Morning photo: Just another day …

Posted on September 29, 2012 by Bob Berwyn

Summit scenes

Bald eagle.

SUMMIT COUNTY — A morning search of the shores of Dillon Reservoir yielded another encounter with the resident bald eagle — and this time I had the right camera and the right lens to bring him in a little closer. The mighty birds favor the tallest dead lodgepoles as perches, often out on the tip of one of the peninsulas that jut into the reservoir. Even though I had both dogs with me, the eagle seemed fairly serene and let us approach quite near. When I got within good camera range, I lay down prone to stabilize the camera and clicked away. All in all, it’s been a few good days for photography, with dramatic clouds, golden trees and Friday’s sunset and moonrise, which was, simply put, mind-blowing. (more…)

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Morning photo: Birds!

Posted on February 17, 2012 by Bob Berwyn

Great Backyard Bird count starts today

Mountain Chickadee. PHOTO COURTESY MIA MCPHERSON. Click on the image for more.

By Summit Voice

SUMMIT COUNTY — Since the Great Backyard Bird Count starts today and continues through the weekend, we’re posting a few photos of our fine-feathered friends. Birds are under pressure from habitat loss and climate change, with scores of species listed as threatened or endangered on the IUCN Red List. The annual backyard count helps provide a picture of species distribution and abundance in late winter, just before the big migrations begin for many species. More information on the count is online here.

And special thanks to Mia McPherson for providing some of the images for this post. Follow her On the Wing blog for frequent updates or visit her website and online gallery of birds and other nature shots. (more…)

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Biodiversity: Annual Christmas bird count under way

Posted on December 20, 2011 by Bob Berwyn

Cardinal.

Citizen science project helps track bird populations

By Summit Voice

SUMMIT COUNTY — The annual Christmas bird count — the longest running citizen science project on record — is under way, and in early reports from Colorado, observers are seeing plenty of diversity but lower numbers than in some past years. To find out how to get involved in your area, visit this Audubon Society web page.

“We documented 127 species at Pueblo Reservoir, which is two short of the all time record.  The total number of birds, however, was down,” said Leon Bright, membership coordinator for the Arkansas Valley Audubon Society. Bright said the same trend was observed in the Wet Mountain Valley count near Westcliffe.  “The lower number of birds might be related to the drought conditions,” he said. (more…)

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Morning photo: for the birds

Posted on December 20, 2011 by Bob Berwyn

On the wing …

A pelican strikes a classic pose during a Florida sunset.

SUMMIT COUNTY — The annual Christmas bird count is under way, involving thousands of people in one of the largest citizen science projects in the country. Counting birds in the same areas during the same time from year to year helps establish good baseline information on bird populations. Read a bit more about it in this Summit Voice story, and browse through the bird snapshots in the daily photo essay. And if you want to see some really good bird photography, visit On The Wing Photography. (more…)

Filed under: biodiversity, Environment, Morning photo, photography, Summit County Colorado, wildlife | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments »

Morning photo: Critter cam

Posted on July 9, 2011 by Bob Berwyn

Bugs, birds, bison …

Stopping at a gas station a few miles south of New Orleans, I spotted this unusual translucent green dragonfly sitting on a Bungee cord holding down luggage on the car roof. I grabbed the small Fuji Finepix, turned on the flash and snapped a couple of quick frames.

SUMMIT COUNTY — Today was #FriFotos on Twitter, a social media chat that involves posting photos about a different topic each week, and this week the topic was animals. Turns out I have quite a few critter pics, including domestic dogs, dolphins, sea birds and, yes, even a few insects.

A petrel soars above the waters of the Drake Passage, between Tierra del Fuego and Antarctica.

(more…)

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Breckenridge may revise Cucumber Gulch monitoring

Posted on May 10, 2011 by Bob Berwyn

Wetlands preserve is an important sanctuary for wildlife; town commits $80,000 to monitoring in 2011 budget

Twilight in Cucumber Gulch, Breckenridge, Colorado. PHOTO BY CHRISTY CARELLO.

By Bob Berwyn

SUMMIT COUNTY — The Cucumber Gulch Preserve is an alpine oasis for wildlife, and could become even more important for Colorado birds, as a recent federal report showed that one quarter of all avian species in the U.S. are imperiled — many of them under the gun from climate change.

The Breckenridge Town Council this afternoon (May 10) will once again consider what type of biological monitoring should be done this year, and one of the questions is whether to repeat a study from last year that tried to determine whether summer operations of the BreckConnect Gondola have a negative effect on birds nesting in the Gulch. (more…)

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Biodiversity: One in four U.S. birds imperiled

Posted on May 4, 2011 by Bob Berwyn

2011 State of the Birds report highlight public lands, climate-change threats

Oceanic birds and birds that rely on coastal habitat face challenges related to climate change, according to the 2011 State of the Birds report. PHOTO BY BOB BERWYN.

SUMMIT COUNTY — A quarter of all bird species living in the United State are imperiled or in decline, according to the 2011 State of the Birds report from the U.S. Department of Interior.

This year’s report focuses on public lands, pointing that, of the more than 1,000 bird species living in the country, 251 are federally listed as threatened, endangered or as species of conservation concern.

“The State of the Birds report is a measurable indicator of how well we are fulfilling our shared role as stewards of our nation’s public lands and waters,” Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said in a release. “Although we have made enormous progress in conserving habitat on public lands, we clearly have much more work to do. The good news is that because birds so extensively use public lands and waters as habitat, effective management and conservation efforts can make a significant difference in whether these species recover or slide towards extinction.”

Publicly owned lands support at least half of the entire U.S. distributions of more than 300 bird species. The findings indicate tremendous potential for bird conservation, as well as some challenges, including rampant energy development across crucial sagebrush habitat in the West and threats to habitat from declining forests and climate change. (more…)

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Morning photo: Florida birds

Posted on April 9, 2011 by Bob Berwyn

Fine-feathered friends …

A heron takes flight over the Gulf of Mexico.

SUMMIT COUNTY — As I’ve said before, I’m not really a wildlife photographer, but every now and then I get lucky and end up in a spot where I can use my other basic photography skills to capture some halfway decent images. Florida is great place for wannabe bird photographers, because the birds swoop low and close to the beaches, or run through the surf just a few feet away. Here are some of the best bird shots from my recent trip to the Florida Gulf Coast. (more…)

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Morning photo: A break from the snow

Posted on March 31, 2011 by Bob Berwyn

Some beach time …

Hazy skies can't hide the luminescent waters of the Gulf of Mexico in Englewood, Florida.

SUMMIT COUNTY — A few early spring scenes from the Gulf Coast of Florida. It’s spring break time, so the tourists are as thick as the sea shells, but at twilight, the beach along Manasota Key is quiet, leaving room for bald eagles and great horned owls. (more…)

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60-something albatross breeds on Midway Atoll

Posted on March 9, 2011 by Bob Berwyn

This Laysan albatross, named Wisdom, is the oldest known American bird. PHOTO BY JOHN KLAVITTER, U.S. FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE.

A Laysan albatross breeding on Midway Atoll is the oldest wild bird documented by North American researchers

By Summit Voice

SUMMIT COUNTY — A seafood diet and plenty of fresh air seems to be just the right thing for Wisdom, a 60-something Laysan albatross that just became a new mother on Midway atoll.

“She looks great,” said Bruce Peterjohn, chief of the North American Bird Banding Program at the U.S. Geological Survey Patuxent Wildlife Research Center in Laurel, Md. “And she is now the oldest wild bird documented in the 90-year history of our USGS-FWS and Canadian bird banding program,” he added. “To know that she can still successfully raise young at age 60-plus, that is beyond words. While the process of banding a bird has not changed greatly during the past century, the information provided by birds marked with a simple numbered metal band has transformed our knowledge of birds.” (more…)

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