Driving through far southeast Colo today, the raptors were like Christmas ornaments decorating many poles adjacent to the highway with the fields behind them glazed with a shallow covering of snow. In addition to an immature Golden Eagle near Lamar I saw one Rough-legged, 2 Ferruginous and 8 Red-tailed Hawks. Yesterday I saw a Harlan's Hawk near Rocky Ford, an adult Peregrine Falcon just south of Hasty (near John Martin res) and an immature Bald Eagle a few miles east of there as well as lots of Red-tails.
There are still good numbers of sapsuckers in Canon City. On Thursday I did a cursory check of Lakeside Cemetery where I saw 3 male and 1 female Williamson's Sapsucker, all from my car. Friday morning I did another cursory check of Centennial Park where I saw 2 female Williamson's from my car. Folks seeking these wintering sapsuckers should not only try to look for them in earlier part of the morning (as many are disturbed and flushed by 11 am or so) and on cold days as they seem to put in much less time feeding in the pines on warm days (I would think that their metabolic needs are increased during colder weather?). And please be considerate of other birders and the birds--if you flush them from the tree on which they are feeding they may not return that day and subsequent birders will likely not see them (one morning I took an out of area birder to one of the hot spots where I always get at least 1-2 sapsuckers but couldn't find any--we then ran into a third birder who told me he had just seen 2 sapsuckers at that hot spot though both flew off before he could get close-up photos). That is why I do most of my monitoring from my car in order to reduce disturbance to the birds so they are there for other birders who want to see them and because I have observed these birds often disturbed and flushed by non-birders. Don't forget to put out some water for the birds in your area. Per NOAA most of eastern Colorado continues in a moderate drought with much of southeast Colo in a severe drought. I have seen big gatherings of birds in natural areas that have some water. In one juniper woodland area I have frequently seen dozens of robins joined by juncos, scrub jays, Townsend's Solitaire's, Cedar Waxwings and even an Evening Grosbeak. SeEtta Moss Canon City http://BirdsAndNature.blogspot.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.com/group/cobirds?hl=en.
