It's not unusual to see or hear Blue Jays around my west Centennial neighborhood (Arapahoe). But lately they've been behaving a bit differently. For the first time since I moved here (March 2016), I've noticed a Blue Jay pair making frequent visits to my yard. I think there's nesting a few houses over, but I've spotted them collecting nesting material, sharing food from my feeder, and visiting my bird bath. They've also been mimicking Cooper's Hawks non-stop, which has misled me more than once now.
One of those misleading moments...involved actual calling Cooper's Hawks. While walking through my front yard (sans optics), I heard a Cooper's, figured it was a jay, and then saw a series of accipiters fly over. Three passed by. I assume two were a local Cooper's pair. I don't know about the third. Maybe an interloper. But it could have been a female sharpie being escorted out. I didn't get very good looks at any of them.
Also, at least one Woodhouse's Scrub Jay is still in my neighborhood. I hear it while walking my dogs, but rarely see it anymore. Perhaps they're finding better food than they find in my sporadically filled feeder.
Others
For the better part of the past month, I've had visits from a Lincoln's Sparrow. I can't be sure it's the same one that showed up relatively early in mid-March, as I'll sometimes go a day or so without seeing it.
Today, a House Finch pair were tearing apart my apple blossoms. I watched them from my kitchen. From there, I couldn't tell whether they were eating the petals or finding something else in the flowers. I noticed them seeming to drop most of the petals, though. But an inspection of the remaining blossoms didn't reveal any insects I could see (with my eyes).
Not my report -- but Red Crossbills are being seen all over Arapahoe and Denver, according to eBird and Facebook reports. Neat.
- Jared Del Rosso
Centennial, CO
-- One of those misleading moments...involved actual calling Cooper's Hawks. While walking through my front yard (sans optics), I heard a Cooper's, figured it was a jay, and then saw a series of accipiters fly over. Three passed by. I assume two were a local Cooper's pair. I don't know about the third. Maybe an interloper. But it could have been a female sharpie being escorted out. I didn't get very good looks at any of them.
Also, at least one Woodhouse's Scrub Jay is still in my neighborhood. I hear it while walking my dogs, but rarely see it anymore. Perhaps they're finding better food than they find in my sporadically filled feeder.
Others
For the better part of the past month, I've had visits from a Lincoln's Sparrow. I can't be sure it's the same one that showed up relatively early in mid-March, as I'll sometimes go a day or so without seeing it.
Today, a House Finch pair were tearing apart my apple blossoms. I watched them from my kitchen. From there, I couldn't tell whether they were eating the petals or finding something else in the flowers. I noticed them seeming to drop most of the petals, though. But an inspection of the remaining blossoms didn't reveal any insects I could see (with my eyes).
Not my report -- but Red Crossbills are being seen all over Arapahoe and Denver, according to eBird and Facebook reports. Neat.
- Jared Del Rosso
Centennial, CO
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