Fountain Creek Regional Park 1/28

Bird Photos 2011 (and Jan. 2012)

Fountain Creek Great Blue Heron

Red Wing Blackbirds, FCNC

Mourning Dove, FCNC

swallow, FCNC

Mississippi Kites, my neighbor's tree in Security

Paul Intemann Trail Is this a Townsend's Solitaire?

Cheyenne Mountain State Park Junco

Rice's Pond, FCNC  Green wing teal and Cackling Goose?

Scrub Jay, Pulpit Rock

Red-Tailed Hawks, Pulpit Rock

Harris's Sparrow, FCNC

Downy, FCNC

Black-capped Chickadee, FCNC

Mississippi Kite photos

In May or June (2011), I noticed hearing a bird I hadn't heard before and the call was very distinct and beautiful.  Eventually I was able to see the birds and associate the call with them, and came to discover the nest which by that time had mom and two young  in an elm tree in my neighbor's yard just behind Watson Jr. High's track - not sure if dad had been around earlier before I figured out who was making the calls.  By the end of the summer, the babies were calling for mom pretty much non-stop whenever she wasn't on nest, and when she came back they gave excited little welcome noises and as soon as she left would start calling for her again.  The fledglings eventually showed themselves on branches near the nest and were attracting quite a bit of attention because they were so noisy.  They didn't fly until September, and shortly after they did, the family was gone.  (If you click on the pictures, they do get larger).

Mom

the tree

babies/nest

FCNC Hawk ID fieldtrip

This was so much fun!  We met at the Nature Center, then went to Big Johnson Reservoir where we saw a pair of Bald Eagles (from the distance) that may be trying to nest.  They tried before, but so far haven't succeeded.  Let's hope they do!  Also saw Red-tailed hawks, and plenty of other birds including a Western Meadowlark and some diving ducks too far off to ID.  Then we headed out further east and saw more Red-tailed hawks, several Ferruginous hawks, a Kestrel, and two Golden Eagles - one juvenile and one adult.  The Eagles were high, so my pictures are poor, and the Kestrel was gone too quickly for me to get.  Also saw a few Northern Harriers, and some people saw some kind of falcon but it was too quick to ID and I missed it entirely from the back seat of the van.  When we were pulled off on the side of the road taking pictures and viewing our first Ferruginous Hawk through scopes, some cops came over to see what we were doing - they were quite friendly and interested.  Met lots of fun people.  One Red-Tailed Hawk was literally 2 feet from the van and when it took off that was a spectacular image, but too fast for the camera.