This is a late report of birding I did last Wednesday north of La Junta. I found 4 Red-headed Woodpeckers in the grove of cottonwoods across the road (CR26) to the east of Lake Holbrook. They were calling and drumming repeatedly, chasing each and copulating. I was able to photo document one the copulations and have posted the photos to my blog at http://BirdsAndNature.blogspot.com . I observed what I subsequently read on "Birds of North America" online was called "reverse mounting".
Lake Holbrook was filled to overflowing with water so there is no shore, no shorebirds and only a few *Aechmorphorus* grebes. Lake Meredith, also full, had white-headed gulls, American White Pelican and some *Aechmorphus grebes* . The real disappointment was Lake Henry. There were about 7 Black Terns, some American White Pelicans and some white-headed gulls. Last year hundreds of Clark's and Western Grebes had bred here in the vegetation on the west side of the lake. I couldn't locate even one grebe on a nest, only a few American Coots. In fact there were relatively few *Aechmorphus* grebes on Lake Henry and the ones I saw close up had a brownish stain on their breasts (I will put photos up tonight on my blog). I have not seen this on grebes--has anyone experienced this or know what the cause might be?? The ponds across from the Ordway stock yards had maybe 50 white-headed gulls and one American Avocet on her nest. She was adjusting it so I was able to view the eggs through my spotting scope. I will get a photo of her and the eggs on my blog later tonight. In other areas around La Junta were 6 Burrowing Owls, a Common Nighthawk (yes, they do fly in daylight sometimes), a pair of Bald Eagles with one nestling. Hope birders will play the utube video from the American Bird Conservancy posted directly below the Red-headed Woodpecker post on my blog. SeEtta Moss Canon City http://BirdsAndNature.blogspot.com --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ Colorado County Birding: http://www.coloradocountybirding.com/ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.as/group/cobirds?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
