This morning I birded Veteran's Park on the west side of Canon City. It has many hackberry trees and there were a few dozen Yellow-rumps feeding in them. The Robins and Cedar Waxwings were in a feeding frenzy as the hackberry fruit is apparently ripe for their taste. I found my first of the season Yellow-bellied Sapsucker also in the hackberries--I saw it eat some fruit but mostly saw it drilling holes. This is an immature bird--Yellow-bellied Sapsucker has an extended period of transition from juvenal to adult plumage (at least for their head pattern) that goes into the winter (while Red-naped are finished molting into adult plumage in September).
I then tried the Canon City Riverwalk and birded the river trail from the Sell's Lake trailhead to the mid-point between it and Raynolds then returned via the bluff trail. I didn't see a warbler one on the river trail but found a few dozen on the bluff trail only a few hundred yards east of the Sell's Lake parking area. This is the first time this fall that there has been any appreciable bird action on the usually very active bluff trail (related to drought). In the area that the Yellow-rumps were feeding was a Spotted Towhee, a species we only see in migration (just a little low and different vegetation for where they breed). Not far away was a Black Phoebe--it sang for several minutes. I have posted photos of the Yellow-bellied Sapsucker on my Birds and Nature blog. <http://BirdsAndNature.blogspot.com> The Black Phoebe was too distant for good photos. SeEtta Moss Canon City Blogging for Birds and Blooms magazine @ http://birdsandbloomsblog.com/author/seetta-moss/ Personal blog @ BirdsAndNature.blogspot.com<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 https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
