Yellow-billed Cuckoos in Canon City area

I found the Yellow-billed Cuckoo in this photo on the east section of the Canon City Riverwalk this morning. I hadn't been birding down there for over a month as the mosquitos were thick. I was delighted this morning to find tent catepillar nests as they are associated with Yellow-billed Cuckoos. So as I walked the trail, I called occasionally (though I certainly don't sound like a Yellow-billed Cuckoo to me, it is close enough or entertaining enough to the birds as I have had reasonably good success in getting Yellow-billed Cuckoos to respond; and I don't play tapes as I think they are so real they are quite intrusive and can easily be played too much-it is less likely, tho certainly not impossible, that a person will overdo it when calling themselves).

As I returned down the trail I heard a Yellow-billed Cuckoo call. I looked up and, though the bird didn't fly (which is a much easier way to spot them) I spotted it 200 feet away perched in the canopy of a large (80 foot tall) cottonwood tree. I was most happy that I could spot this bird as I have had some problems recently with eye problems because some vitreous material separate from my retina (one of those darn age-related things, tho fortunately not serious) and have large "floaters" that make looking for detail in distant birds even more challenging than usual.

I called a few more times and the same bird returned my call. It remained on the same perch for the 15 minutes I observed and photographed it (of course I was never closer than 100 feet from it). In addition to loafing in the canopy, it did a little grooming. I also saw another Yellow-billed Cuckoo on Aug 6 fly across my path on my friend's farm about 3 miles from this location.

I also saw 1 Black Phoebe near the MacKenzie Ave bridge. It was foraging at a distance from 75 to 150 feet from the bridge so is still viewable from a public area (though I see Black Phoebes at this area only one out of 2 or 3 times I bird there). I continue to see up to 2 Black Phoebes on my friend's property.

I got some photos of the today's cuckoo and they can be seen at http://www.flickr.com/photos/smoss/?saved=1
SeEtta