Walt Wehtje and I visited Lake Loveland on Saturday Nov 4. The gull flock loafing opposite the swim beach included 7 Lesser Black-backed Gulls, an adult Mew Gull and an adult Thayer's Iceland Gull (first of season). A finch flew overhead giving a call we didn't recognize. Later we matched the call to that of White-winged Crossbill. On Sunday, Nov 5, we returned to the area looking for crossbills. In the cemetery (just east of the lake, on the east side of US 287), we found a flock of 21 Red Crossbills. I recorded three different call types, including Type 4 (Douglas Fir), Type 5 (Lodgepole Pine), and Type 10 (Sitka Spruce). I am not aware of previous reports of Type 10 in Colorado. Has anyone observed Type 10 here before? Its call note sounds like "whit", similar to some Empidonax flycatchers (like Least or Willow). Also on Sunday, a straggling juvenile or hatch year Franklin's Gull was at Horseshoe Lake, as well as a handful of Bonaparte's Gulls.
Audio for the three red crossbill types has been uploaded to the Macauley Library via eBird, and also uploaded to xeno-canto.org. Nick Komar Fort Collins 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/698084793.43890606.1509957037650.JavaMail.zimbra%40comcast.net. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
