At Crom Lake on CR 31 a mile south of CR90: Cackling Goose (flock of 25) *Greater White-fronted Goose (1) FOS Bufflehead (1m)
At Crow Valley Campground/Briggsdale: *Golden-crowned Kinglet (2) Ruby-crowned Kinglet (1) barely avoided (by inches) being lunch for a Sharp-shin, twice! The hawk was perched quietly observing the southwest corner area when the kinglet came hopping along. The ensuing chase took both birds to the ground under the willows. Thinking the hawk had his prey, I moved a little closer for potential photos. Rather suddenly, the hawk flew up a short distance into a tree. Up popped the kinglet to a nearby branch, taunting death with a stare, flicking wings, and that gidget note they make. It very much reminded me of a bullfighter egging on horns mere feet away. The hawk pursued, pulled up and took a vicious swipe with its talons, and the kinglet disappeared. I would guess it's in Albuquerque about now. In pondering this, apparently the range of prey sought by Sharp-shins is pretty remarkable. I think it was Connie Kogler who recently reported a Sharp-shin chasing a Eurasian Collared-Dove into her window and then carting it off to consume half of its breast. I'm not sure what sex her hawk was, but I presume a big female. The bird going after a kinglet-nugget today at Crow Valley was a small male. But still, with a kinglet being 6.5 grams and a collared-dove being 200, that's about a 30-fold difference in size. Spotted Towhee (1m) Townsend's Solitaire (1) Song Sparrow (2) wonder how long they'll last in their tumbleweed jungle until they figure out the "creek" doesn't flow Mountain Bluebird (1f) fetching from a fence perch what appeared to be black field crickets House Sparrow (more than I've ever seen in Briggsdale, probably at least 150, all at feeders or taking dust baths by the streets) Lapland Longspurs (heard overhead every 10 minutes or so) Total of 18 species at Crow Valley/Briggsdale Pine Siskin (heard overhead at CR57/SR14) American Tree Sparrow (at CR57/SR14) Golden Eagle (1) along SR14 about 3 miles east of Ault Great Horned Owl (1) atop a power pole along SR14 about 2 miles east of Ault Dave Leatherman Fort Collins --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ Colorado Field Ornithologists: http://www.cfo-link.org/ 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 -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
