Crow Valley CG seemed sort of slow yesterday but with a bird here and a bird there, the total list of 46 species was decent. Highlights including running into friend Norm Lewis, clearly hearing several times over a period of about an hour a lone pinyon jay that we could never lay eyes on, immature "western" flycatcher with both mandibles mostly yellow, least flycatcher, Cassin's vireo, Cassin's kingbird, Townsend's warbler, female American redstart, female MacGillivray's warbler, lots of Swainson's thrushes newly arrived (saw several at Norma's Grove on Weld CR100 e of 57, also), two hermit thrushes and the first flock of sandhill cranes this fall for me (spotted by Norm).
I did not see the great crested flycatcher eating Russian-olives mentioned by Bob Righter the other day, but Norm said he heard and saw a likely suspect in the northwest corner of the campground before I got there. The state's first brown-crested flycatcher was at Crow Valley eating Russian-olives on 29October2007. Most of the Swainson's thrushes were eating Russian-olives yesterday. I have ranted about the folly of well-meaning land managers trying to rid Crow Valley of Russian-olives in the past. Most of the big trees cut down by contractors a few years ago are sprouting and support sucker growth that is now 2-6 feet tall. The new growth will have olives in a few years. The trees with olives now are all the stems inevitably missed by this (and all the other) "eradication" projects I've witnessed. The bird fauna is reduced but those that remain always find the olives and it behooves birders to check them out at this time of year. Many "insectivores" love olives as migration fuel. Very hot and dry out there, no water anywhere (including Norma's Grove). That's sad when Crow Creek still looks like a trout stream a mere 40 miles away in Cheyenne at the WY Hereford Ranch. How is it legal to totally dry up a stream, whether one holds water rights or not? If anyone see a pinyon jay in Weld, I'd appreciate a post. The call we heard was perfect and the bird uttering it was moving around and apparently finally left to the south. Both Norm and I wondered if blue jays ever mimic pinyon jays. A check of the pinyon jay account in "Birds of the World" mentions several species blue jays are known to copy, but pinyon jay was not one of them. Pinyon jay tripped the filter in eBird, as well it should, but until somebody says they've heard blue jays mimicking pinyon jay, I'm adding this known nomad to my Weld list. This is a time of year when mountain corvids and other species (like the pygmy nuthatch at Brett Gray recently) show up in odd places. Dave Leatherman Fort Collins -- -- 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/MW4PR13MB58647D989724908A23DA2844C1479%40MW4PR13MB5864.namprd13.prod.outlook.com.
