OK, so what do I know? The pair of White-winged Crossbills was present in the
southeast corner (mostly Section 9, but also Sections 8 and G) of Grandview
Cemetery (Fort Collins, Larimer County) today for over 3.75 hours (from 9am to
12:45pm)! They did everything I've ever seen them do (except for exchange
food) in terms of seed feeding from both Blue and Engelmann Spruce cones,
eating snow on the ground, eating grit on the ground (twice in the ditch by the
pumphouse in the extreme southeast corner, but other places along the ditch
north from the se corner to the bridge that leads into the cemetery crew
buildings), extended singing by the male, chattering by both birds, silent
foraging involving cone severing in the interior of trees, chasing, lone
feeding somewhat separated from the other bird, etc. One new activity that I
got a photo of was the female getting seeds from an old ("open") Blue Spruce
cone on the ground. And I finally got some pretty decent photos of the male.
All this activity in this part of the cemetery is very reminiscent of what they
did way back in late November and early December. I think I am safe in saying
they have NOT been doing this all along. Many other folks can vouch for this.
I guess I should refrain from any speculation about what all this means in
terms of their nesting, especially where or when this might happen. All I can
say is the male is still with her, still singing profusely, squirrels are
everywhere, and that this has been going on for 73 days.
Dave Leatherman
Fort Collins
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