Bright but hard-to-see Yellow-breasted Chat

The Canon City Riverwalk has been filled with songs from both neotropical migrants and resident songsters-and louder than them all is the cacophonous vocalizations of Yellow-breasted Chats. This chat got my attention by mimicing the "mewing" calls made by the Gray Catbirds that had been singing in the area--I really thought I would see a catbird so was surprised to find this chat making the calls.

Though the males have bright yellow throats and breasts like this bird, they are most effective in concealing themselves behind branches and leaves. I stood most still to let this bird think it was concealed from me as I took these pics and listened to it calling. SeEtta

Gray Catbird "hidden" inside my blue spruce tree

Gray Catbirds are skulkers, staying in the dark recesses of thickets they can be difficult to photograph. They are beautiful singers that have one of the most complex songs. They also have am repertoire of vocalizations, including a number of what I can only categorize as "sweet nothings" that is used between family members. I know this because a pair nested under my dining room window several years ago and I was able to watch them as close as 8 inches away (through blinds) and listen to their vocalizing for hours each day.This catbird was singing softly from an internal branch about 8 feet off the ground inside my 40 foot tall blue spruce (fortunately these trees often have a big open space inside with bare limbs as shown in these pics). I approached very carefully--slowly and quietly so as not to intrude (yup, that's the key--DO NOT INTRUDE, not only is it considerate but it pays off with good views and good pics). Apparently this bird thought it was well hidden by the spruce branches through which I was viewing it so it continued singing while I went into the house for my camera, returning to take several pics including some when my flash went off (I can't seem to figure out how to turn my flash off) from only about 8 feet away (peaking through the outside branches). The flash is captured in a reflection in this bird's eye in both pics. SeEtta

Cooper's Hawk

This morning as I birded the Canon City Riverwalk, I looked up and found this Cooper's Hawk perched about 35 feet directly above the trail. I believe this is the female that has a nearby nest. This bird is often perched either directly above or near the trail, but few general trail walkers spot her. She was seen frequently over the week-end as the Colo Field Ornithologists convention was being held in town and many birded the riverwalk.In the top pic, the hawk has it's wings spread a little, showing the underwing feathers well. The bird was getting ready to fly off and had moved it's wings out in preparation. The tail is well visualized also. The lower pic shows the head and face including the red eye ,a most distinctive feature on this species. The lower pic is an enlargement from the upper pic. The whole upper pic is enlargeable so double-click on it to see other parts of the hawk up close. SeEtta

SE Colorado specialty-Canyon Towhee

SE Colorado has a number of specialty birds not found in other parts of Colorado, or not found reliably outside of SE Colorado. One of those is the Canyon Towhee, normally found in the southwest. Though mostly brown, they have a nice reddish crown and rufous undertail coverts which are both visible in this pic. SeEtta

Sandhill Crane off course

A lone Sandhill Crane seen in this pic has been in agricultural fields in Florence for several days. It is unusual for them to be here this late as they stop here on migration to and from their breeding areas. I hadn't seen any cranes for almost a month until this one showed up. It is also unusual to see one by themselves as they are flocking birds.

Today I saw this crane in a flooded field where a flock of about 200 dark ibis were feeding. I guess the ibis were the best substitute for a flock of Sandhill Cranes that this crane could find here. SeEtta

Cooper's Hawk on nest

Though I have a lot of pics of neotropical migrants I need to post, I wanted to get this nesting photo on the blog. For the several recent years a Cooper's Hawk has nested on the Canon City Riverwalk right above the trail. I could not find her nest last year but saw a Cooper's Hawk flying in the area so figured she had found another location for her nest. A few days ago I found her nesting as shown in this pic. SeEtta

Bright Western Tanagers moving through

Like many other neotropical migrants being seen now in the lower elevations of SE Colorado, Western Tanagers are just stopping over on their way to their higher elevation breeding grounds. The first Western Tanager I saw was 5 days ago and it was female. This is one of the two males I saw this morning on the Canon City Riverwalk, the first males I have seen this year--what colorful birds they are.

I have several more pics of recent birds to post, but have been busy birding due to lots of migration activity. I will try to get a few more pics posted tonight and tomorrow so stay tuned. SeEtta

Baby owls now in juvenal plumage

The last set of baby Great Horned Owls I have been following on private land have matured to juvenal plumage. As can be seen in this pic I took yesterday, this nestling has brown feathers though it still has some white down. Though this nestling and it's sibling are now just over 2 weeks old, I kept my photography to 10 minutes. As usual, this photo has been enlarged--I was standing about 40 feet from the nest. An adult, likely the female, was across the road about a quarter mile from the nest.

After leaving the area and birding down the road, I stopped back by but viewed the nest from about 150 feet. The mother was in the nest, likely feeding the nestlings. Though this could be a great photo, and easy for me as they are in a private area to which I have access, I chose to leave them alone so as not to disturb vital feeding activity. Though I have enlarged this about as much as I can, double-clicking on it to enlarge it more will provide a great close-up of the owl's eyes (the eyes are still pretty sharp though the feathers are not) SeEtta

Ethical bird photography

Here is an article about how a professional photographer named Alan Murphy practices ethical bird photography and gets great bird photos--not by interfering with birds but by setting up his photos according to the "bird's desires and needs, not his own." Because he took the bird's needs into account, he got a natural photo that was exceptional because the bird felt safe. Read the article, from Birder's World magazine blog,

This provides support to my belief that both bird photography and bird observation are most effectively accomplished when people actively avoid disturbing birds and minimize intrusion into their lives. Certainly those of us who are amateur bird photographers are not likely to use photo blinds or spend several days setting up a bird photo shoot. However, there are a number of things we can do to reduce disturbance and minimize intrusiveness. One example is using your car as a photo or observation blind--I do this a lot and find it a very successful technique when feasible. Both birders and photographers can use trees and other vegetation to reduce our profile to the birds--I did that this week-end at Lake Cheraw while viewing and photographing shorebirds and all I had was tall weeds to stand behind, but it helped.

SeEtta

Canada Goose goslings

I saw these hatchlings at a local pond in the Canon City area a few days ago. Goose hatchlings are called goslings and these appear to be only a few weeks old. These are the first I have seen this year. SeEtta