At about 10:30 am this morning in the extreme nw part of Section 8, I located
the female White-winged Crossbill calling ("vred-vred-vred vred-vred
vred-vred-vred....." and feeding atop a spruce. The male was not with her, as
has been reported by Sue Kamal and Paul Slingsby's DFO group of late. My
suspicion is something has happened to the male. He either went off to the
circus with some Reds, or something more sinister occurred. Possibly related
to this, the first bird I saw upon arriving at Grandview this morning at 8:50
was the male American Kestrel. This falcon has been perching in the tiptop of
spruces (i.e., eye-level to crossbills) since 9December. About 9:10 today, I
saw him dive in attack mode into the top of another spruce, scattering a small
group of Pine Siskins. Nearby American Goldfinches and European Starlings also
fled. Just before the end of the visit at 10:30, a male Sharp-shinned Hawk, in
short flights, worked its way through the elms at mid-crown level. I did not
see the Merlin(s) that hunt the area. Larry and Loxy were an item for a time,
but I strongly suspect their relationship did not survive the
dangers/temptations of the big bad world. Time will tell. If anyone sees the
male, please post this fact. Thanks.
The only Red Crossbills noted today were a small flock flying high over the
cemetery from e to w.
A few visits ago, I reported on a very cold day seeing most of the Red-breasted
Nuthatches feeding along interior spruce crown branches, creeperstyle. It
occurred to me today maybe this is not foraging for unknowns, but rather
retrieval of knowns, namely seeds cached by them and perhaps chickadees. In
other words, this is the payback for effort earlier this autumn.
Dave Leatherman
Fort Collins
--
Colorado Field Ornithologists: http://www.cfo-link.org/
Colorado County Birding: http://www.coloradocountybirding.com/
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