Steve et al, The Common Redpolls seen today about 1.7 miles west of Norma's Grove by Norm Lewis and me were eating wild sunflowers (probably Helianthus annuus) seeds extracted from the flower heads along a dirt road in open shortgrass prairie. In my experience, this is a common scenario during invasion years. I have also seen them eating deciduous tree buds (especially elms) in parks, and at Grandview Cemetery they sometimes occur up in the spruce tops getting seeds from cones. Indeed, this might be a good year to figure out all their various Colorado options. I saw a pic today from south of Lamar and the lone redpoll there was eating safflower at a feeder. Others have reported that redpolls predictably go for thistle seed at feeding stations, also. This would indicate they might be expected at fields with heavy crops of thistles showing last season's seed heads.
I went all the way up to Lily Lake day before yesterday trying to figure that situation out, since people seemed to be saying they found the birds on the ground beside the trail. That sounds like grass or some other small plant seed. As David Waltman, Eric DeFonso, Steve (Kingswood?), Bob Shade, the Pollocks, and others can attest, it was cold and windy on Nov 3rd at Lily Lake and some of us only saw 1 bird for about 5 minutes. It came in from far to the east, did something mysterious under a willow along the frozen lake shore (procured liquid water at the edge of a heat-concentrating boulder?), and bombed off back toward a conifer forest to the east. Hard to figure out what they're doing when you can't find the birds. If anyone has comments on what they observed at that Lily Lake situation, I would second Steve's request for information. Dave Leatherman Fort Collins From: [email protected] To: [email protected] Subject: [cobirds] Redpoll Sightings Date: Thu, 15 Nov 2012 22:05:32 -0700 Cobirders, It looks like it might be a good winter for redpolls here in Colorado. It would be nice if observers would include the type of habitat the birds are being observed in, if they are associating with other species and the types of plants the birds are feeding on when the birds are reported. That would be both educational and provide others clues for what to look for when out searching for redpolls. Good birding,Steve StachowiakHighlands Ranch, CO -- 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 https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out. -- 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 https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
