This morning I did not hear the Least Bitterns calling at all, nor see any sign of them in cattails where they have been seen over the past week. Expecting that the fledglings are old enough that they moved from the nest site like many birds I went looking for the proverbial 'needle in a haystack'--and trying to sight one of these small, furtive birds that is outfitted to blend into it's habitat is just that in a large cattail area. While I was looking for them in the large center area of cattails a single dark Least Bittern flew a short distance at low height at 9 am. I suspect it was an adult male but didn't get a great look. Since I never heard them calling in the previous and probable nesting location then saw this bird in the large center area of cattails, I suspect that the family has moved into that larger area.
It has been difficult explaining where to look for these birds so I took a photo of the large aerial map posted at the entrance. If anyone is interested I can edit it to add markings showing where I saw this today. I heard and saw at least one non-breeding Lazuli Bunting, one MacGillivray's Warbler, one Wilson's Warbler and one+ Brewer's Sparrow, all likely migrants feeding in the tamarisk and other weeds along the far southwestern corner of the wetlands. One Plegadis ibis flew back and forth a number of times between feeding on the mudflats, that are on the west end of the wetlands, with a number of ducks. I hadn't gone down to towards the riparian woodlands for 2 weeks so I went to that section on the northeast of the wetlands (across the little footbridge). In that area I heard a Black Phoebe call a number of times but it is quite overgrown back there since the river flooded the area out this summer so I never saw it. 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.
