[cobirds] Ladder-backed Woodpecker, Greater White-fronted Geese, Snow/Ross's Goose, Northern Shrike & late Spotted Towhee in Canon City

Yesterday I returned to the Canon City Riverwalk to see if the interesting birds from Tuesday were still around.  I did not locate the 2 White-throated Sparrows but did refind the Ladder-backed Woodpecker.  It had moved about a 150 feet to the west of where I saw before but it was in some small deciduous trees/shrubs between the trail and the irrigation canal that runs adjacent to it.  It then flew up to about 50-60 feet above the ground in a very large cottonwood tree for awhile.  Then flew to a grove of small deciduous trees on the other side of the trail.  I got a couple of photos of it on one of these and have uploaded them to my Birds and Nature blog.

I also found a late Spotted Towhee further up the trail and in, of course, a thicket.  I have seen a Northern Shrike off and on in the ag fields adjacent to the entry road from MacKenzie to the Riverwalk parking area and today I got to watch it and get a few photos (I will uploade later).  It is a Gray 1st winter bird and it's hunting skills are in need of considerable improvement from what I observed when it flew in to some trees where I was starting to look at some sparrows.  The sparrows flew out and the shrike spent some time hunting on the ground, maybe for some invertebrates or insects or insects.

The 8 Greater White-fronted Geese have been feeding yesterday and today in the agricultural fields on MacKenzie Avenue about a half mile north of the Arkansas River.  They were with several loose flocks of several hundred white-cheeked geese and one distant Snow/Ross's Goose (likely the one I found and posted earlier).

SeEtta Moss
Canon City
Blogging for Birds and Blooms magazine @ http://birdsandbloomsblog.com/author/seetta-moss/
Personal blog @ 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 cobirds@googlegroups.com.
To unsubscribe from this group, send email to cobirds+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.