Wildlife & Related

[Hummer]

Photographed at a hundred yards from my home office window. Not a great pic but interesting that a local resident Red-tailed Hawk sometimes hangs out on a Barn Owl box in the yard. The box is 16 ft. off the ground. Falcons have nested in the box the past few years but they don't appear to be roosting in it at night now. When we butchered elk a few weeks ago we put the scraps out by the owl box and the Red-tail took advantage of it. Normally the Red-tails perch on power poles another hundred yards out watching for prairie dogs but the abundant rabbits may have brought the hawk in closer. The Grand Mesa is in the background.

[Bailey Guns]

Nice picture of the hawk.

The bald eagles are out in force this year. Passed a tree near the house yesterday where we normally see one or two and there were seven...5 adults and 3 juveniles. I've seen at least 2 or 3 somewhere along the river every day for the past two weeks. Naturally they're someplace where I can't stop and get a picture.

[Hummer]

Every year I hang the butchered out backbone/rib sections of elk or other big game so the birds can share in the feast. A surprisingly wide variety of birds line up to take advantage of the fat, meat and marrow and the carcass is usually picked clean in 30-60 days. Some of the birds I've observed include Black-capped and Mountain Chickadee, Juniper Titmouse, Ruby-crowned and Golden-crowned Kinglet, Audubon's and Wilson's Warbler, White-crowned, Fox and Harris's Sparrow, Dark-eyed Junco, Downy and Hairy Woodpecker, Northern Flicker, Steller's and Woodhouse's Scrub Jay, Black-billed Magpie, Common Raven, and American Crow. Always fun watching....

[Hummer]

Nice picture of the hawk.

The bald eagles are out in force this year. Passed a tree near the house yesterday where we normally see one or two and there were seven...5 adults and 3 juveniles. I've seen at least 2 or 3 somewhere along the river every day for the past two weeks. Naturally they're someplace where I can't stop and get a picture.

A lot of Bald Eagles fly south to winter here now. When we travel I-70 to the Front Range we make a game of how many Eagles we can spot while driving. It's not unusual to spot a dozen or more birds along the Colorado and Eagle Rivers.

[Irving]

This will be the most Australian thing you'll see all day.

[SamuraiCO]

Crikey

This will be the most Australian thing you'll see all day.

[Hummer]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...amily-man.html

Good punch as an assertion of dominance but that roo could have used a one-two. I'm too old to fight so I'd have just shot it, twice, and roasted it over a fire.

[Irving]

Of course he's under attack. People have nothing better to do.

This is my submission for best Youtube video of 2016.

[ThunderSquirrel]

[Hummer]

The Christmas Bird Count is held all around the country in 15 mile diameter count circles to survey bird populations. I do the owl count portion of the CBC and here we specifically look to tally Western Screech-owls. From about 5:30-7:15 this morning I made 11 stops and called in 5 owls using recorded Western Screech-owl calls. Sometimes two owls will come in and it's fun to watch their interactions.





When I got home I put out some cracked corn and bird seed for the bunnies and the Gambel's Quail.