I arrived around 7:30 and for the next half hour neither saw nor heard any bitterns. Kirk Huffstater and Loch Kilpatrick arrived around 8 and we were all wondering if the fledglings had grown enough that the family had moved from the area where they have been seen and heard this past week. Sometime after 9 some guttural cooing could be heard from near the area they have been seen. I confirmed that these were Least Bitterns calls and they continued off and on for almost 2 hours, with up to several birds calling. Around 10 Kirk caught a glimpse of one on top of a cattail just as it slid down out of sight. That was the only visual on these birds but it did come from the back of the section of cattails where it has been seen this week so they appear to still be there. They left around 11 and I stayed until about 1 pm.
A Virginia's Rail called from the marsh and a Plegadis ibis flew in around several times. A Lewis's Woodpecker called from a nearby dead tree--they nested in the dead trees around the marsh for several years but haven't for the last 2 years. A strange sounding Eurasian Collared-Dove called a number of times-I thought it sounded like it had a New Joisy accent. Then a Barn Swallow that was clearly flying oddly made a crash landing right behind us at the base of a tree. It was a very young fledgling that was lucky it made it across the marsh to dry land. Loch checked on it then I did and it had been making attempts to fly before I left. Those listening for the calls should be aware of the other noises in this marsh. There are Virginia's Rail, Sora Rail (I heard one give a whinny call earlier this week), Green Heron (not seen today but I have seen most visits), Black-crowned Night-Herons, ducks, geese and Great Blue Herons all giving various calls that we are familiar with and other grunts and noises. There are bull frogs that not only vocalize but make gulping noises. There are several species of fish that come to the surface including some large suckers that make loud noise when they turn in shallow water. The cooing calls of these Least Bittern come in series of either 3 or 4 calls, repeated sometimes for over 20 minutes. Sometime these are more guttural and other times softer. It is not unusual to have calls sounding like they are coming from more than 1 bird at the same time (intra-familiar communication). I am going down to Holcim again in the morning and should be there by 7 am and will be there for several hours. Holcim Wetlands is in one of my Breeding Bird Atlas priority blocks. SeEtta Moss Canon City Personal blog @ http://BirdsAndNature.blogspot.com Now blogging for *Birds and Blooms *magazine @ 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.
