Today was another one of those days at Grandview Cemetery (Fort Collins at the west terminus of Mountain Avenue, Larimer County) that keeps my heart pumping.
The White-winged Crossbills continue. Prior to today, I last saw them on February 2. Nick Komar reported seeing them on February 3. I was gone to Lamar for a time, and then upon returning did not see the birds during fairly lengthy visits the past three days (February 9, 10, and 11). Today was a totally different matter, as I watched them from 9:30am to 3:00pm. I first heard the male singing north of the office on the east side of the ditch (Section 11). I never saw him and do not know if he was accompanied by the female. At about 10, both birds of the pair were located in the southeast corner of the cemetery (mostly Section 9) on both sides of the ditch, up in the trees, and down on the ground. While on the ground, mostly just north of the pumphouse, I watched the male plucking something from the ground. The shrub overhead is a honeysuckle and he may have been eating fallen, shriveled honeysuckle berries. He could have been getting soil and/or grit, also. Both birds ate snow at this location. And just to the east is another shrub, a buckthorn, with bigger, plumper fruits that were heavily foraged by both a flock of a dozen or so Cedar Waxwings and an American Robin. I never saw the crossbills in or under this shrub, however. Most of the time, the birds did their usual thing getting spruce seeds high in the trees from open cones at the ends of branches, or from closed cones inside the crowns. The literature says they eat about 3000 seeds/day. Today marks the 83rd day of their visit, that we know of. Thus, if they, too read what Craig Benkmann and others write, they are just under the 500,000 seed mark. Amazing. About 2:30 until 3:00 both birds were drinking melted snow from the ditch just north of the little bridge that goes into the Maintenance Area (i.e., just east of the northern tip of Section 9). Other things of note: The Canada/Cackling Goose flock at City Park continues to grow and they are spending considerable time foraging on the grass at both the golf course to the south and the baseball fields to the east. I saw no rare geese during a careful scan of the south diamond's centerfield (maybe 750 birds). They are over the cemetery every time a dog shuffles the deck. At one point today the waxwing flock numbered 65, which represents a steady increase over the last three days. Yesterday a robin pretty successfully defended its female juniper with berries against a flock of about of 30. Didn't see any interaction between the two species today, except the peaceful bipartisan dining at the buckthorn. Bald Eagle adult soaring high off to the southeast over City Park Juncos singing (late afternoon). A fresh collared-dove eggshell on the ground. (Copulating observed in the courtyard by my apartment today, which proves that some doves are frickin' later than others). The Great Horned Owls appear about to nest (hooting in late afternoon, both birds in separate spruce trees near the nest elm) A Sharp-shinned Hawk showed up near the entrance just as I was leaving late this afternoon. It appeared to be an adult (gray back, reddish underparts, red eye) but it also showed the big white circular patches on the back that I associate with young birds. Apparently a molting bird. Total of 29 species, which I am certain is my best species total at Grandview in February, ever. Dave Leatherman Fort Collins -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds". 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?hl=en Visit the CFO Website at: www.cfo-link.org
