Very good birding day in Canon City

Coming off of several days of below average temps, today's weather was great--very mild with temps in the 70's. And the birds were great. I went to the western section of the Canon City Riverwalk for a change. However, the lack of mosquitos in the past week lulled me into not wearing any repellant which was not a good move-as the sun came out and the day warmed, so did the mosquitos.

The usual birds were active--Western Wood-Pewees and their juveniles were everywhere as were Lesser Goldfinch. There are still a lot of Black-headed Grosbeak foraging in the area as well as Western Tanagers and Blue Grosbeak. A White-headed Nuthatch called frequently as it worked it's way up a tree while a male Downey Woodpecker tapped away on a tree nearby. I saw a few hummingbirds but could only id the male Broad-tailed who make a distinctive sound as they fly. The Blue Jays have their young in tow and are calling loudly both at the Riverwalk and in nearby residential areas such as the one in which I live. And Black-capped Chickadees added their call to the din.

I spent an inordinate amount of time trying to id another Empidonax flycatcher but finally gave up and chalked it up as another empid species. After hearing calls of Gray Catbirds for awhile, I walked off the trail into the vegetation where I was able to see several skulking through the trees.

On my way back down the trail I found another active area with warblers "chipping" and feeding in some Russian Olive trees. I could make out several Wilson's Warblers and an Orange-crowned. Again I walked off the trail into the vegetation, having not learned my lession earlier as this again precipitated a full blown attack by a number of mosquitos.

The big surprise for me was finding 2-3 Red-naped Sapsuckers chasing each other in the area. This seems awfully early for this species that I usually don't see until at least November.

While watching the warblers and trying to blow the mosquitos away (so as not to swat at them and chase the birds away), a strategy doomed by the bites I was receiving, an adult White-tailed doe and her fawn appeared. As I was fairly camoflaged by the vegetation, and standing still (in spite of the bites), they moved closer as they foraged. This, of course, encouraged me to stay longer, and stand still while the mosquitos made minch meat of my arms. The two deer moved to about 25-30 feet of me. At that point I just couldn't take the bites anymore and moved back to the trail. I got some great photos but will have to post them tomorrow as it's late and I'm tired.
SeEtta