Birds and Nature

The top pic is one of a pair of Black Phoebes that I have for the past week or so on a friend's property just east of Canon City. These other two pics are of a single Black Phoebe I spotted at Florence River Park. SeEtta

Brightly colored male Cinnamon Teal are all around the area now even flooded agricultural fields like this one in Florence, CO where I found this guy. These Greater Yellowlegs were the first I have seen this year and are all decked out in their spring plumage. Also saw one Lesser Yellowlegs but didn't get a pic. SeEtta

I watched this Black Phoebe fly to a perch in this location several times then she flew under the overhanging vegetation to gathering nesting material and mud at the bottom of the bank. I expect it is getting it's nesting material right near the water as the vegetation should be easier to pull out of mud than dirt as well as the best place to gather mud for the nest. SeEtta

I photographed this female Belted Kingfisher at Florence River Park, a small local park in Florence, CO adjacent to the Arkansas River. The bottom pic is not very sharp but I included it since it shows that the rusty belt runs from the chest to the sides and up onto the underside of the wing. SeEtta

Yesterday I found an apparent pair of Black Phoebes near a often use nest site along the Arkansas River at MacKenzie Ave in Canon City. Today I found a single Black Phoebe on private property near a long term nest location. I was pleased to find this Black Phoebe gathering and taking nest material including blobs of mud to a site I had suspected was a nest site but had not been able to confirm in previous years. In this top pic the phoebe is carrying some vegetation with attached mud. Females gather nest material and construct the nest so this is the female. The pic above is that same Black Phoebe with the vegetation in her bill just before she flew to the nest site. The pic below is of the apparent mate who stayed nearby while the female above gathered and brought nest material. SeEtta

I spotted this pair of Common Mergansers on the Arkansas River in Canon City yesterday. They took advantage of the swift flow to move them quickly downstream with little effort. SeEtta

  I have an area in Canon City that Wilson's Snipe find good for foraging.  I was surprised recently to watch one of them 'bouncing' up and down on it's legs repeatedly as it foraged not too different than the foraging behavior of American Woodcocks.  I checked Birds of North America online which indicated this was done, "apparently to startle prey into moving."  Top pic is darker as it was overcast while sunny for bottom pics.  SeEtta