When going to Fleming this afternoon to pick up a puppy, I spent about 45 minutes at a ranch area with many cottonwood trees outside of town. Nothing out of the expected, but it was wonderful to see a loud pair of nesting Red Headed Woodpeckers, several very visible roosting Nighthawks (I thought they were Common, but I could not see the pattern of white on the wings as they sat on cottonwood branches, so I wasn't completely sure), many Lark Sparrows singing loudly and openly, Western Kingbirds, Mourning Doves more numerous than Eurasian Collared ones, Lark Buntings, Horned Larks, and a number of wonderfully vocal Mockingbirds. One of them sang with such incredible fidelity that at first I was fooled by its Blue Jay, until I saw it was the Mockingbird. This bird then breezed through expert renditions of a Kestrel, Robin, Western Kingbird, Cardinal, and some others, including its own improvisations. In Mexico, the traditional name for Mockingbirds, translated from the Nahuatl language is "200 voices"- this guy certainly lived up to that name. It was a great little oasis on the plains. -Elena K
-- 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.
