A group from BBC (Boulder Bird Club) went on a field trip to Cal-Wood led by Jan Chu hoping to see butterflies on Saturday, June 20. But the weather did not cooperate and we did not see a single butterfly since the sun did not make an appearance.
But all was not lost since it turned into an interesting study of breeding birds on the Cal-Wood property which is near Jamestown. The owners of the atlas block were with us so they had all these extra eyes spotting breeding behavior. A small group of Aspen trees proved to be an "apartment complex" for several species of birds. We observed Western Bluebirds, Tree Swallows and Violet-green Swallows, Pygmy Nuthatches, Williamson's and Red-naped Sapsuckers using the trees. There were conifers mainly Ponderosa and a small stream nearby. There were many holes in the Aspens and they were not facing the same direction so it was difficult to figure out which holes belonged to which birds. There may have been another woodpecker species involved. Several of us saw a larger woodpecker disappear into a hole too quickly for us to positively identify. The bluebirds, swallows, and nuthatches definitely appeared to be feeding young. The holes were woodpecker/sapsucker size but that did not prevent the smaller birds from taking advantage of situation. We did see other hole nesters -- Mountain Bluebirds and House Wrens on the property, but did not observe them at the Aspen complex. Joyce Takamine Boulder --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ Colorado County Birding: http://www.coloradocountybirding.com/ 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.as/group/cobirds?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
