Late this afternoon I found a Scissor-tailed Flycatcher a short distance southeast of Holbrook Reservoir. I spotted it a short distance south of CRFf just west of CR26. It was foraging around the area where there are irrigation ditches. I observed and photographed it for around 15 minutes and got some very interesting photos. I saw it appearing to cast out a pellet and quickly took photos of this behavior which I had no idea that a Scissor-tailed Flycatcher or any other flycatcher species would engage in. When I got settled into my motel in Lamar and looked it up on* Birds of North America* online I found that this species does "occasionally" cast pellets composed of insect parts. I got a series of 4 photos of the bird engaging in casting a pellet including the last one showing the pellet falling at the bottom of the pic. I have uploaded these and more photos of this bird to my Birds and Nature <http://birdsandnature.blogspot.com/> blog including a discussion of the behavior.
This Scissor-tailed Flycatcher showed an orangish colored axillary patch which I read in BNA is not found in juvenile birds. I think it may be a female adult or immature with this axillary patch and shorter tail feathers than an adult male but I am not that familiar with the aging and sexing of this species so would welcome some feedback on this. The bird was associating with other flycatcher species--a Cassin's Kingbird and several Western Kingbirds. SeEtta Moss Canon City (currently in Lamar) Personal blog @ http://BirdsAndNature.blogspot.com<http://birdsandnature.blogspot.com/> 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.
