[cobirds] owls
Hi All, Sorry for the late post but I have been busy with stuff First of all my little pygmy-owls fledged last Sunday and Monday. Most everything about this nest was different than every other pygmy-owl nest that I have had in the past and that totals 17nests. A number of things changed this year... #1)Normally I would say that pygmy-owls in Colorado (or at least in and around RMNP) have two to three young and the mother is seen perched outside of the nest at about three days after the chicks hatch. #2) The female does not take any birds near her nest because she doesn't want to draw attention to the nest by attacked birds that will give a distress call and alert other species to the owls nest. #3) The male has never been noted entering the nest after the chicks have hatched and #4) The female would always be in view of the nest as she perches outside of it after the chicks hatch. Well this year was quite different... First of all the female this year stayed in the nest for almost three weeks before beginning to forage near the nest. #2) The male entered the nest with food on several occasions, Got video of him entering the nest witha chipmonk. #3) The female killed all of the birds near the nest with the exception of a pair of Pygmy Nuthatches that nested a few yards away. #4) The female was noted on only three perched near the nest. Now the reason all of this had changed.. In all of the other 17 nests that I have studied, the owls have raised only 2 or 3 young. This year they had 5, yes 5 owlets... I have heard of this but have never seen such a large brood. One cool thing that I did witness for the first time was seeing one of the owlets fledge. I even got it on video! I was even able to catch and band the little guy. Furthermore I arrived at the nest area three days after the owlest had fledged and saw all 5 owlets as they perched close to each other. Scot Rashid Estes Park -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups Colorado Birds group. To post to this group, send email to cobirds@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to cobirds+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/cobirds?hl=en.
[cobirds] Winter Wren, Louisville, Boulder, Co.
At 6:30 am today while doing a bird transect, I heard a Winter Wren singing under the 96th St. bridge, which goes over Coal Creek east of town. A Song Sparrow was singing nearby. I think the song most closely resembled that of the (eastern) Winter Wren song, but the song was shorter in length than those I have heard in the past. I did not see the bird. When I returned to that spot at 8 am, the wren was no longer singing (nothing else was either except grackles). Paula Hansley Louisville -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups Colorado Birds group. To post to this group, send email to cobirds@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to cobirds+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/cobirds?hl=en.
[cobirds] Dickcissel obliteration
Cobirds: I monitored 6 dickcissel locations in Boulder County this morning: 1.) Baseline and 75th in large field to the west of Douglas Elementary school. At least 9 singing males and one bobolink. Fields are due for haying. This is the highest concentration of dickcissels so far. 2.) 75th and Valmont - fields to the north east of this location. At least 4 singing males. Haying is underway. Dickcissel obliteration underway. 3.) 75th and Sawhills enterance - fields to the east. 4 singing males. Haying is underway. 4.) 75th and Walden enterance - fields to the east. 3 singing males. More haying. More nest destruction. 5.) Teller Lake \ Valmont. At least 4 singing males, and one bobolink. 6.) East Boulder Rec Center - 1 singing male across from the tennis courts. Alas, the poor field birds are going under the hay makers. Thousands of nest sites like this are destroyed every year. Most are on private land. Some are on Open Space. John Tumasonis (John T), Louisville CO -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups Colorado Birds group. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msg/cobirds/-/gtZDUZzF7A8J. To post to this group, send email to cobirds@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to cobirds+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/cobirds?hl=en.
[cobirds] Dickcissels, Larimer County, northwest of Wellington
Hey all, On Thursday, 6/21 I drove back to Fort Collins from Wyoming, and decided to take the Owl Canyon road off highway 287. At County Road 19 (North Taft Hill) and County Road 70 (Owl Canyon Road) There were several singing male Dickcissels atop shrubs on the southeast side of this intersection. This is the same place I found them around this time last year. Chances are good that they will still be at this site in the future if anyone wants to go find them. I passed by around 6PM. Good birding! Matt Webb Fort Collins, CO (currently in Creede, CO working for RMBO) -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups Colorado Birds group. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msg/cobirds/-/J9qBpwu5HucJ. To post to this group, send email to cobirds@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to cobirds+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/cobirds?hl=en.
[cobirds] Birding Grand Junction Mon/Tues
Hello birders, I am thinking of going to Grand Junction, CO National Monument, and vicinity tomorrow (Monday) and Tuesday. I would be very interested in meeting up with any birders around that area. Please email me or call me. Thanks! Holly Reinhard Hayden, CO cell: 541 579 0594 -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups Colorado Birds group. To post to this group, send email to cobirds@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to cobirds+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/cobirds?hl=en.
[cobirds] possible Mississippi Kites - Boulder 6/24
A biologist friend reports seeing earlier today: I was driving through central Boulder today and saw two birds that were very falcon-ish with light bodies and dark tails (from underneath) I couldn't really see their wings- but most of their body except their tails looked like a light grey-brown. This description seems good for Mississippi Kites. Location Valmont and Folsom flying east with grackle escorts. My late friend Wes Sears and I last saw one 21 years ago at Sawhill Ponds. There is a nice article by Jack Conner in this spring's Living Bird on the range expansion of this species. --Scott Scott E. Severs Longmont, CO -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups Colorado Birds group. To post to this group, send email to cobirds@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to cobirds+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/cobirds?hl=en.
[cobirds] Acorn woodpecker update picture
John Drummond and I watched the Acorn woodpeckers that others have reported at Pueblo mtn park for a while this morning. They continue to be very active. http://www.avoapples.com/birds/IMG_5767_cr_a.jpg Bill Bill Kosar bill_ko...@msn.com Colorado Springs -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups Colorado Birds group. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msg/cobirds/-/LtqTVkzNNikJ. To post to this group, send email to cobirds@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to cobirds+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/cobirds?hl=en.
[cobirds] Notes from Eastern Colorado BBS Routes
I ran my BBS routes earlier this month; one in Baca County, one in Kit Carson County and one in Yuma County. Overall the results were predictable, though a never-before-seen species on my Baca County route gave me pause... a robin at a farmstead was the first one ever recorded on the route! They are in Springfield, perhaps 20 miles away, so my surprise was centered on the fact I'd never had one on the route before. Incidentally and off-route, I noticed white-winged doves at the Springfield town park (at the water tower), amongst the Eurasian collared and mourning doves, common and great-tailed grackles (I remember having to document my first observation of a great-tailed grackle on this BBS route not too many years ago, now they're everywhere), and of course, robins. One stop on my route in Kit Carson County had me puzzling over sounds of mallards and turkeys coming from a farmstead. Then the call of a peacock made me stick around for further investigation and sure enough a light brown turkey emerged from behind some bushes in the yard. Obviously, none of those guys got counted. I recorded greater prairie chickens at a couple of stops on my Yuma County route, as usual. However, at one stop it seemed the booming was coming from a specific point whilst the cackling and laughing seemed to be spread out over a wide area. A roadside conversation with a local rancher revealed that he'd seen a prairie chicken hen cross the road in front of him that morning with 13 chicks in tow, so it seems apparent that the breeding season for these birds is fairly well extended. A red-headed woodpecker on this route was excavating a nest cavity, while a pair I'd seen at Sandsage SWA near Wray the day before, not far from my route, were feeding young. I also recorded 5 dickcissels at my last stop on this route, then saw/heard several more within a mile as I drove away. I've never had that kind of concentration of dickcissels on any of my routes before; and there were a couple at Sandsage the day before, as well. Keep Smilin', Kevin Corwin west Centennial Arapahoe County -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups Colorado Birds group. To post to this group, send email to cobirds@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to cobirds+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/cobirds?hl=en.
[cobirds] American Redstart, Gregory Canyon, Boulder Co. 6/24/12
Hello birders, There was a very drab female AMERICAN REDSTART a short way up the Gregory Canyon Trail this morning. She was hanging out near some of the limited water in the creek bed. There were 3 singing DICKCISSELS and 2 GRASSHOPPER SPARROWS around the loop trail at the CU South Campus around mid-day. Great birding, Christian Nunes Boulder, CO -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups Colorado Birds group. To post to this group, send email to cobirds@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to cobirds+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/cobirds?hl=en.
[cobirds] Pueblo County update: Acorn Woodpeckers, Grace's Warbler
This morning had us heading to Pueblo Mountain Park in Beulah, CO. We found the Acorn Woodpeckers and the Grace's Warbler. The Acorn Woodpecker was a new Colorado bird for us! We had excellent views of the Grace's Warbler...the best we ever have! Polly Wren and Paul Neldner La Veta, CO -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups Colorado Birds group. To post to this group, send email to cobirds@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to cobirds+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/cobirds?hl=en.
[cobirds] Scarlet Tanager, Jefferson Co.
Hi, COBirders: My sister-in-law Annie Walker (lives in Evergreen, Jefferson Co, off North Turkey Creek Road), sent me a picture of a Scarlet Tanager from her birdbath today. Just a brief visit, but time enough to snap a picture. Wish it was MY birdbath Tamie Bulow Colorado Springs, CO sk8ingi...@aol.com -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups Colorado Birds group. To post to this group, send email to cobirds@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to cobirds+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/cobirds?hl=en.
[cobirds] 2nd Great Boulder Caper, June 24: Results
Hello, Birders. Woohoo! We accomplished our triple century goal: We saw 100+ birds species, we ate 100+ orange slices, and it was 100+ degrees today in Boulder. The rest of the story: Early early. At our undisclosed location in eastern Boulder County, five of us heard a ghoulish Barn Owl, several Great Horned Owls, a Sora, a spooky Wilson's Snipe, and a night-singing Grasshopper Sparrow. Dick Cheney was a no-show. Figures. Early. Twenty-five us hoofed it to up on top of Gunbarrel Hill, where we watched the red-orange sunrise. As we walked south toward Teller Lake No. 5, we found 1 singing Least Flycatcher, 1 singing Willow Flycatcher, at least 3 adult male Orchard Orioles, 1 Baltimore x Bullock's Oriole, an adult male Great-tailed Grackle, and 1 Eastern Warbling-Vireo. Just south of Teller Lake No. 5, we found 4 Dickcissels and 7 Bobolinks. Not so early. Just a handful of late-risers added to our ranks for the Walden Ponds installment of the Caper. We found one of the adult Green Herons (beautiful!), and we had a bit of a surprise at the 75th Street Bridge: 2 adult Eastern Phoebes. Back at the Cottonwood Marsh lot parking lot, David Gillilan informed us we had already walked 11.6 miles. Also: several Eastern Warbling-Vireos; doting adult Ospreys taking turns canopy-shading their young; American Dippers at a nest; and Wood Ducks at several junctures. Oh, and an unseen Passerina bunting the sang the song of an Indigo Bunting (spit, spit, chew chew, spit it out, chew!). Next we capered to Jim Hamm where we dipped on the Great Crested Flycatcher, but found at least 3 singing Marsh Wrens, very local in summer in Boulder County. We spent the afternoon in and around the outskirts of Ward, where the birding was slow but steady. Nice views of Mountain and Western bluebirds, a female Type 2 Red Crossbill sitting pretty atop a ponderosa pine, and a Band-tailed pigeon also sitting. We tried to steer clear of the civil unrest at the Millsite Inn. We wound down the Caper with a jaunt to the hot pinewoods at Heil Ranch. Our highlight was 4 Eastern Bluebirds!--an adult female, a lovely adult male, and 2 barely fledged juveniles. It was quite birdy here, despite the heat and the advanced hour: lots of Lark Sparrows and Lesser Goldfinches, nuthatches galore, a Wild Turkey, and more. Some wonderful non-avian spectacles: the smoky sunrise; rotund Jupiter and crescent Venus before sunrise; a bush full of giant brown scarabaeid beetles buzzing like angry hornets, and I hope they don't transmit Chagas disease by their relatively painless bites; an annoyed bull snake being escorted by ferocious House Wrens down a mighty cottonwood bough; and THE highlight for many of us, a doe wading across a pond with her tiny fawn swimming behind. Best of all: The wonderful participants! Great to see so many (relatively) young people, including various folks who had never before engaged in organized [huh?] birding and even a few folks who had never been birding AT ALL. And to think: They now assume it's in some sense normal to stampede up steep hillsides before sunrise for the privilege of hearing a Grasshopper Sparrow whispering its feeble song on a smoky dawn. And that too-fast bicyclist is surely still scratching his head at the spectacle. The 2nd Great Boulder Caper was a joint outing of the American Birding Association and Denver Field Ornithologists. Our next Caper will be entirely on foot, The Big Walk from Teller to the foothills, and a serious run at the Green/BGBY pedestrian Big Day record. Ted Floyd tedfloy...@hotmail.com Lafayette, Boulder County, Colorado -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups Colorado Birds group. To post to this group, send email to cobirds@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to cobirds+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/cobirds?hl=en.
