Highlights of todays visits to my local patch, Grandview Cemetery, before and after lunch:
*I figured how to position my scarf mask so my glasses don't fog up as badly. One friend who recognized me said I looked "ominous" which is a good look in times of social distancing.
*A package arrived in the mail today and Janeal sent much nicer, lighter mask made by our friend Norma Verhoeff. Thanks to both of you.
*Bushtits were busy pulling spider webs, grass, dried leaves and moss today from in and under bushes near their nest tree, which is an Engelmann Spruce in the southern tip of Section D. They have been going into the same portion of the crown, their nests are fairly big, but I still can't see any portion of the nest under construction. Male is shown below at left, female at right.
*Black-capped Chickadees hassled a Downy Woodpecker who was exploring branches too close to their cavity in a Silver Maple near the City Park 9 golf course driving range tees. After giving the business to the woodpecker, that didn't seem all that worried, one chickadee went in the cavity while the other sat very quietly for a long period of time 10 feet away as if "on guard".
*Two Cooper's Hawks soared above the male Red-tailed Hawk of the pair nesting in the southeast corner of the cemetery. The buteo sat in the very top of a spruce near the nest spruce. One of the accipiters, a striped immature, buzzed the red-tail but didn't really come super close.
*A group of 5 Cedar Waxwings ate American Elm flowers and/or very young seeds that are beginning to form.
*A major mini-migration of adult hackberry gallmaking psyllids from their overwintering sites in trunk bark to opening leaf buds for egg-laying is underway and Black-capped Chickadees, Red-breasted Nuthatches and a lingering Brown Creeper were snapping them up.
*It seems to me Red-breasted Nuthatches work on more cavities than they could ever actually use for nesting. Maybe the males want to give prospective mates a choice?
*The Red Crossbill nest is definitely going strong. Today, after being in the area of the nest for over an hour, I heard the unmistakable clamor of baby finches begging/being fed. I walked under the nest tree and looked straight up at the bottom of the nest, and sure enough, the female flew out, perched a short time on the outside of the spruce next door, then disappeared. All this occurred without a single peep from the adult female. No male anywhere around. No flight calls by the female before or after the feeding. In other words this is a "stealth" nesting, except for the sounds of the young. They better keep it down because no less than 4 fox squirrels were in the hackberry 20 yards away. These omnivores could quite easily change their diet from hackberry buds to baby birds.
Total of 24 species. Misses were Great Horned Owl and White-breasted Nuthatch. Expect to see/ hear Broad-tailed Hummingbird, Barn Swallow and Gray Flycatcher any week now.
Dave Leatherman
Fort Collins
No comments:
Post a Comment