Black Phoebe nest

I have watched the Black Phoebes at my friend's spend a lot of time around this footbridge where Black Phoebes have nested in the past several years. Again today I observed a Black Phoebe fly out from under the footbridge in a location that cannot be seen without laying on my belly and hanging my head down to look upside down at the underside of the bridge.

What a pain this was! (this gets more difficult with age) My knee is still bothering me so I only put weight on one knee, requiring me to use my arms to get up and down from a prone position on the hard cement. I hold on to some support wires and lean on cement pieces in order to accomplish this. It was even more difficult to hold my digital camera upside down to take a photo of the underside of the bridge, and the pics weren't very good. So I just held my camera in a right-side-up position over the bridge, aiming where I thought the nest was located--this worked and I got this photo.

The top pic is an enlargement showing a very classical Black Phoebe nest attached to the wall of a structure over water with some overhang or covering over it . The middle pic is the same one with less enlargement (and I lightened it a lot with editing software as it is fairly dark under the bridge here) so the bridge structure and a little of the water below is visible. The bottom pic shows from the top what this footbridge looks like, with cement and metal stuff on both sides where the nest is located (I have marked the location with a red X where the nest is located on the underside of the footbridge).
SeEtta

W. Fremont Co Black Phoebe

As I continued driving east on H50 on my way home from Gunnison late this afternoon I stopped to check on the Black Phoebe that I found there earlier this spring. This site has hosted a pair of Black Phoebes that have bred there for the past several years. So far I have only seen one bird this year, though Black Phoebes can be difficult to locate so a second bird cannot be ruled out yet.
SeEtta

White-faced Ibis & more upper Arkansas River birds

After I left Ice Lake I found these ibis in a flock of about a hundred White-faced Ibis in a flooded field just outside of Buena Vista. The body feather colors of these birds is amazing especially considering that they can look just like black colored birds to those without binoculars.

I next stopped at Franz Lake in Salida where there were 2 pair of Common Mergansers. As this is time for them to start breeding, I wonder if they will do so in this area. Next to Franz Lake is overflow pond on which I saw a male Wood Duck, an unusual bird up this way, 2 pair of Cinnamon Teal and some Great-tailed Grackles. Nearby Sand Lake, which can be quite productive, had only a few common waterfowl and the ever-present Great-tailed Grackles.

My last stop was a site in W. Fremont County where Black Phoebes have nested for the past several years. I did find one Black Phoebe but the weather was turning bad so I didn't stay to search for a partner. By the time I got back to Canon City it was raining hard and turning dark, and now it is snowing big, wet flakes of snow.
SeEtta

Other birds of interest on Canon City Riverwalk

Some of the other birds of interest on the Canon City Riverwalk this week include a pair of Black Phoebes that apparently stopped for a few days to feast on the hatching Caddis flies and other mayflies. Black Phoebes are seen occasionally along parts of the Canon City Riverwalk as they move around seeking nesting locations.

The next photo is of one of the pair of Mountain Chickadees that has also been feeding in the same area as the phoebes. They fed in trees that are budding out along with dozens of Yellow-rumped Warblers, a few Orange-crowned and Virginia Warblers, at least one Tennessee Warbler, a Plumbeous Vireo and a Northern Parula.

Other birds the last two days included at least one Hermit Thrush and a singing White-throated Sparrow. The Eastern Phoebes and Carolina Wrens that have been on the Riverwalk added their songs to the chorus.

The bottom photo is of a red fox that stopped to check out a bunch of us birders. The light dots around it are the caddis flies that are reflecting the light.

Black Phoebes checking out old nest sites

Today I visited my friend and got to watch the Black Phoebe pair checking out old nest sites under a small bridge where Black Phoebes have nested for several years. Each of the phoebes flew under the bridge like a husband and wife looking for a new house.


At one point both phoebes flew under the bridge in one location together. I hope they choose this site as I would be able to see it better than the site they choose last year--under a separate section where I had to hang my upper body over the bridge to look under it. Not only was this uncomfortable, but it kept me from doing much monitoring as I didn't want to disturb the nesting.
SeEtta

Black Phoebes in Florence River Park

I drove to Florence to see what was around. In Florence River Park there were very few birds in the main part because they had completed a tamarisk removal project that took out 90% of the understory (a lesson to be considered for other projects). I only saw 1 Northern Flicker and heard a few House Finches there.

However, the pond area and the shore where they could not get their machine in to remove tamarisk was much more productive. There were 5 male and 2 female Cinnamon Teal in the pond. I saw 3 Yellow-rumped Warblers, 2 of which were Audubon's type that were in bright new breeding (Alternate) plumage. There were also a number of Red-winged Blackbirds there.

And I refound the Black Phoebe I found there a few weeks ago (though it's possible this is a new bird) plus it had acquired a mate. Interestingly each phoebe used a different call. One used what Birds of North America online calls the "chatter" vocalization that they say is "described as soft, wheezy sound" that is "used by males when approaching females and during Nest-Site-Showing Display." Now this is a surprise to me as there isn't any suitable nest sites in this location, at least from what I've read and also what I've seen for this species (ie, no wall or rock to which to attach their mud nests).

This makes the 2nd pair of Black Phoebes in Fremont Co so far this season, though more are likely to be found given historical numbers. I got this photo from about 30 feet away with my 12X digital camera.
SeEtta

Now a Black Phoebe pair in Canon City

As I posted earlier, there has been one Black Phoebe my friend's property which is along the Arkansas River in the Canon City area. And now there is a pair that I just saw a short time ago. My friend, though not a birder, is quite skilled in identifying this species both visually and and by call as he has hosted several Black Phoebes every year for a number of years. He says there have been 2 birds for a day or two but today was the first time I saw 2 Black Phoebes at the same time.

These birds are foraging together and spending time near the location where they have nested over the years. I wouldn't be surprised to see them beginning to work on a nest in the next few weeks.

The top photo is of one of these phoebes with a full frontal view. However the bottom photo is more classic as this is how Black Phoebes are often seen. Though they spend time on high on power lines and fences, they are frequently found sallying, or loafing, from the branches of an tree or other vegetation overhanging a waterway.

Because of their tendency to forage in locatins difficult to see and why being able to identify them by call is very helpful. In fact, I often hear Black Phoebes before I see them.
SeEtta

Eastern, Say's & Black Phoebes in Canon City today

Today was a 3-phoebe day, with Eastern, Black & Say's Phoebes all in Canon City today. These three species all occur regularly in the Canon City area and have been documented breeding in our county (Fremont). In the past I have had all three species within a hundred feet of each other. The Say's Phoebe that had been hanging out on the Canon City Riverwalk was in a more accessible location and I got this (top) photo of it.

Nearby I found a pair of Eastern Phoebes appearing to check out the area around an old open sewer pond. I say "pair" with a fair degree of confidence not only because Eastern Phoebes start establishing pair bonds as soon as they arrive on breeding territory (and they have bred in Fremont Co) but also because they were flying around together. Last year a pair (maybe the same pair?) hung out at this location for awhile but I didn't find evidence of nesting. Maybe this year. I took the bottom photo of one of these Eastern Phoebes.

And late this afternoon I saw a Black Phoebe at my friend's property. This is presumable the same bird that I have seen there a few times in the past week or so. I didn't get a new photo of it but I have posted one in a post on this bird below.
SeEtta

Black Phoebe in Canon City area

The last Black Phoebe I saw in the Canon City area, or anywhere in Fremont Co, was last fall. In some past years I have found them overwintering and this year 2 overwintered in Pueblo.

Yesterday I found the Black Phoebe in these photos on my friend's property near Canon City. This location has hosted the majority of Black Phoebes both breeding and non-breeding since I found the first bird of this species in Fremont County eleven years ago.

As can be seen on the bottom photo, a considerable amount of white can be seen in this phoebe's plumage though as clear in the top photo the white is not visible (though the grayish/whitish edging on the fligh feathers is visible). The bird was preening when I took the bottom photo which apparently caused the white feathers to be visible. Since the various molts (per life stages)occur during summer months to Sepember per Birds of North America online and that is also my experience with this species.

So these white feathers are not consistent with a molt status. I have seen white feathers in similar locations on Black Phoebes in the past but not as much as this. Birds of North America online doesn't mention any white underfeathers on the back or sides of Black Phoebes, so I am unable to explain this. Maybe I will hear from someone who can. (These plumage details can be best seen when you double-click on the photos to enlarge them)
SeEtta

Greater Black-backed Gull at Pueblo Reservoir

Other birds I saw yesterday at the Pueblo Reservoir include one of the 2 wintering Black Phoebes and a fairly rare for winter Spotted Sandpiper. At one point the sandpiper apparently trespassed on the phoebes territory as the Black Phoebe aggressively chased it away. Both birds were foraging just downstream of the dam along with 2 Canyon Towhees and 2 Song Sparrows.

At the reservoir, in addition to a lot of waterfowl I saw 1 Lesser Black-backed Gulls and 2 Greater Black-back. In the top photo one of the Great Black-backed Gulls stands out with its distinctly dark black mantle and large size relative to the other mostly Ring-billed Gulls. This is not one of my better photos but even with a 12X digital these gulls were too distant for a good enlargement (this is where digiscoping would be good, but my equipment doesn't fit together well for digiscoping and its cost prohibitive for me to purchase specialized equipment for it).

SeEtta