I set out to find the Cassin's Sparrows this morning, albeit with some trepidation from Bill K.'s and Bill S.'s rattlesnake warnings. After realizing I had to leave the "safety" of the access road, I managed to locate a couple of them being quite vocal. Not the most visually stunning bird, but cranks out quite a melody!! Fortunately they were on the north side of the draw, a little more to the west of coordinates posted the other day: http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&q=40.091599,-105.268417
As for that rattlesnake warning, they are there!! Initial trek down the access road yielded a warning rattle from an old partially-buried galvanized drainage pipe that crosses the path. It was taking shelter under the pipe. Use caution in this area (http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&q=40.094433,-105.270767). On my return trip, I saw it moving into the end of the pipe. Ahhh, photo op. Circumnavigate the pipe at a safe distance while keeping my eye on his whereabouts. Wrong. All morning I'm careful to watch where I step until now. Fortunately its mate let out the loudest adrenaline-boosting rattle before I stepped on it and it also quickly retreated to the pipe. Lessons learned: always watch where you step and where there's one rattler, there may be others... O.K., back to birding. Next stop, pick up Mary and join Bob Zilly at White Rocks. Little Blue Heron is still present in the confusing plumage. No signs of the Willow or Least Flycatchers, but plenty of summertime breeding bird activity. First was a pair of Western Wood-pewees feeding 2-3 young in the nest. Shortly after, American Goldfinch taking turns on a nest. And as the male was coming back in to take his turn, a hummingbird engaged in a game of chase to drive him off. The pièce de résistance; the hummer returned to the cottonwood and was found sitting on a nest no more than 30' away from the goldfinch nest--a Black-chinned Hummingbird. Might be a long summer of territorial disputes between those two nests! Storms moved in, so we headed out. Mike Blatchley Longmont --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ 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 -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
