Wow -- I've never seen "*Eurasian collard-greens" *there before!
On Saturday, February 20, 2021 at 9:16:28 PM UTC-7 [email protected] wrote: > Hey, all. > > It's spring. Sort of. At least, some of the winter birds are getting into > the swing of things. This Sat. morning, Feb. 20, on a jaunt around the > "Greater Greenlee ecosystem," encompassing Greenlee Preserve, Waneka Lake, > Hecla Pond, Thomas Open Space, and various greenways, I heard a fair bit of > birdsong, notably by *northern flickers.* It's the first time this spring > I've heard the species, and today I heard three widely singing individuals. > A friendly note that not all US287-corridor flickers are "red-shafted." > Like this guy, a hybrid ("intergrade"), an adult male, near Waneka Lake > today: > > [image: 01 flicker.jpg] > > Other songsters: *Eurasian collard-greens, black-capped chickadees, > bushtits, American robins, house sparrows, house finches, dark-eyed juncos, > white-crowned sparrows, song sparrows,* and *red-winged blackbirds.* A > bit more regarding some of the entries in the preceding enumeration: > > * The collared-doves sing all winter long of course. So they don't really > count as a vernal signification. But did you know that their specific > epithet, *viz*., *decaocto*, is the Greek word for "eighteen"? The > Turkish ornithologist who named the species to science thought the > collared-dove was singing *dec'octo...dec'octo...dec'octo...*, and the > rest, as they say, is history. > > * No full-on singing yet by the robins. But watch the males. They're doing > that lovely subsong thing right now. So was one of the song sparrows. > Yesterday I heard a magpie doing it at the Walmart Supercenter in > Lafayette. And a week ago, a spotted towhee at Waneka Lake was giving an > amazing and elaborate "whisper" song. > > * House sparrows? Yes, they absolutely sing. A most beautiful song. Our > human ears hear it just fine, but our human *brains* are inadequate for > perceiving the wonders and glories of house sparrow song. Here's an article > at the ABA website on what Boulder County house sparrows actually sound > like: > > > https://www.aba.org/how-to-know-the-birds-no-52-the-hidden-glories-of-the-house-sparrow/ > > * And bushtits? There's a bit of a story there. Here is the preliminary > version: > > https://earbirding.com/blog/archives/4885 > > That was six years ago, and we've updated our understanding of bushtit > singing somewhat since then. Anyhow, today I encountered two widely spaced > pairs of bushtits, one male and one female per pair. The way you tell them > apart is by eye color. The males have black eyes, the females yellow eyes. > Here is one of the males I saw today: > > [image: 02 bushtit.jpg] > > In both pairs, the black-eyed individual was giving the vocalization that > I conjecture to be the song of the species. And I heard no other sorts of > bushtit vocalizations, except when the male above went berserk in the > presence of a *northern saw-whet owl.* More on that owl in a bit. > > The Greenlee Preserve feeders continue to attract lots of cool sparrows. > Along with the song sparrows, white-crowned sparrows, and dark-eyed juncos, > there were 20+ *American tree sparrows,* 2 *spotted towhees,* and a > continuing *white-throated sparrow.* Here's a sampler (song sparrow, > lower left; spotted towhee, middle; white-throated sparrow; upper right): > > [image: 03 sparrows.jpg] > > Things were generally congested, but also pretty peaceable, at the > feeder--until the neighborhood *prairie falcon* ripped low across the > treetops, inducing instant dread and silence in the Passerellid horde. > Everybody came out again after a while. > > And an owl! Hannah Floyd and Andrew Floyd rescued a northern saw-whet owl > from the clutches of an outdoor cat--a huge orange thing with an oversized > bell and an elaborate green-and-pink collar. The bird landed in a snow > drift: > > [image: 04 owl.jpg] > > We tried to capture it, but the owl extricated itself from the snow drift > right before I made the final pounce. The bird flew to a nearby oak, where > it roosted for a while: > > [image: 05 owl.jpg] > > Then another cat, an elephantine gray tabby with the physique of Jabba the > Hut but the alacrity of Mikhail Baryshnikov, appeared on the scene, > prompting the owl to relocate to a nearby juniper that was quite dense. The > cat couldn't get at the owl, but the small birds sure could! One of the > bushtit pairs gave the owl grief, as did two *red-breasted nuthatches* > (of course), a *Townsend solitaire,* a great throng of hice finch, > several black-capped chickadees, a loudly *tsk*-*tsk*'ing robin, and a > furious dark-eyed junco. We even heard a *hairy woodpecker,* rare in > Lafayette at any time of the year, although the woodpecker was sufficiently > distant that I wouldn't necessarily say that it was part of the mob. > > Astonishingly, a third cat, a beautiful black-and-odd job, gargantuan yet > nimble, was drawn to the fuss. The owl was, like, I'm outta here, and flew > off, straight out of the neighborhood. I hope the bird's okay. It's > gratifying that it flew off, but I also worry that it was injured by the > first cat. > > How did Joaquin Andujar put it again?-- > > "There is one little word in English that says it all, and that one word > is, *You never know.*" > > Ted Floyd > Lafayette, Boulder County > -- -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group. 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