Hey, birders. Hannah Floyd and I enjoyed a nice ramble along the Fowler and Goshawk Ridge trails, near El Dorado Springs, southern Boulder County, yesterday, Memorial Day, Monday, May 25. Wonderful weather: partly sunny, not too hot, with a few sprinkles; very little wind.
Avian highlights included: at least 2, probably 3, and perhaps 4 chanting *ovenbirds;* a luminous adult male *indigo bunting;* and a singing *rose-breasted grosbeak.* In the go-figure category was a *common poorwill* belting out a tune at 10:45 am; we heard a *wild turkey* gobbling too. Lots of *red crossbills,* all type 2s, so far as we could ascertain, by habitat, logic, and spectrogram. Other odds and ends: several *Hammond flycatchers,* a lone *Cassin finch,* and a *golden eagle* atop one of the Flatirons. Insects: the mother lode of pleasing fungus beetles, *Gibbifer-or-whater-it-is-now californicus*; a magnus ruby-tailed cuckoo wasp, *Chrysis ignita*, and a striking ornate checkered beetle, *Trichodes ornatus*. Butterflies were disinclined to fly, what with the sprinkles and partial overcast, but we did find a nice western pine elfin, C*allophrys eryphon*. "Tent caterpillars," *Malacosoma neustria*, a.k.a. "The Lackey," were legion; I do not make up these names, I only report them. Flowers galore (that's Hannah's department) and an Abert's squirrel so cute I wanted to reach down and stroke its velvet head. Numbers, notes, photos, and audio at eBird: https://ebird.org/checklist/S69648881 Ted Floyd Lafayette, Boulder County -- 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 view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/cobirds/374b2bd4-310a-4b42-9e9b-ab0114410b41%40googlegroups.com.
