Hi All, This is primarily I would think of local interest. No rarities to speak of, but there have been many birds around the Springs recently worth mentioning.
Monday (4/28) there were two *Hermit Thrushes *at the Colorado College Farm. I found several *Cooper's Hawks*: a nesting pair on CC campus, an adult male with a kill in Shooks Run Park, and two (one with a kill) in Williams Canyon north of Manitou Springs. In Williams Canyon there were two unexpected *Osprey* as there is hardly any water here (so likely flying up to Rampart Resevoir)—one perched on a pinyon up on the rim for an hour or so. At least one *Prairie Falcon* was also around, as well as several *Blue-gray Gnatcatchers*, and *Yellow-rumps *(which seem to be everywhere recently), *Towhees*, a pair of *Gray-headed Juncos*, *Red-breasted Nuthatch*, and several *Broad-tailed Hummingbirds*. Found also my first blooming Paintbrush (*Castilleja*) and Bluebells (*Mertensia*) of Spring. Tuesday (4/29) Middle Shooks Run had an *Orange-crowned Warbler* along with the many *Yellow-rumps *around the park recently. Also a *Brown Creeper*. In the evening another *Cooper's Hawk *pair along W. Cheyenne Blvd. and a *Turkey Vulture* roost. This morning (Wednesday 4/30) I walked in Sondermann Park which was very full of birds. Incredible amounts of *Yellow-rumps *(mostly *Audubon's* but a few *Myrtle's* too), at least three *Orange-crowneds*, *Kinglets*, and many (at least 15) *Blue-gray Gnatcatchers* comprised most of the songbirds. The highlights were my first shining *Bullock's Oriole* of the season at the far north end of the park and a *Peregrine* perched on a snag eating breakfast (a Mourning Dove). Also around were *Blue Jays*, singing *House Wrens*,* Cowbirds*,* Broad-tailed Hummingbirds*, a pair of *Mountain Chickadees* along with the *Black-caps*, a *Red-tail*, *Towhees*, *Song Sparrow*, many *Downy Woodpeckers*, and of course countless *Mourning Doves* , *Robins* and *Flickers*. I think that's all. Hope everyone is enjoying the spring. Happy Trails, Lee Farese CO Springs -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/cobirds/6bc17067-a4b3-4897-84c1-c381e2db6204%40googlegroups.com. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
