Grassland hawks

In addition to all the Snowy Egrets I saw in Otero Co on Saturday, I enjoyed some nice grassland birds including Swainson's Hawks. In addition to the adult Swainson's Hawk in these pics, I saw 4 immatures and an additional adult in a one mile stretch just north of Holbrook Reservoir (which is just north of La Junta).

As can be seen in these pics, wings of Swainson's Hawks are rather elegant. This is a typical light morph adult, with gray face, white throat and face patch and dark brown back. The uppertail coverts on the lower back are lightish colored, forming a "u" that is clearly seen in the lower two pics.

Other raptors included an immature Bald Eagle that was perched in the same tree where a Bald Eagle nested and produced 2 young (so this is likely one of those). I also saw even more Red-tailed Hawks than Swainson's as well as several American Kestrals.
SeEtta

Immature Snowy Egret

In one of the two flocks of Snowy Egrets I saw yesterday in Otero County, at least one was an juvenile. These photos are of the same juvenile egret. The lores have limited yellow, feet are dull yellowish and the legs are dark. It is also clear that this egret doesn't have the plumes that develop first in Definitive Basic (winter) plumage. See the photos of the adult Snowy Egret on the previous post to see the difference.I've posted both of these pics even though they are quite similar. The yellow in the lore area is easier to see in the top pic while the not black color of the legs (adults have jet black legs) is clearer in the bottom pic. It helps to double-click on the photos to enlarge them.
SeEtta

Lots of Snowy Egrets

Sorry I haven't posted regularly these past few weeks but after posting almost daily for one and a half years, I just needed some off time. Anyway I drove down to the lower Arkansas Valley yesterday for the first time since June. The occasion you ask--the temps were only going to be around 90 for the high (instead of closer to 100) and no storms forecasted (so my dog Banjo, who is totally terrified of thunder, wouldn't be freaked out). As is almost always the case, I had a very good birding day. I saw around 40 Snowy Egrets, which is a lot for most of Colorado (ain't no coastal area around this state) including the bird in these photos. Though I was trying not to flush the flock, I did. The other egrets flew further from me but this one circled back and forth overhead several times.

Snowy Egrets are such elegant birds. SeEtta

Barn Swallows still having babies

A friend of mine from Rocky Ford sent me this photo earlier this month (she needs to reset the date on her camera). This is a nest full of Barn Swallow nestlings that is under her carport. The nest was built on top of a frog wind chime.

Kim said that some of the nestlings had fallen out of the nest and she was worried the cats in the neighborhood would get them. It is not unusual for nestlings to fall, get pushed out or just try to fly away prematurely. Sadly free-roaming cats are a real risk for these babies.
SeEtta

Throwing rock at Soras-what a shame

Yesterday I arrived fortuitously at the wetland where I have been following the rails while the sewer district employees were there (the wetland is actually an old sewer lagoon that has been inactive for years). These two employees were tossing granules onto the wetland to kill mosquito larva (non-toxic per studies).

Since one of them was right near where the Sora hatchlings were, the adult Sora's were calling madly, giving their whinny call repeatively and loudly clearly in distress. As I walked closer I saw the younger employee throw a rock right into the area where the Sora hatchlings had been. I yelled "hey, what are you doing?" He said he was putting the mosquito granules in the wetland but admitted he had thrown a rock where I confronted him with size of the object I saw him throw. He explained that he thought there were ducks in the reeds and he threw the rock in so he could see them!

This is an awful way to get to view ducks or other critters since they can be injured by the object being thrown at them. In fact, the rock this guy threw was as big as the Sora hatchlings so could have killed one if it had been hit. I told this employee that these were rails with babies, which of course he didn't even know what they were. I also told him that these birds were protected by the Int Migratory Bird Treaty. He seemed regretful. I also explained all this to his supervisor and asked that they do what they could to avoid disturbing these birds. He said they were in there monthly during summer months and that they could just throw the granules onto the vegetation near the shore so as to disturb the birds less.

I stayed around while these guys were nearby just in case. I saw several Virginia Rail hatchlings (they are growing rapidly and are quite a bit taller and larger than when I last saw them) but no Sora hatchlings (actually I stayed away from where they had been to let them settle down) They did quiet down but when an airplane flew overhead the Soras called repetitively (so it seems that the loud noise of airplanes does set them off). Since these poor birds had already suffered far too much distress, I took this photo to show these guys what these birds look like and left as soon as these guys moved further away. I didn't go back today either as I thought it best to let them recover from their traumatic experience with humans before I returned.
SeEtta

Yet another Virginia Rail hatchling pic

I stopped at the wetland this morning to see if I could get a better pic of the Sora hatchlings. Not a chance as I didn't even get a glimpse of them today. In fact, I gave up after one of adults wouldn't stop calling. Though I have been successful in making myself unobtrusive to the Virginia Rails and previously to the Soras, apparently this Sora was having none of it unless I moved so far from the wetland that I couldn't look for the hatchlings.Though the calls appeared to be the "peep" call that is used to maintain contact between a pair of Soras, I didn't want to take any chances that I was disturbing them especially after I read that a parent continues brooding them. The hatchlings may be sensitive to the temperature and today is predicted to be around 100 so I believe it would be most unethical to keep the parent from protecting them or from possibly still incubating unhatched eggs.

So I went to the other side of the wetlands where I have been watching the Virginia Rail and got this pic of a hatchling. This pic shows off how the dark band on the bill expand, eventually causing the entire bill to turn black. I did notice that there is some variance among the hatchlings on this progression with some showing less extensiveness of this black band.

I was delighted to watch a parent feeding with 2 hatchlings following closely (I did see 2 others slinking in the thicker vegetation and following at a more removed distance). The adult would jab with it's bill into the vegetation and the 2 hatchlings would quickly jab there also. Clearly the adult demonstrates how and what to forage for during these forays. I also heard some soft hatchling calls for the first time.
SeEtta

And Sora hatchlings too!

While following up on the Virginia Rail hatchlings, I looked for the Soras that I hear calling every time I am at the wetlands where these are found. Not only did I see at least one adult Sora but I spotted at least 3-4 Sora hatchlings. They were huddled together on top of some foilage about 20 feet into the wetland vegetation. As I was about 35 feet from them I couldn't quite see just how many there were. They appeared even a little smaller than the Virginia Rail hatchlings were when I first saw them (and when they were probably less than 7 days old).I wasn't able to get a better pic due to all the vegetation that was hanging in between, especially since there was a good breeze and the leaves were moving across the opening in which I was watching these hatchlings. However it is possible to see a small black body with some orange around it's yellowish beak. Birds of North America (BNA) online states, "Covered with thick, glossy black down, with tuft of orange bristles beneath chin." It further says that their bill is yellow with a reddish base. A little more detail can be seen by double-clicking on the pic to enlarge it (though the clarity diminishes).

I only got to watch these hatchlings briefly as a parent that was patrolling near them gave some alarm calls and they retreated into the thicker vegetation. BNA says that the chicks don't usually start leaving the nest until 3-4 days old in one section then in a subsequent section cites literature indicating that they start leaving the nest at 2-3 days old "to feed nearby" (parents still give them food for 2-3 weeks but apparently they begin feeding themselves then). Interestingly it also says that hatchlings are brooded near the nest by a parent for the first 4-7 days, and that they may brood them in the water. This may be done while the other parent continues to incubate unhatched eggs. Since they usually lay 8-11 eggs, the other parent may still be on the nest.

While I was watching, a commercial jet plane flew fairly close overhead, making a lot of jet noise. The Soras made their whinny call during this disruption and I thought that they might be giving an alarm call in response to the airplane noise (I was standing still and hidden by a tree so I don't think they were calling relative to my presence at this time, though they did when I moved about the area). And BNA notes that this species does call in response to loud noises

A few more Virginia Rail pics

Here are a few more Virginia Rail hatchling pics. The top pic shows two hatchlings feeding near each other. The bottom pic shows one of the parent rails feeding with a hatchling. The color of the parent's plumage is distorted from the editing I had to do to lighten the photo as they were in the shadows.

SeEtta

Additional Virginia Rail hatchling pics & into

It was really neat to watch the hatchlings as they not only followed but were able to keep up with the parent bird today. And today the hatchlings were feeding themselves alongside the parent bird instead of being fed. This also fits with their being around 2 weeks old as Birds of North America (BNA) online says that by 7 days old they can feed on their own. It also that they are able to probe at 14 days and they engaged in probing into the vegetative matter just as the parent rail did.

The top pic shows the bill which is lengthening and transitioning to black from it's pinkish (though it still looks different in the photo than the more blackish appearance in my binoculars), as the black band around the bill expands with age. The bottom pic shows the increased size of the black band even clearer especially if double-clicked to enlarge it. The increase in length was very noticeable to me. Now the bill is starting to look more like an adult's. Interestingly this pic seems to show a bare spot on the crown, a characteristic described in BNA.

More fun with rails (Virginia and Sora)

So I returned again this morning in hopes of getting some better pics of the hatchlings. The parents were not as vocal this morning as they had been during my prior visits when they would give frequent contact and alarm calls. The parents were also less active and I was beginning to wonder if I would even see them. However my patience was well rewarded as I saw at least 2 adult and at least 2 hatchling Virginia Rails (see later post re: Soras).The hatchlings are larger than when I first saw them on August 1. As can be seen in these pics, they still have their black fuzzy natal down. The fuzziness is quite visible in the lower pic as are the blackish legs that are characteristic of hatchlings. The top pic clearly shows that this hatchling still has a black iris, a characteristic of Virginia Rails until their third week when they turn dark olive according to Birds of North America (BNA) online. BNA also says that juvenal plumage begins around 2-2.5 weeks old and if it has started it isn't obvious yet. Given this and my first sighting of them, I feel reasonable comfortable aging these hatchlings as around 2 weeks old especially More on them in the next post.
SeEtta

I've spent some more time with the Virginia Rails in the private wetlands that I have been following. These pics show off the flight feathers as the bird stretches. I saw the hatchling Virginia Rails more and can say with some certainty that there are at least 4 black downy hatchlings. This time I was able to discern that their bills had a pinkish tint and a black band around them. However, I was unable to get reasonable pics as they scurried (like in run fast on short legs) across any openings in the vegetation.

It is also interesting that the rail felt comfortable enough to engage in grooming, which it did for about 10 minutes, while I stood on the bank about 50 feet away. I stood very still for a long time before this rail began grooming. I heard the Virginia Rails engage in contact calling between each other and heard the Sora's call from time to time.
SeEtta

Mourning Doves still nesting

Since many Mourning Doves have two nestings, some can still be found on the nest like the one in this pic. I was actually looking for another bird I had seen fly into this shrub when I looked up and found I was close to this dove. I was surprised that she didn't flush as I have inadvertently flushed other Mourning Doves that had less tolerance for humans being too close to their nests. It is apparent from the pic why I didn't see this dove until I was so near and that is because she is very well camouflaged.
SeEtta

LesserGoldfinches

Oh,my, I had to take a few days off from something so did so from this blog. I finished the big comments for the BLM Arkansas River Travel Management Plan then had to really focus on my new duties as the Chair of the Arkansas Basin Roundtable's Non-consumptive Needs Assessment committee (the length of the name just tires me out).The male Lesser Goldfinch in these pics was busy singing, something that birds of this species seems to do more frequently than most. This was one of several Lesser Goldfinch of the green-backed form that was flying around my yard earlier this week. Lesser Goldfinch breed in so many different habitat they seem ubiquitous throughout most of SE Colorado. Read more about them and hear their song.
SeEtta

Black bear tracks

While birding in the San Isabel National Forest in Custer Co this afternoon I found these Black bear tracks in some almost dried mud. This is the beginning of the time that these bears spend most of their time eating to put on fat for the winter. And there are a lot of Gambel oak (commonly called scrub oak) that produce acorns and this year some of these shrubs were loaded with acorns.
I always finding signs of mammals when I am out birding. In fact, I have seen several Black bears and also several mountain lions while birding around the Canon City area.
SeEtta

Virginia Rail HATCHLINGS including a pic

I was back doing surveys for the Colo Breeding Bird Atlas-II at the wetlands at the site on which I have posted pics of Virginia Rails below. I have had glimpses of what have looked like older (blackish but almost as large as adults) Virginia Rails before. Today I saw at least 2 very young hatchlings, one of which is shown in this pic.

I first saw 1 very young hatchling run between the cattails a few times. Later I saw a very young hatchling following an adult Virginia Rail, who then stopped and fed it. Then another adult Virginia Rail came from the other side and appeared to call a very young hatchling out and proceeded to feed it. This was all too cool as these hatchlings stayed mostly in the vegetation.

As can be seen in the pic, the hatchling is covered in black down, which is it's natal (birth)plumage. Though not shown on the photos (looks almost gray in the photos) I took, the bill on these hatchlings looked whitish. From what I can discern from Birds of North America (BNA) online and several other references, these hatchlings are probably more than 3-4 days old but less than 3-4 weeks old.

Virginia Rails are "precocial", meaning that they are capable of moving around on their own soon after hatching. From what I've read, they do "run down the nest ramp" by the end of their first day after hatching (per BNA). Apparently both parents feed the hatchlings for about a month.
SeEtta

More rails

I returned to the wetland where I have seen rails this morning. As has been the case on the other days I have gone there, both the Virginia Rails and Sora's called quite a bit.

Though this pic isn't real sharp, it does show off the plumage of adults of this species. It especially shows off clearly the reddish-brown or russet colored iris that distinguishes the adults from juveniles.

This is one of 3 adult Virginia Rails I saw in close succession in different places in the wetlands so I know there are at least 3 adults there, and I suspect 4+. While I watched, they made contact calls between each other and their offspring. It was just like eavesdropping on family conversation.
SeEtta

Listing on MyOutdoorTV.com website

I was delighted to read a comment on my July 30 post that this blog had been chosen to be listed on MyOutdoorTV.com website. This is a new website with a lot of outdoor information that streams shows on hunting, fishing and boating. The comment noted, "We recently added a blog section to our site. We love your blog, and we added it as a link. Thanks for providing such great content. .."

Being placed on this website, to which I did not apply (and hadn't even known about it's existence), is pretty cool especially since this is only the 24th birding blog they have added to their site out of the hundreds that are out there. And this provides more opportunities to promote birding in SE Colorado to a national audience that will be attracted to their webpage.

I emailed the writer and told her that I was pleased and thought it made sense to have birding blogs on their site as I now several birders who are fishermen and hunters. Also I know people who are primarily fishermen and hunters who enjoy watching birds.
SeEtta

Another neat dragonfly pic-Twelve-spotted Skimmer

It took a little bit to get close enough to this Twelve-spotted Skimmer without flushing it in order to get this close-up pic. This is taken with the macro setting on my digital camera at 1X with a slight enlargement by cropping.

This dragonfly was at the wetlands where I have had rails. There were a number of these flying around there so I suspect they are pretty common here.
SeEtta