Thanks to Doug Kibbe for his most unusual strategy for finding the Least Bitterns at Holcim Wetlands--I don't know anyone who would have advised going out from noon to one to look for them. Now that most of my post surgery restrictions have been lifted I went out to look for them from 7am to 11 am today. I could hear them making their soft 'cooing' calls from a patch of cattails only about 50-100 feet into the wetlands but did not see any. When I left I stopped in Florence for something to eat, and I checked my email on my Droid phone where I saw that Doug had posted this morning while I was out there. So I gobbled my food down and returned to Holcim Wetlands a few minutes after noon. I didn't bring my camp chair as I thought that maybe sitting on the log Doug referred to might put me lower and reduce my profile--he was certainly correct that the log got uncomfortable quickly. Things didn't go as smoothly for me as it appeared to for Doug. I could still hear them calling but could not see them. At 1:45 I got anxious as I was going to have to leave soon so got up and walked around looking for the bitterns. From my standing position I spotted an obvious fledgling, with it's white feathers standing up from it's head and body, clutching a cattail about 75 feet in. I could not see it when I went back to the log to get my tripod so the angle of view was important. I got photos though it was most challenging as it moved up and down and the cattails swayed with it.
After I photographed at least one fledgling (might have been more than one Birds and Nature <http://BirdsAndNature.blogspot.com> blog. It is pretty cool to see how tiny the fledgling is compared to nearby cattail seed heads that almost dwarf it. I also have to say that the fledlging(s) is terrible cute. I am going to posit a possible explanation for the late views of the bitterns. Right before I spotted the fledgling a local rock quarry train had come in on the tracks that are only about a hundred feet from the birds---the train was loud and had a lot of vibration especially when it stopped and unhooked the engine. I have seen rails get very active in midday when there are loud noises such as airplanes going over. It has been my experience that there is often a train coming in to this area after lunch so wonder if this stirred them up. The fledglings went down and so did the male within 15 minutes after I first saw them and the train came in. Or maybe this is just my mind rationalizing why I didn't see any during the 4 hours I was in the same area this morning. SeEtta Moss Canon City Personal blog @ http://BirdsAndNature.blogspot.com Now blogging for *Birds and Blooms *magazine blog @ Birds and Blooms blog southcentral/ <http://birdsandbloomsblog.com/category/southcentral/> -- 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.
