For what it's worth, I too have been encountering Red Crossbills (RECR) this season with much greater frequency than I have the past 2 years. As usual this time of year, I'm doing a number of bird surveys for the Conservancy in various parts of the state. Recently I had a number of surveys in the vicinity of the Eaglesnest Wilderness north of Vail, and in various locations in the general Eagle-Vail corridor. In the past week I've had RECR on every survey, sometimes just 1 or 2 individuals, but other times a dozen or more. I'm seeing them and hearing them calling, and sometimes singing. Sometimes I even get the two most common types in Colorado, Type 2 and Type 5, on the same survey (although in our surveys we don't record the RECR types in our data collection). I aspire to get recordings, but I am often too slow on the draw to get my recording apparatus ready before the birds leave.
I'm pretty sure the last couple field seasons I may have encountered only a couple individual birds the entire season, if that. So this year, it feels much more assuring and encouraging to find these fabulous creatures regularly traversing our forests. Eric ------- Eric DeFonso near Lyons, Boulder County, CO On Thu, Jul 7, 2022 at 8:34 AM David Suddjian <[email protected]> wrote: > After hardly finding any Red Crossbills at all over the past 12+ months, > there seems to be a shift going on, with crossbills appearing now before my > ears and eyes. I've had a number of encounters over the past several days. > For example, I had Red Crossbills at 7 places on a survey on July 1 up Old > Squaw Pass Road and along the road up to Mt Evans peak in Clear Creek > County. These were both Type 2 and Type 5 Red Crossbills, and I was excited > to see that there is a new cone crop ripening up there for bristlecone > pine, lodgepole pine and Engelmann spruce. The Type 2 birds were clearly > associated with the bristlecone pines, such as a flock in the old > bristlecone stand near the Mt Goliath Natural Area. I did not see any > foraging, and the cones were not ripe, but the crossbills were hanging > there. I'd suggest hanging around near bristlecones if you are up there is > a good way to find some crossbills. Some Type 5 birds seemed to be engaged > in courtship near Squaw Pass. > > Down at my Ken Caryl Valley home in Jefferson County I've had 5 detections > of Red Crossbill (Type 2) in just three days July 5-7. All were passing > over as if on the move, not foraging locally. This is a record-paced > frequency for noting crossbills near my home, where I have had a number of > detections but they are sporadic and infrequent. Now I feel I must be ready > to record flight calls at any moment when I step out.. > > David Suddjian > Ken Caryl Valley > Littleton, CO > > -- > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google > Groups "Colorado Birds" group. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected] > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/cobirds?hl=en?hl=en > * All posts should be signed with the poster's full name and city. Include > bird species and location in the subject line when appropriate > * Join Colorado Field Ornithologists https://cobirds.org/CFO/Membership/ > --- > 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/CAGj6Roq_T-ZJ0P9yb_zDDtqH6fuse_3CE8J-%3DRurdKEY8BMO%2Bg%40mail.gmail.com > <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/cobirds/CAGj6Roq_T-ZJ0P9yb_zDDtqH6fuse_3CE8J-%3DRurdKEY8BMO%2Bg%40mail.gmail.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> > . > -- -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/cobirds?hl=en?hl=en * All posts should be signed with the poster's full name and city. Include bird species and location in the subject line when appropriate * Join Colorado Field Ornithologists https://cobirds.org/CFO/Membership/ --- 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/CAFjVA_aA%2Bj00a9WMTL-ssnCDX0QMbwThpVPMmO0aKihU%3DyM6-g%40mail.gmail.com.
