*Gray Catbirds* and *Western Wood-Pewees* arrived in western Arapahoe County over the weekend. I had my first of the seasons of both on Sunday (5/14) at deKoevend Park.
On Monday (5/15) morning, I birded west Arapahoe Co. I had more of both catbirds and Western Wood-Pewees at Willow Spring Open Space. I also had my first *Northern Mockingbird* in west Arapahoe Co. at Willow Spring. The bird was silent but conspicuously perching atop small conifers in the scrubby field near the Holly St. entrance. From Willow Spring, I visited Marjorie Perry Nature Preserve in Greenwood Village, where I had my first *Eastern Kingbird* of the season. (Pewees were there as well.) After finishing up at the preserve, I went home, picked up my dog, Iggy, and headed to Richmil Ranch Open Space in Deer Trail, CO (eastern Arapahoe Co.). There were plenty of singing mockingbirds, a few *Bullock's Orioles*, and many chattering *Western Kingbirds*. A *Lincoln's Sparrow*, which I only ever see in fairly thick understories, was a surprise, perched atop a tree trunk, out in the open, near a picnic table. After walking the trail that goes around the open space, Iggy and I took a lunch and water break at the picnic shelter near the open space entrance. A *Common Nighthawk*, my first of the season, called while I ate. No other bird gets me to my feet as quickly as a nighthawk. I looked for it, but only spotted a shape, way up high, that was moving like a nighthawk. Iggy and I then headed back into the open space to try to confirm that we'd indeed heard *Cassin's Kingbirds*. We indeed had. After inspecting a lot of Western's, I finally found two making the right noises and showing the right, white-tipped tails as they flew away from me. A *Red-headed Woodpecker* made an appearance at Richmil as Iggy and I left. (From the car, I spotted another just south of the open space on CO-40.) We took the "back way" home to look for sparrows in the farmland. We found* Lark Buntings* & *Lark Sparrows*, *Horned Larks*, several more mockingbirds, and one or two *Loggerhead Shrikes.* Today (5/16), Iggy and I walked around deKoevend Park. Along the southern edge of the park, near Big Dry Creek, we had a nice collection of birds among some cottonwoods -- Yellow Warblers, a White-breasted Nuthatch, a pewee, robins, flickers, and my first *Black-headed Grosbeak* of the season. We then checked out the Big Dry Creek Trail south of Cherry Knolls Park. We found an *Olive-sided Flycatcher*, several *Western Tanagers,* and a few more pewees along the trail where it meets St. Paul Ave. There were many Broad-tailed Hummingbird up and down the trail, with several, especially, near where the trail forks at E. Dry Creek Rd. My first *Lesser Goldfinches *of the year were also along the trail. Iggy and I then made a brief stop at a small park called Milliken Park in Centennial. Bordered by the High Line Canal and an odd undeveloped space filled with towers / antennas, old satellites, and a small, dilapidated building, the park, I suspect, has a nesting pair of Western Kingbirds. (Last July, I saw six of them at the park.) I stopped at the park to look for signs of this and found two Western Kingbirds flycatching around the undeveloped space. At home, I heard a chipping in my yard and found, again, a male* MacGillivray's Warbler*. When I last reported one on May 8 & 9, I said that I suspected that it was the same one that visited my yard 5/17-5/19 last year. Now I'm not so sure. Perhaps this is a second MacGillivray's that inexplicably found its way to the line of bushes and trees that separates my yard from my neighbors' yards. In any case, I hadn't seen or heard a MacGillivray's in my yard since May 9, despite spending a lot of time out there doing yard work. The bird on the 8th and 9th chipped and occasionally sang. This one briefly sang and chipped a bit as well. Perhaps its the same bird as the May 8 bird. Perhaps not. - Jared Del Rosso Centennial, CO -- 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/23abdb38-4279-4038-bd19-2763a6e7004f%40googlegroups.com. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
