It was great to meet you yesterday. I had no idea I was with such a knowledgeable birder although I was picking up clues. Great pic and thanks for showing me the snail. I appreciate your help with the bird very much. -Sharon Kay
On Wednesday, January 31, 2018 at 8:57:12 PM UTC-7, Dave Leatherman wrote: > > Today I visited a new area of Fort Collins at the invitation of a friend > who said he was "seeing interesting ducks" at his neighborhood pond. The > pond is called "Willow Springs", I guess. I can't find it named on any > map. The pond is sw of the intersection of Battlecreek Drive and S. > Timberline Road in southeastern Fort Collins. Waterfowl present today on > this totally ice free pond were Lesser Scaup, Ring-necked Ducks, Mallards, > Cackling Geese and Canada Geese. > > > While trying to figure out where the pond was and how to access it from > inside the nearby condo maze, I saw some interesting things. A flock of > approximately 15 Red Crossbills (sounded like Type 2s) was coming down to a > small drainage to drink. A Red-breasted Nuthatch was exploring roofs and > gutters. At one juncture he got what looks like a winged carpenter ant but > it might be a darkened European Paper Wasp cadaver pulled from its cell in > a roof corner comb. Tough to tell dead insects in the beak of a bird 15 > feet away. > > > > > > A Downy Woodpecker was percussing various objects. Most notably he > checked out adventitious root knots protruding above the grass at the base > of a cottonwood (not sure what would be in these) and goldenrod gall fly > galls (see below). > > > > > > (1) Goldenrod plant with three galls (left), (2) opened gall showing two > fly larvae (*Eurosta solidaginis*) which cause these swellings (middle) > and (3) downy woodpecker (right) going after goldenrod gall fly maggots > (gall is right in front of its chest). > > > The wonderful red Fox Sparrow first found at the Northern Colorado > Environmental Learning Center by Andy Bankert continues. Yesterday and > today it was in the exact site where first reported (southeast of the > intersection of the Wilcox and Alden Trails a few tenths of a mile south of > the east end of the suspension bridge). I watched the bird at length both > yesterday and today and found its behavior most interesting. Whatever it > is after is down in the leaf litter. This species is a well-known > doublefoot scratcher, similar to towhees and certain other sparrows, > including the juncos it hangs with. What I had never seen before was > scratching with a twist. A full twist, that is. Its normal posture is > head-down and its scratching is modest. But every once in a while, it > raises its head, stands on it clawtip toes, and does a rapid 360-degree > spin. Ice skaters at the upcoming Olympics would receive high marks if > they could bust such a move. Presumably this flips particularly thick or > matted litter. In an attempt to discern what the red sparrow and juncos > were getting, several times a minute, from said leaf litter, I got down on > my knees, scrunched my trifocals so as to use the reader layer at the > bottom to best advantage and scratched back leaves with my hands. Over a > period of 20 minutes and exposing an area of approximately one square > meter, I found exactly ZERO insects, one snail barely a mm across, lots of > deer droppings, and some seeds of an unidentified plant that might be the > answer to the puzzle. Not exactly the cornucopia I was expecting. Once > again I marvel at the survival skills of birds, once again I walked away > stumped. But that gorgeous sparrow was worth the effort. If you are > looking for it, approach the described area QUIETLY AND SLOWLY. This bird > has been pursued by dozens of birders, many of them loud and impatient, > playing tapes, etc. It is VERY WARY, very difficult to see. Find the > junco flock, stay back and just watch all the scratchers. It is usually > the farthest one away. When approached or warned of something by nervous > juncos, it usually goes up a short ways into the boxelder trees. Patience > usually is rewarded by it returning to the leaf litter but sometimes this > takes 15-30 minutes. > > > > > > I have looked for the Harris's Hawk out off Prospect Road near the Welcome > Center at I-25 yesterday and today and not seen it (which means NOTHING > with that bird). It works a huge area, is quite active, never seems to sit > in the same place for very long or two days in a row. > > > Dave Leatherman > > Fort Collins > > > > > > -- 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/818a888c-d202-49c7-930f-4a4ebfd931c2%40googlegroups.com. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
