south side of the crown, about half way up the tall spruce tree on the ditch bank just north of the lime green pumphouse, extreme southeast corner, Grandview Cemetery, west end of Mountain Avenue, Fort Collins, Larimer County, Colorado:
The White-winged Crossbill nesting attempt is progressing quickly. Two babies are growing visibly each day. Today they were seen flapping their feathered wings, showing white wing-bars, and even sporting feathers and stripes on their heads. The parents are making runs into the nest about once an hour. I have yet to hear the nestlings (as opposed to nestling siskins nearby which "hiss" noticeably during their feedings). It may just be that where we view the crossbills is too far away to hear noises they may be making. The parents are not making much noise either prior to coming into the nest. Lou Hedegus and I discovered at least one spot where the parents are getting water this afternoon - they went THROUGH the diamond-shaped grate on the south side of the pumphouse to free water that flows from a big drainage pipe across a concrete slab and into the pumphouse. I have seen fledgling siskins do the same thing but can't remember if I reported this. I got pics of the female crossbill with her head sticking out of the grate on her way out from a subterranean watering run. The male just flew up and out of there like it was a mere training exercise. Amazing. The female is roosting with the male somewhere away from the nest tree these nights. Either there isn't enough room for her, given the low ceiling over the nest site and/or this is standard practice for a nest in this stage of nestling development on days with temperature at or above freezing. First feeding of the nestlings in the morning appears to be about 7:15-7:30am. The female is consuming the fecal sacs. Both parents seem to be spending more and more time in deciduous trees, apparently getting insects (particularly scales), buds (American elm and American hackberry), and perhaps galls (made by eriophyid mites in cottonwood). For those who have asked, I have not seen any accipiter or squirrel activity near the nest recently. But to be honest, I have not been there much lately, either. The nest wall pilfering by other finches seems to have subsided, also. We had calculated fledging for early next week and this just may be about right (Tuesday?). I will not be there tomorrow morning, but want to get over there tomorrow afternoon and at least part of Sunday morning. It is not an exaggeration to state errant golf shots are a threat to birders and their vehicles. So far two of us have been hit in the leg. Some of these golfers and their shots are impressively bad and dangerous. Many of them look and act like a backcross between John Daly and Happy Gilmore. Be forewarned. Dave Leatherman Fort Collins -- 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] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/cobirds?hl=en?hl=en To unsubscribe, reply using "remove me" as the subject.
