Hi all,
I've been lurking on the list for long enough that I figured it's about time that I start contributing (though my reasons for doing so are at least partially selfish, as you'll see).
I'm currently doing field work on reproductive isolation between type 2 and 5 Red Crossbills primarily in Teller County, just north of Woodland Park. As such, I've been spending a lot of time in the field and have come across some fun birds recently. Here are a few of the highlights:
Rampart Range Rd. (FS 300): This has been a favorite area of mine recently. Pine Grosbeaks are semi-regular in both Ponderosa and Lodgepole, slightly more common in the latter. Type 2 Red Crossbills, Pygmy Nuthatches, White-breasted Nuthatches, Cassin's Finches, Steller's Jays, Clark's Nutcrackers and a few other species are incredibly abundant in Ponderosa Pine here and throughout the region. At higher elevations in Lodgepole Pine forest type 5 crossbills are common in moderate numbers. Roughly a week ago I had a pair of Gray Jays and a lone American Three-toed Woodpecker in Lodgepole (the woodpecker was technically working a Blue Spruce).
FS 339: I spent the day hiking this area today. The number of type 2 crossbills was simply insane, even more than have been found in the greater area lately, which has been extremely impressive (perhaps I'm biased..). Crossbills were singing and vocalizing like crazy. The persistent excitement ('toop') calls of one large flock alerted me to the presence of a Northern Saw-whet Owl that was hidden in a Ponderosa munching on the remains of a small rodent. Early in the day a large flock of ~55 juncos was feeding madly on the road. White-winged juncos were by far the most common and in the flock I had lesser numbers of Pink-sided, Oregon, Slate-colored, and Gray-headed. Towards the end of the day a lone Evening Grosbeak flew over near 67.
On 67 a couple miles north of Woodland Park about an hour ago I spotted a Northern Goshawk flying low over the road.
Now for the selfish bit: both call types are just starting to pair up and a main goal of mine over the next couple months is to find as many mated pairs as possible and record their flight calls (individuals within a call type vary enough that you can identify individuals with reasonable confidence by looking at sonograms of the recordings of birds in a given area). If you happen to come across any possible mated pairs of crossbills (especially type 5 or mixed pairs), I would greatly appreciate hearing about them. Please note that I have no intention of doing anything but recording them.
Good birding,
-Cody Porter
(Currently in Woodland Park)
-- I've been lurking on the list for long enough that I figured it's about time that I start contributing (though my reasons for doing so are at least partially selfish, as you'll see).
I'm currently doing field work on reproductive isolation between type 2 and 5 Red Crossbills primarily in Teller County, just north of Woodland Park. As such, I've been spending a lot of time in the field and have come across some fun birds recently. Here are a few of the highlights:
Rampart Range Rd. (FS 300): This has been a favorite area of mine recently. Pine Grosbeaks are semi-regular in both Ponderosa and Lodgepole, slightly more common in the latter. Type 2 Red Crossbills, Pygmy Nuthatches, White-breasted Nuthatches, Cassin's Finches, Steller's Jays, Clark's Nutcrackers and a few other species are incredibly abundant in Ponderosa Pine here and throughout the region. At higher elevations in Lodgepole Pine forest type 5 crossbills are common in moderate numbers. Roughly a week ago I had a pair of Gray Jays and a lone American Three-toed Woodpecker in Lodgepole (the woodpecker was technically working a Blue Spruce).
FS 339: I spent the day hiking this area today. The number of type 2 crossbills was simply insane, even more than have been found in the greater area lately, which has been extremely impressive (perhaps I'm biased..). Crossbills were singing and vocalizing like crazy. The persistent excitement ('toop') calls of one large flock alerted me to the presence of a Northern Saw-whet Owl that was hidden in a Ponderosa munching on the remains of a small rodent. Early in the day a large flock of ~55 juncos was feeding madly on the road. White-winged juncos were by far the most common and in the flock I had lesser numbers of Pink-sided, Oregon, Slate-colored, and Gray-headed. Towards the end of the day a lone Evening Grosbeak flew over near 67.
On 67 a couple miles north of Woodland Park about an hour ago I spotted a Northern Goshawk flying low over the road.
Now for the selfish bit: both call types are just starting to pair up and a main goal of mine over the next couple months is to find as many mated pairs as possible and record their flight calls (individuals within a call type vary enough that you can identify individuals with reasonable confidence by looking at sonograms of the recordings of birds in a given area). If you happen to come across any possible mated pairs of crossbills (especially type 5 or mixed pairs), I would greatly appreciate hearing about them. Please note that I have no intention of doing anything but recording them.
Good birding,
-Cody Porter
(Currently in Woodland Park)
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to cobirds+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.
To post to this group, send email to cobirds@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/cobirds/f2777ab4-3336-42ce-8000-b7fb48c7d6ef%40googlegroups.com.
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
No comments:
Post a Comment