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

Carolina Wren singing in new Canon City location

On May 9 I heard a Carolina Wren singing on the far end of the east section of the Canon City Riverwalk. This is more than a mile away from where the closest Carolina Wren has been seen on the west section of the Riverwalk near the Rec District parking lot.

I also found a Northern Waterthrush, a migrating neotropical warbler that skulks in dense folaige. Though I have seen a few of these near the Riverwalk over the years, they are fairly rare here.

Unfortunately I was on my way to an out of town meeting and had only a half hour to bird. However, I enjoyed the chorus of Common Yellowthroats, Yellow-breasted Chats, Black-headed Grosbeak, Yellow Warblers, and Robins that were singing or calling the entire time I was there.
SeEtta

Which birds are singing in the cold rain?

Not having gained any better sense during the aging process, I ventured out to walk a little on the Canon City Riverwalk when the earlier heavy rains had diminished to intermittant light showers. The temps were hovering just below 40 degrees F so I wondered what might be singing, and flitting around, in this weather. Though not totatlly silent, the Carolina Wrens were fairly quiet--during my 1 hour walk on the bluff trail I heard a Carolina Wren singing only once (at the far west end).

However, I did see several Yellow-rumped Warblers foraging and chipping as they did so. Also several Black-capped Chickadees called as they flitted from tree to tree, seemingly oblivious like to the brief rains falling on them. I heard at least one Ruby-crowned Kinglet called while several Robins, who never seem to pay much attention to the weather, went about their business.

I neither saw nor heard from the pair of Eastern Phoebes that have been around the old sewer district--this weather was not very conducive to fly catching. And all those American and Lesser Goldfinch that had been in a feeding and song frenzy the past few days near the parking lot were nowhere to be seen.
SeEtta

Photo of possible 3rd Carolina Wren in Canon City

This morning I set out to try to discern how many Carolina Wrens were on the Canon City Riverwalk. I saw my first bird only a few hundred feet from the Sell's Lake parking lot. That bird was a rich rusty color on its upper parts and a pale cinnamon. After foraging for about several minutes on the forested floor of the bluff (and looking in some tree cavities), I lost it and it started singing from above. I refound it between 80-100 feet high in a cottonwood--singing from a rather high perch. It sang a 2 note song.

I walked further down the trail and heard the bird in this photo singing. And it was singing a 3 note song.

Then I walked even further down the trail and heard a Carolina Wren singing a 2 note song that sounded different from the first bird. This bird clearly has a light breast and neck (but it is difficult to compare to the photos I posted earlier as they show the bird/birds from different angles).

I believe there are 3 male Carolina Wrens and wonder how many females might be here.
SeEtta

More Canon City Riverwalk birding

In addition to the Broadwinged Hawk at the Canon City Riverwalk this morning, there was lots of action by passarines. I heard one of the Eastern Phoebes calling, and after several minutes I saw it over the old sewage tank. Then a Say's Phoebe began calling nearby. Then "the" (more later) Carolina Wren began singing. What a delight as I listened to all three of these calling and singing for about 10 minutes, all within a few hundred yards of each other.

After I walked on down the trail I heard "the" Carolina Wren give it's "cheer" call then saw it slinking about then flying across the trail into a scrubby area. I was surprised that this bird appeared more buffy than the Carolina Wren I photographed several weeks ago. Then it started singing and its song was different from what I had just listened to several hundred feet down the trail.

Another local birder, Rich Miller, came along and said he had just been listening to a Carolina Wren at the east end of the bluff trail which was around a half mile away. He said he had been thinking there had to be two Carolina Wrens as he would hear one at one end of the bluff trail then walk to the other end and hear one there. Since he and I had each separately, and more than a half mile apart, been listening to a Carolina Wren singing it is clear there are at least 2 Carolina Wrens here; and since only males sing, there are at least 2 male Carolina Wrens here (so are females?).

The lighter colored, more buffy wren I just saw that was singing a slightly different song opens the possibility of three male Carolina Wrens--wow.
SeEtta

Canon City Riverwalk

I walked parts of both the eastern and western sections of the Canon City Riverwalk sevral times this past week. I have seen the Carolina Wren on one occasion, and only heard it on the other occasion, when I birded the bluff trail on the western section and got the bottom photo. This is indicative of how this bird often hides in clear view by signing from a perch that is behind a lot of branches, etc that can make it difficult to find. Double-click the photo for a better look.
The Black-capped Chickadees seem to be paired-up, appearing to forage together. White-breasted Nuthatches are heard making their "beedie, beedie, beedie" calls. American Goldfinch chatter away in the canopy. There are more ducks, mostly Mallards and American Wigeon in the Arkansas River along the riverwalk. And the male Red-winged Blackbirds like the one in the top photo are taking on their alternate (breeding)plumage as they sing.
SeEtta

More Carolina Wren pics

Here are two more pics I got of the Carolina Wren this morning that show the bird from different views. All 3 of the pics on this and the previous post were taken within about 5 minutes, starting just as soon as I got to the tree where the wren was perched. Then the bird either realized I was watching it, or associated me with the small click my digital camera makes, as it moved away. It then either sang from locations where I could not see him or when I could see him, he was behind a lot of limbs or vines so only partially visible.

The bottom pic is one of those fun ones that show how well birds can blend into their surroundings, and how they can think they are invisible behind some small branches. This photo was before the bird became evasive. It had dropped down, was quiet several minutes, then was making its way back up the tree when I caught it checking things out before it came up.

After I got my pics and the bird moved away, I stayed for another 20 minutes listening to him singing and calling. He emitting some interesting calls, including a very soft "muttering"-like call.

The top photo gets fuzzy when enlarged by double-clicking but it easy to see the bird in the bottom photo by doing this.
SeEtta

Photo of Carolina Wren on Canon City Riverwalk

This morning I stopped again on my way home from exercise class (walking ain't enough)to see if I could see the rare Carolina Wren that has been on the Canon City Riverwalk since last summer. Though I have heard it singing and calling, I had not seen the bird yet.

Ah, success. I parked in the Raynolds Street parking lot that is next to the Recreation Dept building. As soon as I got out of my car I could hear the Carolina Wren singing; however, it was not singing the "tea-kettle-tea-kettle-tea-kettle" song that it is best known for.

I found the bird only about a 100 feet west of this parking lot. He (only males sing) was singing from a perch and I was able to get this photo of him singing from about 15-20 feet away (I have a 12X digital camera then crop photos to enlarge them). Though it was on a high branch, it was still behind some small tree limbs so I had to photograph it through a "hole" in the tangle.

Though the photo isn't as crisp when double-clicked to enlarge it, it does show some interesting detail.
SeEtta