SE Colorado Birding

Transition to a new blog-Bird and Nature blog

noreply@blogger.com (SRM) — Sun, 10 Aug 2008 00:48:46 PDT

I haven't been keeping this blog up very well lately and that is because I have been establishing a new blog-http://BirdsAndNature.blogspot.com. I have had more success with this, the SE Colorado...

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Close encounter of the "bear" kind

noreply@blogger.com (SRM) — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 18:31:56 PST

The weather was very hot today so I headed for a little higher elevation in the San Isabel National Forest that stretches from just south of where I live in Canon City, CO to the New Mexico border. ...

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Great conservation news for Boreal Forest!

noreply@blogger.com (SRM) — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 00:11:35 PDT

I am delighted to send out some good news for a change and especially since this is a major conservation victory: Ontario, Canada government has comitted to "protect over 55 million acreas of...

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Possible juvenile Black-chinned Hummingbird

noreply@blogger.com (SRM) — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 18:31:56 PST

Warning-the following is a very esoteric discussion of hummingbird feathers. I believe the Black-chinned Hummingbird in these pics may be a male in juvenal plumage. When the top pic is...

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Black-chinned Hummingbirds

noreply@blogger.com (SRM) — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 18:31:56 PST

Before I saw the nighthawk in my previous post, I spent some time in a friend's backyard in La Junta enjoying the Black-chinned Hummingbirds coming to his feeder (and the 30 Chimney Swifts flying...

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Young goatsucker

noreply@blogger.com (SRM) — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 18:31:57 PST

For those who are not birders, the term "goatsucker" will likely conjure up thoughts of possibly bats that suck the blood of goats. However, goatsucker is the name of a family of birds that includes...

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"Manufactured homes for the birds "

noreply@blogger.com (SRM) — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 13:00:38 PDT

High Country News had a short article of a creative and somewhat desperate attempt to provide artificial cactus needed for the Coastal Cactus Wren: "With a catastrophic rise in wildfires over the...

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noreply@blogger.com (SRM) — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 18:31:57 PST

A few days I did some birding in the pinyon-juniper habitat around the Royal Gorge (a deep canyon through which the Arkansas River runs just before it gets to Canon City). I saw birds expected in...

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Black-crowned Night-Heron

noreply@blogger.com (SRM) — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 18:31:57 PST

In addition to checking Lake Henry yesterday, I checked nearby Lake Meredith and found 5 Snowy Egrets, the adult Black-crowned Night-Heron in this pic (please note that the bulging red eyes are real...

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Update--breeding grebes at Lake Henry

noreply@blogger.com (SRM) — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 18:31:57 PST

Yesterday I stopped by Lake Henry to check on the Clark's and Western Grebes that have been breeding there. I found several parent's with dependent juveniles like this Clark's Grebe swimming behind...

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Black Phoebe family update

noreply@blogger.com (SRM) — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 18:31:58 PST

I have been able to continue monitoring the Black Phoebe family that I posted on in May and June. I usually see 1 or 2 of the juveniles every day. They have only moved about a half mile from their...

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Red Racer/coachwhip snake

noreply@blogger.com (SRM) — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 18:31:58 PST

So here I am, spotting the snake which was about 20-25 feet up in this tree, watching the snake slither over branches as it moved around adeptly. I had been aware previously that snakes climb trees...

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Snake-fighting orioles

noreply@blogger.com (SRM) — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 18:31:58 PST

Birders learn to pay attention when birds are agitated as this may be an indication that a predator is nearby. Usually that predator is a raptor, and sometimes we can find owls this way. So today...

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A birder's last flight

noreply@blogger.com (SRM) — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 18:31:58 PST

Today I said good-bye to a local nature lover and conservationist, Joan Williams. Joan was also a birder who enjoyed attending Audubon field trips to view birds around SE Colorado. Joan was a...

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Juvenile Clark's Grebes practice independence

noreply@blogger.com (SRM) — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 18:31:58 PST

The juvenile Clark's Grebe in the top pic doesn't appear ready to be far from it's parent though it appears too large to ride on the parent's back. I have seen some this side at least try to climb...

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Grebes still with babies on their backs

noreply@blogger.com (SRM) — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 18:31:58 PST

I made a quick trip to Lake Henry yesterday and was rewarded by the sight of a number of Clark's and Western Grebes still with chicks on their backs and some juvenile grebes learning to be...

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More Lewis's Woodpecker pics

noreply@blogger.com (SRM) — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 18:31:58 PST

Here are two more pics of the nesting Lewis's Woodpeckers that I took yesterday. In the top pic, the woodpecker is entering the nest cavity. In the bottom pic, the woodpecker is getting ready to...

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Nesting Lewis's Woodpeckers

noreply@blogger.com (SRM) — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 18:31:58 PST

I found a pair of Lewis's Woodpeckers bringing food to nestlings in the tree cavity that is just in front of the bird in these pics. The nestlings must be older as the woodpeckers (both the male and...

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Bright orange oriole

noreply@blogger.com (SRM) — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 18:31:58 PST

Male Bullock's Orioles, they species found here in the west, have such brilliant orange plumage, but it only shows up when you can get a pic in good light. That can be a trick since this species...

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W.Wood-pewee on nest

noreply@blogger.com (SRM) — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 18:31:58 PST

This pic shows a Western Wood-pewee on it's nest that I found next to the Arkansas River near Canon City. I am beginning to think that this bird is young as I have walked by this nest daily, usually...

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Communal feeding-40+ hawks

noreply@blogger.com (SRM) — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 18:31:58 PST

Yesterday I found a field south of La Junta with more than 40 hawks. They were mostly Swainson's Hawks, a species known for it's communal feeding, but there were several Ferruginous Hawks there...

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Flickr

noreply@blogger.com (SRM) — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 00:01:08 PDT

This is a test post from , a fancy photo sharing thing.

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Please take my short poll on right

noreply@blogger.com (SRM) — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 17:49:39 PDT

I just added a short poll found on the right side of this page. I would like to get some feedback from those of you who read my blog to see if you are happy with what I am doing or have other...

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Grebe chick swallowing fish

noreply@blogger.com (SRM) — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 18:31:58 PST

I returned to Lake Henry yesterday to watch the grebes some more and try to get some better pics of the chicks (they are so small, the pics of them do not enlarge well). I might add here that...

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Grebe eye color

noreply@blogger.com (SRM) — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 18:31:58 PST

I should have noted that Western and Clark's Grebes have red eyes (described as scarlet in Bird of North America online)as shown in this pic. One of the regular blog readers mistook this for the...

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