Some fun, though not especially unexpected, encounters around west Arapahoe over the past few days...
*September 2 @ Marjorie Perry Nature Preserve* Very birdy, though nothing uncommon. Had my high counts of Blue-winged Teal (16), Western Tanagers (5 or so), and Red-breasted Nuthatches (6 or so) at the preserve. I'm a bit late to the discussion of Arapahoe County Red-breasted Nuthatches, but there seemed to be one (or more) per cluster of conifers this weekend. After getting the six at Marjorie Perry Nature Preserve, I heard another calling in the parking lot of a nearby King Sooper's. And there have been several of these birds around my neighborhood (across University from deKoevend Park) lately. *September 3* While my wife and I walked our dog on Sunday evening in our neighborhood, a Great Horned Owl flew over us, perching atop one of the giant transmission towers that run east-west through western Centennial (bisecting University just north of Arapahoe). The towers are visible from my yard. You'd think they'd prove an eyesore, but they're perches for Red-tails & Cooper's Hawks, Merlins, ravens, and now Great Horns. (Kestrels & Swainson's Hawks seem to favor the wires running between the towers and not the towers themselves.) *September 4 & 5* While collecting flower seeds in my front yard, I heard a loud & continuous squawking coming from my backyard. I suspected another wayward magpie; these birds & their repertoires of noise often fool me. But I found instead a scrub jay, my first in my yard. The bird visited my platform feeder on and off yesterday and today. Also on the fourth, three Swainson's Hawks soared over my neighborhood, calling madly. One eventually perched in a neighbor's tree and continued to call. They've been doing this a lot lately, and I regularly see one of them -- a juvenile -- perched in the same conifer in the neighborhood. That's it. The Chipping Sparrow numbers in my yard are down -- from a dozen or more last week, with a Clay-colored in tow, to two or three this weekend. The lone Broad-tailed Hummingbird visiting my feeders may also have left. - 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/4eb9681f-522f-4f1a-a2fb-35518110b0aa%40googlegroups.com. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
