Birds and Nature

Though with the 400mm lens I use, a 1.4 extender and the multiplier for my dslr camera because it is not 'full frame', which gives the equivalent of about 900 mm (about 18 X the normal view) zoom, the Vermilion Flycatcher was too distant for very good pics (and it was 6:30 pm so the lighting wasn't good either). The pics were taken from about 90 feet but when I tried to get 20 feet closer the bird fly further away. I tried unsuccessfully to refind her.  However, the darkish mask and streaked underparts are visible.  And the bird dipped it's tail, phoebe-like, which is the first thing I saw that with it's light coloration made me think this was a Vermilion.  The light yellowish wash on it's lower belly and vent area instead of a salmon/pinkish coloration is indicative of first year birds.  SeEtta

Late today I spotted this first year female Vermilion Flycatcher in the Canon City,CO area.  A rarity here and much of Colorado, there have been only 1 or 2 other records since I found the first Vermilion which was also a first year female.  Two more pics to come.  SeEtta

Last week I drove back out to Lake Holbrook which is north of La Junta. The water level has been fairly low providing good shoreline that has been occupied by a number of shorebirds including several Snowy Plovers. I was lucky that these Snowy Plovers landed fairly close, maybe 30-40 feet from my car, where I was videotaping a large flock of Marbled Godwits that were further away. Snowy Plovers are a species of conservation concern in Colorado so I am always delighted to see these little fast-running fluff balls. I was surprised to watch one of the Franklin's Gulls chase one of the Snowy Plovers away from the area where a number of these gulls were loafing. I can't imagine why this gull did this since these little plovers are so much smaller and cannot be a threat to them. SeEtta Moss

I can only think that this White-faced Ibis was trying to either dry off it's wings or engage in 'sunning' behavior as it lifted it's wing and spread it for a view of the underwing plumage not often seen. This bird's head feathers are standing out as though wet so it may have done some bathing in the water standing in the field. I did no editing other than to crop this pic either so the greenish tinge to the top part of the underwing is how these feathers appeared. SeEtta

href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIYuzRGEbyCDbtD7tvBuxBvcgTPIbNmaUkmyHEyTFctMWYnnq2w3rL41_FmZFJYI8JY-zDJbLu0QfgLkEQRP_ozNQRPEHmTQBluMq5c0qR1Mi_PFw0t0NxEg8VlSgAabEaUjFOjDCMASI/s1600/IbisFlock-Florence.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"> Pic at top shows several hundred Plegadis ibis as they fed in ag field. The video clip shows 200+ Plegadis ibis flying from one side of the field to the other where more ibis are feeding. The video is best seen in full screen view (click on the 4 arrows in lower right corner of screen) I have now gone through all the pics of ibis that I posted as Glossies. The 3 birds I identified as Glossy Ibis below (in post labeled 'Better pics of Glossy Ibis' and 'Two Glossy Ibises feeding near each other) all have blue facial lines that do not invade behind the eye. I believe that at least these 3 birds in the flocks I saw are Glossy Ibises though there ...

How to help frogs:   Don’t use pesticides.......Don’t eat frog legs......Don’t purchase wild-caught amphibians as pets......Slow down driving on wet nights......Do not stock non-native sh in your pond or stream.......Do not purchase bottled water......Turn off the tap-Conserve resources....Reduce, Re-use, Recycle......Use rechargeable batteries.......Vote for the environment......Become a herpetologist......Go vegetarian......Eat locally grown, organic food......Donate to SAVE THE FROGS!......Wear a SAVE THE FROGS! t-shirt 

Amphibians are without a doubt the most endangered group of animals on the planet: nearly 1/3 of the world's 6,485 species are on the brink of extinction. There are six major factors negatively affecting amphibians, and all are due to human activity: habitat destruction, infectious diseases, pollution & pesticides, climate change, invasive species, and over-harvesting for the pet and food trades. SaveTheFrogs