This morning Urling and I walked the Cherry Creek trail, north from the North Pinery parking area. Before we started we guessed at the species total: I said nine, she said fifteen. Two hours later we returned to the car with 12 species -- and then four Rock Pigeons flew over to bump the list up to 13 species.
Two observations of note: we scanned a tree on the west side of the stream that had nice-looking raptor nest in it, and noticed a Red-tailed Hawk perched on the other side of the tree. Going back, an hour and a half later, we saw the hawk perched in the same place. Protecting the nest from Great Horned Owls perhaps?
Then we listened, for 25 minutes, to a singing Marsh Wren. When we walked by the singing post at 10:30, we heard nothing. Twenty-five minutes later, the wren had launched into full gear: it sang for 25 minutes straight before we started the trek back to the car. Just before that, Urling spotted another Marsh Wren a couple of hundred yards downstream and later she encountered one upstream a quarter of a mile or more. Meanwhile our singer chattered on and on. We stood within 10 feet of the bird and never had a glimpse -- not even any movement.
Why would a Marsh Wren sing so incessantly in November? Do they set up winter territories? Do they simply feel jubilant? Did the singer want to exclude the other wrens from his bailiwick?
Two observations of note: we scanned a tree on the west side of the stream that had nice-looking raptor nest in it, and noticed a Red-tailed Hawk perched on the other side of the tree. Going back, an hour and a half later, we saw the hawk perched in the same place. Protecting the nest from Great Horned Owls perhaps?
Then we listened, for 25 minutes, to a singing Marsh Wren. When we walked by the singing post at 10:30, we heard nothing. Twenty-five minutes later, the wren had launched into full gear: it sang for 25 minutes straight before we started the trek back to the car. Just before that, Urling spotted another Marsh Wren a couple of hundred yards downstream and later she encountered one upstream a quarter of a mile or more. Meanwhile our singer chattered on and on. We stood within 10 feet of the bird and never had a glimpse -- not even any movement.
Why would a Marsh Wren sing so incessantly in November? Do they set up winter territories? Do they simply feel jubilant? Did the singer want to exclude the other wrens from his bailiwick?
Hugh Kingery
Franktown, CO
-- Franktown, CO
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