As Tom Waits would say, it was colder than a grave digger's you-know-what
(let's say forehead) on 7Feb2014 at Grandview Cemetery in Fort Collins
(Larimer). Here are the highlights of a couple hour visit, with side trips
down an alley to the east and a check of Sheldon Lake at nearby City Park:
Common Raven - 1 flyover (cold weather often brings ravens to town for a little
dumpster diving)
American Robin and Cedar Waxwing - mixed flock of 60 and 3, respectively,
gorging on juniper berries
Brown Creeper - at least 3, all in conifers near hackberries (how in the world
does the energetics of acquiring those tiny psyllids from under bark work out
to the result of survival for the bird?)
Red-tailed Hawk - chased by a crow into the cemetery, where it landed atop a
big spruce.
Pine Siskins - a few seen in the tops of cone-laden spruce. One pair seen down
low in a spruce, apparently investigating potential nest locations.
Great Horned Owl - I am getting the impression they may NOT nest this year. No
hooting. So sign of the birds near the tradition nest location in the center
of the cemetery. We shall see.
Brown Thrasher - still sitting quietly in its European Buckthorn along the
alley side of the backyard at 143 Frey Avenue, about one block ne of the
cemetery entrance. This bird often goes down in the leaf litter under the bush
and thrashes for fallen buckthorn fruits. Karen, the yard owner, says it also
comes to her feeder for selections from the mixed seed. She thinks it favors
pieces of field corn and perhaps some of the smaller seeds (sorghum? millet?).
Red-breasted Merganser (1 pair) - in the smallish areas of open water in the
northeast corner of Sheldon Lake (other waterfowl include white-cheeked geese,
Mallard, American Wigeon, Common Goldeneye, and Common Merganser). I don't
recall ever having seen Red-brMerg at this location in hundreds of visits over
the last 40 years.
[All the Fox Squirrels today were eating their emergency rations, available 10
months out of 12: tree buds, particularly American Elm.]
Dave Leatherman
Fort Collins
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