The Wonder of Learning

A view of the Wahatoyas: Breasts of the Earth

I am approaching sixty years old…the new forty. I find it amusing that I am embracing the interests and hobbies of an older generation.

Spring snowstorms; why I feed birds.
A Black-headed Grosbeak w/Bollock's Oriole and
Bollock's Oriole (m) with Hairy Woodpecker (f)

and three-in-one: an Evening Grosbeak, a Black-headed Grosbeak and a Bollock's Oriole .

Still, having always had an interest in the natural world; from camping to snake-hunting, from gardening to bring home crayfish to watch the birth of thousands upon thousands of young; from watching and raising chickens to catching and keeping lizards, shrews and large, unusual bugs; I have enjoyed time outside watching the creatures that live there. Now I am bird watching.

...haven't seen them for weeks, and suddenly there was
a Dark-eyed Junco.

In Bill Thompson III’s book Identify Yourself; the 50 Most Common Birding Identification Challenges, Kenn Kaufman writes in his forward to the book “…knowing the names for things can change our perceptions of them for the better.”

He goes on to say that when someone asks “I wonder what kind of bird that is?” and cares enough to find the name of a bird, that person has started down the road to becoming a bird watcher.

The beautiful Western Tangier, a short-time visitor here. Heyyyyyy, could this be a Jelly-head impersonator?
(looks like a jelly-drip to meee.)


The Tangier shares a meal with a Black-headed Grosbeak


A male (left) and female (right) Bullock's Oriole,
but I'm not at all sure which is prettier.

The female Black-headed Grosbeak is quite similar
to the female Rose-breasted, but the lack of strong
streaking on her breast identifies her.

I suspect that is why there is a move to get children outside. Too many are spending days inside with television, computers and game-players and not discovering, and naming, the treasures in our natural world. Is it any surprise so many young people do not care to keep habitats clean or intact? Is it any surprise that people who do not know nature feel that humans, as the top-predator, have the right to change the world in any way that suits them to make life easier for them, even if it gravely impacts the world itself?

When I first saw this tiny bird, I thought it was a Bluebird. While
he is blue, this is the Lazuli Bunting..only 5-6" long and unlike the
Bluebird he sports a wide, conical beak for breaking seeds.

Kevin Cook says today in his weekly column Pathfinder: “To know the steppe is to love it; and knowing and loving are a simple commitment: teach the mind and the heart will follow.” and “If one tethers their sense of beauty to trees, then the absence of trees implies an absence of beauty misperceived as emptiness. Such tethering is a bondage of mind and soul.”

As George Schaller observed three and a half decades ago: "The character of a region has much to do with the character of the person describing it, for we see our own heart in a landscape. That the mind understands, the heart can love. It's a kind of magic.”

A seldom seen Rose-breasted Grosbeak with the
oft-seen Black-headed Grosbeak and ubiquitous Pine Siskin.

Mike, of Mike’s Birding and Digiscoping discusses ‘Electrolandia’ and The Nature Conservancy’s study that finds kids prefer TV over Trees. He quotes Richard Louv regarding saving our children from ‘nature-deficit disorder’ in his book Last Child in the Woods; where the author argues teaching awareness of and appreciation for the natural world will not only teach our children science and nurture creativity…it will ensure that we have stewards for our future.

All this brings to my mind how much I relish my childhood and the time I had to play outdoors; that my parents not only instilled in me a love of books, but by what they read to me, instilled the magic of nature. My parents were not perfect, nor were they ‘outdoorsy’; they were not well-educated people but they were curious and read about and how to do things. They had an innate respect for the natural world and showed me that respect when, as smokers, they refused to smoke when we went camping. Oddly, while interested in organized religion they also saw great spirituality in spending time in nature and saw the woods as close to godliness as any church.

I have to laugh at myself, the enthusiastic new birder. I am overly excited to see new birds; I’m feeding them at several many stations in my yard, I’m keeping lists of birds I see, I’m taking as many pictures as I possibly can. In my enthusiasm, I’m posting my failures and success; both good photos and bad. I am learning how to write, and what are the rules of blogging. I am growing. Already, though I post them here, I am rapidly loosing interest in photos of birds at feeders. I want to learn more, I want to get out more; I want to remember birds in the natural canopy of a tree, on the natural branch of a tree or in the sky where they are so comfortable. I can see my photos are improving, and they will continue to become more.

That is the wonder of learning; we become more.

The small town of La Veta is nestled within the Huerfano Valley
against the Spanish Peaks, also known as The Wahatoya:
Breasts of the Earth.

International Migratatory Bird Day

This weekend, I participated in the annual International Migratory Bird Count that occurs the second Saturday in May, that this year was May 10th. I accompanied several seasoned birders from AVAS and had an absolute blast. The day began warm, but blustery and at one point was down-right windy. Many birds seemed somewhat inactive and hunkered down to stay out of the wind, but as the wind died down they took to the air...to the degree that we had what was considered a near-record with about 116 named birds! Holy cow! I don't have the 'official list' yet, but...116 different birds in a single day in Colorado! Sheeshhhhhhhhhhhhh

Interspersed here, I'll include some of the photos I've taken in my yard the last couple of days...as part of my own 'Bird Count'. The Great Horned Owl nest is the one I photographed the other day, you can just see nestlings peeping over the edge. I wanted to comment on the female Black-headed Grosbeak and how beautiful she is. So different from the other Grosbeak females, this one has lots of color.

But, back to the topic at hand...this is a counting day, not a photographing or bird watching day. Still, we saw everything from Golden Eagle, Peregrine Falcon, Swainson's Hawk and Osprey to Willets, Godwits, Dowitchers, Plovers, Sandpipers and other tiny little shore-birds. Most of these birds, I've never identified so I must have had at least 50 'Firsts', but not 30 minutes after making the comment I really wanted to see a bird I find most intriguing, a Shrike...we saw a Loggerhead Shrike! Then we saw another, and yet another! Apparently one scuffled with another bird in what appeared to be a territory dispute, but I missed it. I did see the winner, our Shrike, then hope to a nearby branch and remove something it had impaled on a twig and feed it to his mate. I find that fascinating, and this storing behavior is why the bird is sometimes called the Butcher Bird, as people have discovered six or eight mice hung neatly in a row along a barbed-wire fence; the Shrike's larder. Too cool, huh?

We also saw a couple of Brown Thrashers, a stunning bird; Bohemian Waxwings, hundreds of different kinds of Swallows and Swifts, my first Kingbirds, and I spotted a beautiful little Blue-gray Gnatcatcher which was identified for me by one of the others. I also saw my first Lewis’s Woodpecker, my first Bullock’s Oriole, first Lark Bunting, and even first Mute Swan. Lordy, it was an awesome day; from a single Great Horned Owl to hundreds of Red-necked Phalarope and the young Peregrine Falcon hunting them and the ducks closer to shore. It was a marvelous day.


I call this photo: Dandi Lions...

What a Day

What a day for a birdwalk.

My new friends Stirling and Lyn picked me up just before our scheduled meeting at 6:30 a.m. and caught me filling up bird feeders. I hurried out the door; we got as far as the end of my block when we realized I’d forgotten my Sibley’s…they graciously insisted we turn around so I could retrieve the field guide and we were off on our adventure.

Two of us had never been ‘birding’ before, so we were quite excited. We were to meet up with the AVAS group and their 4th Saturday Birdwalk at the Greenway and Nature Center of Pueblo. I was looking forward to meeting the group leader, Donna, who has been instrumental in helping me get started birding and meeting other birders. I met several other members of AVAS, including Leon, who brought his scope and tripod and shared it with everybody and Bill (always nice to meet the President!). Also with us was Skip, who Stirling had tried to plan as our guide to Wood Ducks last week…another really nice and experienced birder. It’s true…birders are nice people!

As we arrived at the meeting spot and did introductions all around, we noticed there was a plant sale going on at the center. It was very hard for me to stay on task…I love a good plant sale! But, off we went down the trail to water’s edge where we immediately saw a Yellow-rumped Warbler…a first for me; first Warbler, even! Standing in the same spot, we also saw White-crowned Sparrows, which seem to have become ‘my bird’ as I was able to spot them several many more times throughout the hike. I had so much fun! In addition to a beautiful hike on a fabulous day full of so many firsts in the bird-department, I also saw blooming daffodils and wild iris, bright yellow forsythia, several crabapples and one of the most beautiful trees I’ve ever seen; the Redbud…in full bloom; a cloud of pink. Donna pointed out another pretty little bush with small yellow flowers that were clove-scented. She told us they were currants and that the birds love the fruit. I loved the scent.

Leon set up his scope so we could see a whole line of Violet-green Swallows sitting pretty and preening; stunning birds…and another first for me. I imagine I’ve seen them flying about before, but I’ve never had the opportunity to actually see them and they are a picture of loveliness. The row of them on the power line looked like a painting of cute, little, white birdies…splashed in neon-green and tails dipped in purple.

Down by the river we also saw evidence of mud-nests under the pylons that held up an overpass. I’m not at all sure if these were nests of the Violet-greens or the Barn Swallow someone saw in the area.

Moving along the path along the river, we saw several Grebes, a Scaup and a single female Bufflehead, as well as some Canada Geese and the ubiquitous Mallards.

It took us awhile to identify the Grebes; as we’d see a small raft of them on the water and move to scope them…they’d dive and there was no telling where they’d pop back up on the surface. Finally Leon had them though; a beautiful dark bird with a long snowy white front to its neck and breast. The difference between the Western and Clark’s Grebe is subtle…but we saw both birds. I think it was Bill who spotted the Eared Grebe, but I missed it, darnit.

There were several dark, snaky-necked Double-creasted Cormorants both in the water and the air. I read that somewhere in the world, fishermen tie a cord around the necks of ‘trained’ Cormorants who dive for fish but are unable to swallow until, after keeping several for themselves, the owner removes the leash and allows the bird to gulp it's dinner.

On the other side of the path, in a large, dry pasture we saw several Killdeer…still another first for me! Those funny, long-legged things remind me of shore-birds.

Another rather interest-ing sight were the several felled trees we saw, each pointy stump surrounded by a pile of wood-chips; beavers are active on the river. Who knew?

Probably the highlight of the trip were the many Wood Ducks we observed. They seem shy creatures and would try to keep the width of the river between us and sometimes took to the sky. Several times small groups of males flew by, just above the water. They look quite different in flight than the ‘paint-by-number birds’, as Lyn called them, did paddling on the water.

As he did several times, along our hike, Leon set up and spotted birds on the water for us…I’ve not often seen Wood Ducks and think Lyn has it right, they do look like someone created a paint-by-number image. I’d like to go back sometime and see if I can’t find the Mandarin Ducks that apparently breed in the area; talk about an exotic-looking bird. Leon tells us they’ve been in the area for years and have established a regular little colony…enough to call them feral rather than escapees.

Our little group had to leave early, but just before we left the others and while we were all watching more of the Yellow-rumps, I believe I saw a Black Phoebe; tiny little dark charcoal-gray thing with a snowy white breast and a beak so tiny I knew instinctively knew it is a fly-catcher, too.

Yes, it was a fine day for birding and it just got better and better. I came home to find yet another first to add to my list! I found a Rose-breasted Grosbeak at my feeders…about the most romantic-looking bird I think I’ve ever seen; totally black head, flashy black and white back and wings and yet a pure white breast stained blood-red right over its heart. Wow.

This is the list of birds we saw (though surely incomplete for the whole group, as most kept going as we left):

American Robin
Red-winged Blackbird
Yellow-headed Blackbird
Brown-headed Cowbird
Violet-green Swallow
Barn Swallow
Yellow-rumped Warbler - Audubon's
Yellow-rumped Warbler - Myrtle Population
Black Phoebe
White-crowned Sparrow
Northern Flicker
Killdeer
Mourning Dove
Ring-billed Gull
Canada Goose
Wood Duck
Mallard
Cormorant
Clark’s Grebe
Eared Grebe
Western Grebe
Northern Shoveler
Lesser or Greater Scaup
Bufflehead
Red-tailed Hawk
Turkey Vulture