I met a group of 15 eager, teenaged birders and their teacher Cree Bol this
morning at Grandview Cemetery in Fort Collins (Larimer). We had a great time.
Combining early morning scouting with our group time together, and perhaps
another productive visit this afternoon, the species total may well approach my
all-time best (38) in over 1000 visits. We ended the morning at 34 species.
Misses that should be out there are White Pelican, Canada Goose, Rock Pigeon,
and Red-winged Blackbird. Ring-billed Gull, Mallard, Red-tailed Hawk,
Ruby-crowned Kinglet, empid, and Bullock's Oriole are also possible.
Highlights included a bird which will be nominated to the Guinness Book of
World Records (see below):
Warbling Vireo (have never nested in the cemetery to my knowledge, which is
somewhat surprising given the big cottonwoods around the edges, so probably a
pass-thru (the latter being hard to come by during the last 10 days in my
travels).
Plumbeous Vireo (also an obvious pass-thru, foraging in newly-leafed honey
locust, saw it catch a skinny caterpillar (probably an inchworm type)).
Western Tanager (at least 3, obvious pass-thru individuals)
Osprey soaring overhead (something one sees maybe once a year at Grandview)
Swainson's Hawk (again, not a normal sight at Grandview, but perhaps one is
nesting in open areas nearby)
Pine Siskins are finishing up Nesting #1 and appear excited about a second
round.
Common Raven (somewhat unusual for this elevation and setting on this date)
Western Wood-Pewees (at least 2) and Lesser Goldfinches, normally thought of as
foothills species, will probably nest in Grandview again.
Red-breasted Nuthatch fledgling up on a limb being fed a daddy-longlegs by its
mom (motherly love knows no bounds). This cool event was witnessed at close
range by all the young birders, with the fledgling being first noticed when it
accidentally mistook, then reconsidered, Joel's ballhat for a place to wait for
said feeding).
So, what's this about the Guiness Book of World Records? For the FOURTH year
in a row, a particular female Broad-tailed Hummingbird has built a new tier
atop the same nest and is sitting on eggs! She raised a brood in summer 2010,
refurbished but for some reason did not nest in 2011, raised a brood in 2012,
and is at it again in 2013. According to the Birds of North America account
for this species, this ties her for the most successive uses of the same nest.
Drum roll, please. As you probably know, the base material for these nests is
spider webs and most broods (2 birds) manage to completely flatten a cup (that
starts out perfect) by the time they fledge. Something is different about this
nest in that it has stayed well-defined despite considerable use. Its shape is
also atypical, as currently configured being about 3 times taller than wide.
Dave Leatherman
Fort Collins
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