[cobirds] Grandview Cemetery, Fort Collins (Larimer) 26Sept2013

Had I only birded one tree, the large Northern Hackberry in the extreme ne corner of Section 1 (which is the in the southwestern corner of Grandview Cemetery), I would have had 16 species of birds and 1 mammal (Fox Squirrel).  All were foraging on the sudden emergence of large numbers of adult gall-making psyllids.  The tiny psyllids (pronounced "sill-ids") are evident flying if you position yourself so as to backlight them against a dark background such as the dark spruce tree to the south, or perched if you look closely on the shiny surfaces of dark headstones below the tree (look like miniature 3mm-long cicadas).

The list (roughly in the order of detection):
Yellow-rumped Warbler (5)
House Finch (3)
Black-capped Chickadee (5)
Mountain Chickadee (1 or 2)
Red-breasted Nuthatch (2)
Brown Creeper (1)  FOS at low elevation for me this fall
Downy Woodpecker (2)
White-breasted Nuthatch (1)
Ruby-crowned Kinglet (1 or 2)
Orange-crowned Warbler (1)
Chipping Sparrow (15)
Western Wood-Pewee (1)
Wilson's Warbler (2)
Townsend's Warbler (1)
*Northern Parula (1m)

I also found a dead Red-naped Sapsucker male (FOS at low elevation for me), a few Dark-eyed Juncos, and Turkey Vultures still linger (headed to the traditional roost at Washington and Mountain Avenues a mile or so east of the cemetery entrance).  No Barn Swallows for the first time since they arrived last spring.

Total of 25 species

Dave Leatherman
Fort Collins