[cobirds] Grace's Warbler(s) in Las Animas County

Yesterday must have been a good day for Grace's Warblers to be singing as, in addition to the one Rich Miller found in Pueblo Mtn Park,  I had one in the traditional spot in Las Animas County (south of Gulnare).  And I may have had a pair. 

I tried first for the Hepatic Tanager south of Walsenburg with no luck.  I hadn't been down to look for the Grace's Warblers in some years and was concerned that all the intense gas drilling (via fracking) might have impacted this long term population.  The most interesting thing was that one Grace's Warbler flew into a tree near me after I took a few distant photos and proceeded to appear interested in my camera mechanical noise as it fluttered around the tree and came so close I couldn't focus with my long telephoto lens outfit (less than 15 feet).  I can only speculate that since these birds are so far from birders (almost 3 hour drive for me) that they haven't experienced being photographed hardly at all.  And though there are lots of gas wells around and also lots of large acreage ranchette development, since they are often high up in conifers they are likely not seen very often by humans.  Anyway I got some good close up photos and I have uploaded some to my Birds and Nature blog  (I have more but some techical problem with adobe flash player keeps throwing me out of my firefox browser).

I also heard a lot of Plumbeous Vireos singing in that ponderosa pine habitat plus W Wood-Pewees and a Yellow-rumped Warbler.  Even as fragmented as it is, this area is still productive habitat for some bird species.  I didn't have time to do any birding in Trinidad but heard and saw a few Chimney Swifts.

SeEtta Moss
Canon City
Blogging for Birds and Blooms magazine @ http://birdsandbloomsblog.com/author/seetta-moss/
Personal blog @ BirdsAndBlooms.blogspot.com

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