecker usually found in the eastern United States, have been wintering in Canon City every year since November, 2003. They have also wintered in Pueblo for a number of years beginning before this. Subsequently they have been found wintering at the Lakeside Cemetery and Centennial Park most years, and in a few other locations in the Canon City area occasionally. Most members of this species migrate south to the southeastern quarter of the United States, southward to Panama and the West Indies in the winter with females generally migrating further south. The top pic shows most of the field marks for this species: relatively narrow black stripes on head; complete black border framing the throat; broad white stripe crossing upper part of nape; large white wing patch; red forehead and crown with black border; black bib on upper breast; and extensive white barring on back. Females like this bird have all white throats. The middle pic provides a less commo...