Polly Wren Neldner's Page

My husband Paul came home from work last night and said he had seen an all white bird at the entrance to Cuchara Mountain Resort...So we just had to go investigate this morning. Our reward was our first ever look at a truly albino bird! We are assuming Chipping Sparrow...as the bird interacting with it is a Chipping Sparrow. May add more photos later!

Hi Gary,

This morning we spotted a Burrowing Owl on Hwy 160, at the Valley Road cutoff to La Veta. When we returned from Lathrop State Park 2 hours later he was still there...appeared to be all by himself...not much prairie dog activity...a newer "town"...although we have heard of these little guys being out by the airstrip near Walsenburg...that is almost 20 miles away...is it unusual for them to be this high...about 7,000 feet?

Would appreciate your input.

Polly Neldner

As I stepped out the door to take our dog for his late night stroll, I was delightfully surprised by calm...for the first time in nearly two weeks the wind was not howling! Then I heard 2 Great Horned Owls calling close...they seemed to be calling in tandem...one right after the other...then from farther away I heard another...then finally from a different direction and even further away I heard yet another! 4 at one time is a record for me...I lingered just a while longer that I needed to just… Continue

Today we went up to Pueblo Reservoir, and while we did not see a great deal...what we did see was special! We stopped below the dam and Paul started scanning with the scope...and the first things he focused on were 3 Long-tailed Ducks (1 Male, 2 female)!
Only the second time we have seen this species. The first time was in Alaska...so this was a first for the lower 48 for both of us.

At Valco Ponds in amongst the Common Mergansers was a single male Red-breasted merganser. That was a lifer for P… Continue

Hey Everybody,

The activity in our yard has increased so much that we have re-hung some of the feeders we had taken down several weeks ago when it seemed all we had was Grackles, Brown Cowbirds, and Red-winged Blackbirds.
So far we have the following fledglings in our yard: Pine Siskins, Black-headed Grosbeaks, Lesser and American Goldfinches, Gray Catbirds, Rufous, Broad-tailed and Calliope Hummingbirds, Yellow Warblers ( we actually saw a Yellow Warbler feeding and Brown Cowbird fledgling the… Continue