Canon City Warblers (Fremont County and a bit of Poueblo County)

[Brian Johnson]

Yesterday I went down to Canon City to search for the Western Screech Owl and to see what else I might find. It was a bit disappointing to find the owl’s hole empty expect a squirrel coming out of it. I searched around the area but I could not find the owl, however the foliage was dense so I could have missed it. After that I walked to Selss Lake and found many warblers, the resident Yellow Breasted Chats where active along with the resident Yellow Warblers, in addition I found a Ovenbird that hoped out briefly, along with a Orange Crowned Warbler.

I was surprised to find three Eastern Phoebes. I had seen one briefly at Chatfield but this time I got to watch them and observe their telltale tail wagging habit, something I had not yet gotten to observe. This observation was my highlight of the day, watching and listing to the phoebes hope around. After the river walk I drove part of Temple Canyon Park but not too much was going one bird wise. I did see two more warblers, a Black Throated Gray Warbler and two Yellow Rumped Warblers. The rest of the day got rained out but my brief stop at Lake Pueblo I got to listen to a Northern Mockingbird pair imitate what sounded like an Ovenbird and I saw a Scaled Quail dart for cover. Despite getting rained out and not find that owl it was a good day and the warblers seem to me on the move. Hopefully next time I go I will find that Screech Owl.

Here are my checklist from that day,

http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S30708503 Canon City River walk

http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S36682454 Temple Canyon Park

http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S36684231 Lake Pueblo North Shore

http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S36684831 Lake Pueblo South Shore

Brian Johnson

Englewood CO