[cobirds] 1...2...3...Eastern Phoebes + a Bushtit's Buffet (Arapahoe)

I've made weekly visits to the High Line Canal in Greenwood Village / Centennial (not far from the HLC Conservancy office) to observe a pair of Eastern Phoebes. They've mostly been hard to find -- quiet and seemingly reclusive in the chokecherries, plums, crabapple, cottonwoods, and vines along the Canal. It took me about an hour to briefly spot one last week.

Today, the pair was incredibly vocal (around 7 AM). They were interacting a lot, though I didn't see any apparent nest building activity or other signs of breeding. I thought, perhaps, that they were merely readying for these by increasing bonding activity.

But then they showed me what had them agitated: a third Eastern Phoebe, a male, who they chased madly, but eventually gave up on. He gave the "phoebe" call when they let him. He moved slightly up the Little Dry Creek, toward private property, away from the pair after being chased.

Having a pair show signs of wanting to nest has been surprising enough. To encounter a third was a shock. Might he draw a fourth? Might they find another place to nest? (I kind of doubt it, but who knows.) And what does this mean for the Western Flycatchers who nest along the Canal and Little Dry Creek? 

Intrigue.

For reference, I first encountered the male Eastern Phoebe on 3/28 with students from DU. I first noticed that he was joined by a female on 4/15. 

During last week's visit, when I struggled to find one of the Eastern Phoebes, I encountered and was able to photograph, rather closely, a female Bushtit gobbling up prey (scale insects, maybe, but I welcome corrections). A few of the photos are on my blog. (Google Groups gives me all kinds of trouble when I try to embed more than one photo, and I often lose my posts.)

- Jared Del Rosso

Centennial, CO

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