Fire and Fall Friends

Last things first. As I was returning to work from my lunch I looked up towards the Flatirons, trying to compose a shot that would show off the yellowing shrubs, when I saw this view:



I have seen one other fire in my life in forest land that was about the same size, I was in Junior High School, hiking to a lake high on the Grand Teton with a church group. Walking back down we saw a plume of smoke about that size and watched it grow as we descended. It became the giant fire that devastated a good portion of Yellowstone National Park. Needless to say I did a quick double take. I quickly noticed the shape of the fire though. Note how it has a wide base, fairly parallel to the flat ground. That is a good indication of a prescribed burn. In a normal fire without significant wind a fire will burn uphill. In that case I would expect a single low point, and an inverted funnel shape going upslope.
Even so, I checked the Boulder County OSMP closure page when I got back and confirmed that it had been planned for today and intentionally set.

Now for the birds, I took my time with these first two species and am as confident as I can be about the IDs, but if I am wrong please let me know. Above and below is an Orange-crowned Warbler. Unfortunately the branch was in the way, but oh well. Even without a clear look at the face profile the dark legs and presence of yellow under the bill seem to rule out a MacGillivray's Warbler.

Then, the ever challenging flycatcher species. I am thinking Willow Flycatcher after some back and forth.

The closer I look at Flycatchers the less certain I become, but this one seems to meet the Willow field marks, was hanging around in willows, and is in the same location where I have spotted Willow Flycatchers in the past. Seems like a compelling case to me, but if I have missed the obvious feel free to comment.

These two were both a part of a fairly large loose group of birds that I saw as I arrived, and then passed again as I returned up the trail and they moved south along the creek. The group included eight Black-capped Chickadees, one each of the Orange-crowned Warbler and Willow Flycatcher, and the White-breasted Nuthatch below that was just oozing personality and very intrigued by my "pishing".

Another great day to embrace the arrival of fall. I hope you all are doing the same!

A flycatcher I could identify (I believe)

For all the United States based readers, I hope you had a good holiday. I had a short week in the office and ended up taking some time away from cameras, birds, and the outdoors in general. It was great. Today I headed out for an early lunch, and ended up with a newly identified life bird as a result. I headed down to the Bobolink Trailhead in Boulder to get a short walk in the shade before it got too hot. As I walked I stopped to get a few frames of a flycatcher. It was high on a dead limb, and as I shot I expected that it would be yet another dismissed as unidentifiable - it wasn't vocalizing so I didn't even have that option. However, when I got back and took my obligatory closer look I found that this flycatcher was different from the others I have puzzled over, it didn't have an eyering. After identifying that the Willow Flycatcher matched this description I compared the other field marks I could see and strengthened my confidence in the ID based on the many large willows in the riparian habitat along the creek. If anyone knows that this is incorrect please let me know, but based on the field marks and habitat I am confident it is a Willow Flycatcher.
Next I had this fun shot of a female House Finch back lit among the leaves. The lighting, combined with the dark green leaves in the background shows the two patches of molting feathers on her head. It looks like she had Horned Lark envy.

While I was on my walk I also got to enjoy a couple of species that I hadn't seen in a few weeks or longer. One species, the Yellow Warbler, was represented by a group of three individuals who were constantly moving between three trees, and singing back and forth. Fun to watch, but a photographic challenge facing the southeast.

One of the first birds I saw was this Hairy Woodpecker. I hadn't seen one in a while, and this guy just popped onto a branch a few feet from me at eye level. I got exactly one shot before the Hairy decided it was too close and headed off to a more distant perch.

So, a nice reward for some down time and a return to the outdoors.

2009 Count: 164

Lifetime: 175