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

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

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