My house west of Larkspur in Douglas County is above the Plum Creek valley floor, just under 7000' with ponderosa pine / gambel oak, below where it starts to pitch upwards into higher ridges of the Pike National Forest behind the neighborhood. I get some birds coming up from the plains-ish area below me but mostly foothills type birds coming down from above. This morning was typically birdy but a bit more interesting, among the throngs of Pine Siskins, Mountain Chickadees, Pygmy Nuthatches, and Steller's Jays, were a small contingent of Cassin's Finches, third time they've come and gone this winter, four Red Crossbills came in for a first of winter appearance (two males and two females) and stayed longer than usual, a couple hours on and off vs. their typical pillage the cones, feeder, and then disappear routine...and right near their arrival a single Common Redpoll showed up for the first time in my yard. I would have expected either none or a small flock, but it was a single bird. It seemed to be hanging with the Crossbills but was getting run off the feeder by the other small birds and after two attempts it hasn't returned. I've been looking for Redpolls everywhere, all winter...I should have just stayed home. Other birds were Hairy and Downy Woodpeckers, Northern Flicker, House Finches, Black-capped Chickadees, White-breasted Nuthatches, a Woodhouse's Scrub Jay, Gray-headed and Oregon Dark-eyed Juncos, and two resident American Crows.
Dan Stringer
Larkspur, CO
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