Hello everyone,I was hoping the inclement weather would drive the Rosy-Finches down to the feeders at the Fawn Brook Inn. Between 8:15 and 9:45 the large flock (200+) of Rosies did come down, but they were flighty and would only occasionally alight in the tops of the aspens. At one point (while I was down the street...) they went down to the feeders. It was just a little too calm and sunny for their liking up there. All three species were present, however. The highlight was a great look at the continuing BAND-TAILED PIGEON who likes to hang out along the little creek. Some photos of the pigeon can be seen on my Flickr site. I took a long hike up Eldorado Mountain on Thursday, February 12. Far from humanity and not exactly chasable, I found a flock of about a dozen Type 4 RED CROSSBILLS. As Nathan and Andrew described recently, this is a rare "type" in CO. This article explains why (http://www.uwyo.edu/benkman/PDFs%20of%20papers/Benkman_2007_Colorado_Birds.pdf). They are "Douglas Fir Crossbills" and since Rocky Mountain Doug Firs tend to drop their seeds early in the winter, few Type 4's make it down this far. Nathan suggests to me that they are likely an irruptive type, like White-winged Crossbills, which makes good sense. Right now might be a potentially great time to find this Type in CO by searching areas with extensive Doug Firs. I was at about 7,500 feet on a south facing slope dominated by Doug Firs but with a few Ponderosas mixed in. Canyons in the Front Range like Gregory and Skunk might be good places to check. With enough listening experience with the two common types (Ponderosa-2 and Lodgepole-5), the call notes of a Type 4 are distinctive. Here's an informative article with audio clips of Type 2 and Type 4's: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/news/introduction-to%20crossbill-vocalizationsGreat birding,Christian [email protected]http://www.flickr.com/photos/christian_nunes/ _________________________________________________________________ Windows Live™: Keep your life in sync. http://windowslive.com/explore?ocid=TXT_TAGLM_WL_t1_allup_explore_022009 --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ 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 -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
