[cobirds] White-throated Sparrow, Merlin, Towhees (Arapahoe)

Since at least 12/9, a White-throated Sparrow has been joining the other sparrows to scratch birdseed out of the chokecherries and viburnum that line my Centennial yard. The White-throated has been fairly vocal, calling in the morning from conspicuous perches. (Note for Merlin users: the app identified the call of the White-throated as that of the White-crowned Sparrow, even as I watched the former give its call.)

This afternoon, while driving, I encountered a small falcon that perched on one of the transmission towers that run through my neighborhood. I stopped to look, but didn't have binoculars. The falcon struck me as too darkly colored to be a Kestrel and perhaps darkly colored enough to be a Taiga Merlin. By the time I returned home, the bird had flown on. So who knows. (But in 2017, a Taiga Merlin indeed perched on these towers. In the past, Peregrines have as well.)

Finally, the number of Spotted Towhees visiting my yard to also scratch for seed has been impressive. This afternoon, I counted up to seven along one edge of the yard. A few weeks ago, six were together, ornamenting a bare chokecherry. This isn't entirely unusual. eBird reminds me that the winter of 2017-18 brought a similar number through my yard. And I suspect it's just an outcome of me more consistently tossing seed around my yard, attracting the neighborhood's many towhees. (I use the waste free type so I don't end up with patches of millet and safflower.) 

No Cassin's Finches yet, though I seem to be surrounded by reports of them. 

- Jared Del Rosso

Centennial, CO

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