Re: [cobirds] Blue Jay mimics Cooper’s call, Boulder County

Totally!

A blue jay or blue jays around Greenlee Wildlife Preserve, Boulder County, has been doing brilliant Cooper hawk imitations for the better part of a year now.

Not just an isolated kek or series thereof, but, rather, the entire repertoire:

kek... kek... KEK! kek...kek-kek-kek-kek-kek KEK! kek...

Gets me every time.

I assume this is a relatively new thing with Denver metro region Cooper hawks, given that the species began its extraordinary continent-wide urbanization only in the past 40 years. I'd never noticed it myself until the past year or so.

On another front, I can report that there was an extraordinary migration of dainty sulphurs, Nathalis iole, this past Sat., Oct. 9, at Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge, Adams County. The winds were brutal, but the clever butterflies were migrating just inches above the ground on a broad front southward--even though the prevailing winds were straight out of the west. Alejo Williams Viveros and I counted hundreds, and probably saw thousands.

Good "migration" of tumbleweeds, Kali tragus, out there, too, haha. But they were headed east...

Bird-wise, things were challenging. We had one (n=1) each of pectoral sandpiper, long-billed dowitcher, Wilson snipe, and greater yellowlegs.

Decent numbers of festive tiger beetles, Cicindela scutellaris, in appropriate habitat, and a nice showy grasshopper (a. k. a. handsome purple-striped grasshopper), Hesperotettix speciosus.

Ted Floyd

Lafayette, Boulder County

On Sun, Oct 10, 2021 at 8:56 AM Elena Holly Klaver <elena@indra.com> wrote:

The blue jays in my yard have been doing very good Cooper's hawks imitations, as well.  I have been fooled a couple of times; the imitations are better than their imitations of red tailed hawks. 



Sent from my iPad
Elena Holly Klaver
United States Court Certified Interpreter
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Member: American Translators Association
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I acknowledge that I live in the territory of Hinóno'éí (Arapaho), Cheyenne and Ute Nations according to the 1851 Treaty of Fort Laramie, and that Colorado's Front Range is home to many Native peoples.  Reconozco que vivo en el territorio de las naciones Hinóno'éí
 (Arapaho), Cheyenne y Ute, según el 1851 Tratado de Fort Laramie, y que el estado de Colorado al este de las Montañas Rocosas es territorio de muchos pueblos indígenas.

> On Oct 10, 2021, at 8:44 AM, Paula Hansley <redstart.paula@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> CObirders,
> I throw out peanuts at sunrise for my Blue Jays. The jays have gotten to expect this treat, so they have started arriving before sunrise. They make so much noise that they wake up the neighbors  unless I throw out peanuts!
>
> One jay has figured out how to have the peanuts to himself:  he arrives first and sits in my maple tree calling like a Cooper's Hawk!  At first, I thought it was a hawk, but I could never find it.  This smart bird has the peanuts to himself for the first five minutes or until he has had his fill!
>
> Paula Hansley
> Louisville
>
> Sent from my iPhone
>
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