A Visit in May

In May, a blogging pal and I met…a first for me. And what a treat, not only is she a delightful companion with whom to bird, she is an awesome photographer. Debbie graciously allowed me to use the photographs she took while on her trip here to La Veta. I will only post smaller versions of her gorgeous photographs…be sure to visit her blog for the full sized photographs and many more, too. She tells wonderful stories (her blog is aptly titled “DJB Photo Adventures”) of everything from nesting bluebirds to a large variety of raptors she finds while out and about. Like I said, her pictures are awesome. Do visit Debbie’s JDB’s Photo Adventures! And talk about a serious birder; in addition to a regular job, Debbie has 5 Breeding Bird Atlas blocks and volunteers at Cheyenne Mountain State Park where they just finished up their first season of owl monitoring. Cool, huh?

Another blogging buddy, Bosque Bill, sent a note mentioning how he enjoyed seeing such wonderful pictures of what I talk about here…from a good photographer with good equipment. It is because of his comments that I decided to post Debbie’s pictures here. These are mostly from my back yard; but Debbie’s pictures are so much better than mine. Thank you so much for letting me use them, Debbie.

Let me start by saying we used her blind…which is something like the one shown here. I found this picture at http://www.ameristep.com/; it’s called a doghouse blind and it folds up into a nice little package (with backpack straps!), much like those foldable windshield shades. It was way cool.

I’ve labeled the photographs, but for the story, do visit Debbie’s blog. The only photograph of a bird here not in my yard, is the Lewis’s Woodpecker. Another birding pal of mine, David, who accompanied us to a new friend’s acreage at the edge of town, took us to the other side of town, along the road in Wahatoya Valley (see #5 of the Spanish Peaks Trail in the Rocky Mountains Piece of the Colorado Birding Trail) where he knew dozens of the pretty birds to live. It was wonderful to see and hear these interesting birds. Thanks again, Dave!

The last bit I’ll embellish on; Debbie’s piece on how to tell the difference between Black-headed Grosbeaks and Rose-breasted Grosbeaks. Okay…easy enough with the males apart (unless they hybridize… they do, yanno), but it can be difficult for us newbies to identify a female of either. Debbie did a good job with her descriptions and includes even more photographs of the two Grosbeaks. The recap: Both females have the heavy bill of a typical Grosbeak with wings and back dotted with white and both have the heavy, white eye line over the eye to the back of the head but…

Female Black-headed Grosbeak:

• Orange coloring at throat without streaking
• Bi-colored bill, dark on top
• Little streaking at breast

Female Rose-breasted Grosbeak:

• Light tan coloring at throat with streaking
• Pink bill – solid colored
• Heavy streaking at breast

Thanks Debbie…I’d only read about the breast streaking and that both the Black-headed Grosbeaks show yellow under wings. You’ve taught me a lot and your excellent photography helped immensely.

All bird photography in this piece by DJB Photography. Be sure to visit Debbie's Blog to see more pictures and the full-sized versions of these wonderful photographs!

Two...no Three Firsts - All in One Day

Well, I continue to be lazy with my bird watching here; have not even looked for a warbler or another sparrow. [sigh]

I've been too busy and besides... I met a friend. For all his gruff nature and ol' rancher qualities...the man is a sweetheart. Hard to believe such a man who can talk so rough also teaches cake decorating at the local 4-H. Go figure. But then...I like odd ducks. He's smart as a whip but talks like a cowboy (oh, and he insists he is NOT a cowboy; while he has horses, he doesn't ride 'em anymore.) Okay, perhaps a sailor is more like how he talks. Lordy that man can cuss! Anyway, for an old man (he's 61; keep in mind I'm 60), he acts like he's 40...and I like that in a man. This could be fun! But as I said, bird watching has fallen to the back burner...

About bird watching, though...this morning I think I saw the first Western Tanager of the season...always a treat! I spent a good amount of time mowing this morning...so the birds are somewhat skittish. Saw no Rose-breasted beauties, but the Black-headed and Evening Grosbeaks abound.

This Tanager enjoys the oranges and grape jelly I put out...as well as home-made suit. I've done a bit of research and have some of my own photos; read some facinating information about the red on this red-headed bird on a previous post here.

Hummers are here in increasing numbers; still have yet to see a Rufus or a Calliope, though. It is a bit early, me thinks.

[A few hours later...]

OMG, I just saw my first-ever Indigo Bunting! Sure, I thought I might have seen one several days ago...but I didn't get a good look; just an intense blue smear. Today, I watched the little, very blue, blue bird go from a feeder to the grass to a branch; offering me splendid looks at his beautiful self. WOW

It is no wonder they sometimes cross-breed with Lazuli Buntings; they are nearly the same size (Indigo is a tiny bit smaller) as their cousins and have the same, smudgy, dark-eyes. Clearly they have similar backgrounds. This one is all-over blue; darker than a new pair of good Levis...with a hint of black on the wingtips.

Indigo Buntings are actually black; the diffraction of light through their feathers makes them look blue. This explains why males can appear many shades from turquoise to black. Sometimes a very blue bird; stunning...

[Addendum]

Before the day was done, I also found a black-headed Bullock’s Oriole; but, of course, there is no such bird. This pretty boy was drinking from the nectar feeders at my kitchen window. I watched the bird for quite some time…about 2’ from my nose. However, upon some research, I discovered what I saw was a Baltimore Oriole! Another first!

Doing the research, I tried to figure out how the heck to tell a Baltimore from an Orchard Oriole…assuming one is not familiar with “distinctive dark chestnut” color. Well, most of it is in the tail; the Orchard Oriole has a dark tail, while the bird I saw had an under tail the same brilliant yellow-orange as his belly; so it was surely a Baltimore Oriole! Sweet!!!

Photos from Wikipedia

Three Grosbeaks...All at Once!

While getting ready for work this morning, I glanced out to see several 'colored' birds amongst the black birds that descend in hoards around my yard. Three were Rose-breasted Grosbeaks! I think that may have been a first...seeing more than one Rose-breasted at a time. Two males and a female were feeding together.

Yesterday, I could have sworn a Black-headed Grosbeak flew across the yard...but it was a blur. Today, I identified the pretty thing...another FOS! Last year they must have nested nearby; I watched nearly full-grown youngsters beg for feeding at the feeders. Sweet!

And while watching the tiny little Lazuli Bunting feed, I looked up to see several other big-beaked birds; Evening Grosbeaks. Have you ever listened to them? To my ears they sound like chicks; they peep! I love to listen to them; they're one of the few birds I can identify by sound.

Photo from Wikipedia; more photos here

Monthly list of backyard birds seen in April 2009:

Black-headed Grosbeak, Lazuli Bunting, Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Black-chinned Hummingbird, Broad-tailed Hummingbird, Mourning Dove, Chipping Sparrow, White-crowned Sparrow, Brown-headed Cowbird, Cooper's Hawk, Yellow-headed Blackbird, Cassin's Finch, Common Grackle, Turkey Vulture, Evening Grosbeak, Hairy Woodpecker, American Robin, American Crow, Red-winged Blackbird, Blue Jay, Common Raven, European Starling, Northern Flicker - Red-shafted, Downy Woodpecker, Black-headed Chickadee, Black-billed Magpie, House Sparrow, American Goldfinch, Pine Siskin, Dark-eyed Junco - Oregon, Pink-sided, Slate and Gray-headed, House Finch - red, yellow and orange variants, Eurasian Collared-Dove

Lazuli Bunting: In the Yard!

Yes, another FOS today; a male Lazuli Bunting! I had them around last year, but it is earlier this year (as far as this novice birder can tell). I found this baby, just as I was leaving for work…

These guys remind me of Dark-eyed Juncos with their dark, smudgy eyes. The bird is quite small, only about five and a half inches long.

The stunning, blue body (though smaller), with white belly and orange breast band remind one of a Western Bluebird. Here in SoCo, we sometimes get all three bluebirds; Mountain Bluebirds (males are intense sky-blue from stem to stern), Eastern Bluebirds, a bit smaller and with a rufus collar and bib above a white belly, which runs down the flanks; and the Western Bluebird (the smallest at only 7” long)…a blue bird with chestnut collar and shoulders; sometimes making the back look reddish. Its belly is also white. But is only the Lazuli Bunting which has two white wing bars; besides it is nearly 25% smaller than the larger thrushes (bluebirds). Also, while a subtle observation, the little bunting seems to sit straighter on a branch, than do the bluebirds.

You can find some of last year's Lazuli Bunting posts and photos here.

More pictures, including larger versions of these thumbnail images, are available at Google images.

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


The Tangaer 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.

Yard Birds

During the last couple of days, I’ve logged several more ‘Firsts’ in the birding department. First birds period…first time I’ve ever really seen them at all and firsts for my ‘Yard Bird’ list (it's a birder-thing...track all the birds you can see in (or from) your own yard.) For one, I finally saw a Black-headed Grosbeak here. Unfortunately, the first few pictures were through glass and of a puffy, sick-looking bird. Finally, a beautiful, health male showed up and let me photograph him through an open door. That makes three [species] Grosbeaks that I’ve found in my yard…apparently there are three more. Oh, and the Evening Grosbeaks seem to be visiting again...

This afternoon, I observed the male Hummingbird again, but didn’t get pictures. I did, however, get one of a female. A friend says it is likely a Broad-tailed Hummingbird, though the male I’ve watched seems to be the tiniest thing I’ve ever seen…I just assumed it is a Ruby-throated Hummingbird; but have since heard it is unlikely I'd see one here. The suggestion is it might be a Black-chinned Hummingbird. Based on size alone…I might guess the thing is a Calliope, but truth be told, I’m not at all sure I’d be able to tell the difference in a Calliope, a Broad-tailed, a Black-chinned or a Ruby-throated Hummingbird. [Addendum: it is not likely to find a Ruby-throated Hummingbird in this part of the country...though it has happened.] Later in the day, I discovered a female hummer trapped in my garage…beating herself silly at a window. It took several tries, but I finally caught her in a fish-net; poor thing was trying to bite the broom I tried first. When I finally caught her, she made a high-pitched call which drew in a male who hovered in my face for several minutes. At that time his neck looked purple, rather than red. Sheeshhhhh, how does one learn to tell colors that change in the light? Since I had feeders handy, I tried to get the little female to take some sugar-water before I let her go…I am not used to handling such tiny birds and sure do hope I didn’t hurt her when I caught her. While she wouldn’t drink, she seemed to fly just fine; fast and away. Part of me wished I’d had the nerve to more thoroughly examine her. BirdChick is my inspiration.

The other day I got a nice photo of the Turkey Vultures in the tree in my front yard. I understand such a gathering is called a wake of vultures; too funny! Hopefully I won’t have the issues some people have had with Vultures, but I will say, I’ve never seen them sitting on a car, much less pulling rubber pieces off of one.

Just as I was finishing up a late lunch, I noticed a blue dot at a feeder and grabbed my binoculars. It was a small bird, long though, and it flew when I moved too quickly. Patience prevailed though, I found the tree it flew to and got a photo through a screened window…enough for a friend to tell me what I was seeing. The bird has a blue head, an orange breast and a creamy belly…and a beak more like a seed-cracking Finch than a bug-eating Bluebird. At first I wondered if it was a Grosbeak, but it was so tiny; only a bit over 5” or so…about the same size as the Pine Siskins sharing the feeder. I had no idea what it could be. I looked all through a field guide, but couldn’t discover it. It had very dark eyes and finally I noticed the bars on the wings. I don’t even know how to pronounce this bird’s name, but it’s a Lazuli Bunting; I’m not at all familiar with Buntings. Thanks again, Gary.