Western Fremont County update

I birded western Fremont County completing my survey of nesting American Dippers. Due to early spring run-off (this has been a trend and is anticipated to continue, is this Climate Change at work?), the Arkansas River has been running very high for the past several weeks. I could not find any American Dippers at all from Texas Creek to the Chaffee County line. Clearly nesting is over and I don't know where all the dippers have gone. With the water as high as it is there are few rocks for them to use and little shallow water in which they can forage. They may have moved up side streams that empty into the Arkansas River.

I did find at least 1 Black Phoebe. Though the Black Phoebes in Canon City have already fledged their first offspring, this is fairly early so the Black Phoebes in Western Fremont County may not even be nesting. I will have to return to see if I can find evidence of breeding at a later date.

I also found a possible nesting Lewis' Woodpecker in the vicinity of the Vallie Bridge. I also saw another bird enter basically a slot in a cottonwood. Unforunately I caught this out of the corner of my visual field and can only confirm the bird was brown. I believe it may have been an American Kestral.

And I saw Tree Swallows and Mountain Bluebirds that are nesting in nest boxes in Howard.
SeEtta