This afternoon, I noticed a Black-billed Magpie picking away at something on the bare ground in my west Centennial yard. A view through my binoculars revealed it was some part of a mammal -- probably a rabbit. Eventually, the bird took the whole thing in its bill, flew to a nearby area of the yard, put it down and hammered it into some soft soil, then covered it with patches of soil and dead grass. It did a good job, but not a good enough one. After it left, another magpie, who was watching from a tree in my yard, flew over. On its first try, it picked up a bit of soil, inspected the area underneath, and found nothing. But the second try yielded the meal, which it flew off with. Had it not found it, I would have had to go out there and get it myself (to keep my dog from digging up whatever the magpie buried).
-- Also today...there was an Olive-sided Flycatcher or two, a singing Bullock's Oriole, and a Western Tanager at deKoevend Park. I did not hear the White-eyed Vireo. After leaving the park, I found a Western Wood-Pewee and female Lazuli Bunting visiting my yard.
As for those nighthawks...I've spent the last three evenings anxiously listening and watching for them. Sunday evening yielded five passing over together. Monday one flew over silently around 8:25; twenty minutes later I heard the call of, presumably, a second. Last night, two passed over together silently. The eight that I've seen over the past three evenings have all been headed in the same north-westish direction.
- Jared Del Rosso
Centennial, CO
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