Exciting day at Grandview Cemetery, west end of Mountain Avenue, Fort Collins.
eBird didn't like the Turkey Vulture that flew thru at treetop level, even
though they always come back in March and there's been a colony a few blocks
east of the cemetery for decades. I would call the date about "a week early"
from the norm. I don't have access to the late Dr. Alex Cringan's data on
their local return date. In its infant wisdom eBird did NOT flag a bird I have
never seen there in 1700+ visits: Marsh Wren. That's species #198 for me at
the cemetery. It was in the alley east of the cemetery foraging at the base of
a fence overgrown with Virginia creeper vines. I got wonderful photos with a
camera that told me afterwards ("no card"). Drat. Saw a Cooper's hawk eating
a collared-dove in the middle of the street. Lots of adult hackberry
gall-making psyllids out and about, freshly emerged from their overwintering
haunts in the bark. A brown creeper, no doubt not alone, was nitpicking them.
Barring a super cold, fast-ascending storm, when we return to sub-freezing
temps again, these little insects will return to the bark. If it were to stay
warm they would mate and lay eggs on the developing buds of hackberry. A
bushtit and a couple black-capped chickadees were gleaning golden oak scales
from a bur oak. Bushtits were also getting aphids from a pinyon pine and
marauding thru various other plants. To paraphrase the Peace Corps slogan,
mama great horned owl was carrying on at "the most boring job you'll ever love"
(incubation). Total of 17 species.
Dave Leatherman
Fort Collins
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