Kit Basom and I took a walk on the East Boulder/White Rocks trail in east Boulder County this afternoon in the off-and-on snow. We hoped to spot some nesting activity of the Great Horned Owls that she has seen there 4 times in the past 2 weeks. No luck finding the owls, but we did get a great look at an American Kestrel eating a fresh-caught mouse.
We startled the kestrel from a fencepost and the bird flew off with its prey to a nearby large cottonwood branch that was wide and nearly horizontal. It soon abandoned that spot, and we were afraid we'd caused it to drop the prey, as the bird moved around to several other perches in different trees, then landed on a slim upper branch just a few feet above a Red-tailed Hawk in a different, nearby tree. The kestrel posed there with seeming unconcern, and after a couple minutes, the hawk flew off. The kestrel stayed another minute, them flew back to a branch in its original tree, pecked around in a cranny we could not see, and finally returned to its original branch - where it resumed feeding with gusto. It certainly seemed as if the kestrel were trying to distract the hawk, then made sure the hawk was well away before returning to its stashed prey. Another highlight was two pairs of Hooded Mergansers sailing the creek - two males hanging out with the mallards, and two females doing their own thing. Other spottings included: Great Blue Heron Song Sparrows - small flock Red-tailed Hawk - several individuals Blue Jay Belted Kingfisher (female) Mallards (a pair) Canada Geese (several flocks flying over) Gulls, unidentified Black-Capped Chickadees Mourning Dove European Starlings American Robin The heron left lovely large and clean footprints on the new coating of soft snow on the frozen creek. Some other more flat-footed bird - a small duck? - had left closely set, zipper-like tracks that meandered across the ice to a sudden takeoff point, while the coyotes had limned curlicue designs all over the pond. -- Sandra Laursen -- 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.com/group/cobirds?hl=en.
