This afternoon I drove out to Brush Hollow Reservoir, which is about 15 miles northeast of Canon City, to see if all the strong winds had blown in anything interesting. I first saw 8-10 Common Goldeneye, several Pintail Ducks and other common waterfowl then I spotted a distant Long-tailed Duck. I got a few reasonable photos but she was more than 400 feet away so I drove back and forth around the reservoir (can't go all the way around to the west cliff section without risk of vehicle falling in deep ruts), losing sight of her for awhile. I drove back around on the country road to try the cliffs on the west side and, after looking for almost a half hour, refound her back in the middle of the reservoir and still distant. I waited and she finally swam in closer to the cliff area which provides shelter from the strong and gusty winds. I got some nicer photos even with the winds battering me and my tripod my new Canon 60d let me take photos at 1/8000 of a second. I have posted several photos of this female Long-tailed Duck, in Basic (winter) plumage, on my Birds and Nature blog<http://BirdsAndNature.blogspot.com>.
I was surprised to watch other ducks, that were also apparently enjoying the protection from the bad winds by the cliffs on the elevated west side of this smallish reservoir, chase the Long-tailed Duck away from this area near them. First several American Coots ganged up and chased her out towards the middle and she returned, then repeated. Then 2 Redhead Ducks did the same. Finally the female Long-tailed Duck came back in apparently no longer to be intimidated as she stayed. I saw her open her bill wide twice and guess she may have vocalized, possibly to warn the others off?? Then an ATV comes roaring down the lower section of the west side under the cliffs and it scared everything off. The Long-tailed Duck joined some other ducks that flew away from the reservoir. I waited a while to see if she returned but she did not do before I left. Note:if you haven't yet seen the cool video of the Hooded Crow (in Russia) sliding down a snowy roof-repeatedly- using a jar lid for a snowboard, I have the video @ B&B blog<http://birdsandbloomsblog.com/2012/01/15/video-of-a-crow-snowboarding-down-a-snowy-roof/>. SeEtta Moss Canon City Blogging for Birds and Blooms magazine @ http://birdsandbloomsblog.com/category/birding/ (new link) Personal blog @ BirdsAndBlooms.blogspot.com<http://birdsandblooms.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+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/cobirds?hl=en.
