Did my normal circuit from Prospect and Sharp Point south thru Prospect Ponds Natural Area to the Environmental Learning Center (ELC) back north across the river thru Cottonwood Hollow Natural Area west to the starting area.
Highlights: BUSHTIT (flock of about 18 birds, first time I've ever seen them along the Poudre in the Fort Collins area in several hundred visits over the last 35 years) Hooded Merganser (1 male in the canal just west of the long unpaved lane that leads to the ELC parking lot) Wood Duck (at least 5 at various locations) Northern Shrike (1 at Cottonwood Hollow near the info kiosk) Northern Pintail (6 at Cottonwood Hollow) Killdeer (heard) Great Blue Heron (3) Red-tailed Hawk (2 in love, sitting next to eachother on a high power line tower) I would love to know what bushtits eat. They are always in groups. They are always on the move. Their foraging style reminds me of the school kids I withstood recently at the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum: you can hear them coming from a long ways away, little high-pitched squeals and bell-like notes, then you see them flitting along, soon they are all around you, stepping on your feet, hands on glass, impatient, looking here and there, loud, and just like that - gone. How could they ever find enough aphids or spider egg sacs or whatever to sustain their ADD-type activity? Surely bushtits have moved along the Poudre River in Fort Collins more than just once since 1974, but if a person wasn't there during exactly the right 5-minute period, it's hard to detect vapor. As an aside, today the resident Northern Flicker in my courtyard on the east side of Fort Collins did his territorial drumming for the first time (at least that I've heard) this spring. This seems early (maybe because I dread waking up at dawn for the next several weeks, whether I have a reason to get started on the day's activities or not). In checking my journals, while this is the earliest date for drumming (by a few days), there are several entries that indicate either mating calls or drumming were noted in the courtyard sometime in February or early March. Dave Leatherman Fort Collins --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/cobirds?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
