Re: [cobirds] Shocking Saga at Sand Dunes

Sure hope the rest of the flycatcher nestlings are able to fledge before they become the next meal. The parents must have been beside themselves.

Linda Hodges

​Colorado Springs​

On Mon, Jul 9, 2018 at 1:05 PM, <mvjohnski@gmail.com> wrote:

Yesterday some friends and I saw a shocking sight that I will not soon forget. I was hiking and birding at the Great Sand Dunes with some friends when we spotted bird activity at eye level in an aspen tree on the side of the trail 15 feet ahead. Flitting around the tree was a pair of alarmed Dusky Flycatchers. Soon, we spotted a small nest in the tree, about 4 feet up, with something odd sticking out of the nest. My friend said "It's a snake!" Sure enough there was a 14 inch Western Garter Snake coiled around the nest and in its mouth was one of the three nestlings! What a shocking sight to see! It was quite disturbing to watch but then again, this goes on all the time in nature, and is rarely witnessed. We had to swallow hard, and watch the drama unfold.  The snake stayed on the nest for a good 20 minutes and continued to grapple with the nestling which was long since deceased. The bird seemed so much bigger than this small snake could handle. We left the scene after watching this disturbing yet amazing event and headed up the Mosca Pass Trail.

 

Upon our return 45 minutes later, we saw the snake at the base of the tree with the bird nearly devoured. We left the scene under the mixed emotions of grief, sadness and amazement all chaotically working inside us as we strolled down the trail to the vehicle.

 

The event sparked a number of questions.  First, I never knew Western Garter Snakes could climb a tree so well and skillfully. I had always pictured them as ground-hunting predators, slinking through the grasses and brush. To see one in a tree definitely shattered my long-held belief.

 

Secondly, how did the snake know there was food in that direction? Was it a keen sense of smell? Or was it the sound of chirping babies on the nest? I am not exactly sure.

 

Thirdly, the snake was not large, being about 14 inches in length…not big as garter snakes go. But this snake successfully devoured the chick which was the size of a ping pong ball! It did take considerable time for the act to be completed, but I never knew snakes had such an extreme ability to accomplish such a feat.

 

 John Rawinski

Monte Vista, CO

 

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