I saw three unusual species for Grandview Cemetery (Fort Collins, Larimer County) today in the span of about two minutes - in my imagination. Here's the story I must tell on myself. Walking along about 11am a "jay" sound came from the top of a spruce, but it wasn't the expected Blue Jay. "Steller's Jay", I immediately muttered, then mentally reconsidered this familiar sound out of context. "No, Western Scrub-Jay! Not sure if I've ever seen one of those here. Cool." I looked and looked. I spished. Nothing. I looked around. In the very top of a nearby spruce was a dark bird. "That's a grackle, just can't see the tail. Haven't seen one of those in the cemetery in about a month and a half." More searching of the tree where the sound came from. Nothing. A recheck of the "grackle" from a different angle (but still fairly far off) showed some maroon-purplish glints off the throat/head area. "That's not a grackle, that's a Lewis's Woodpecker!" I've only seen one of those in the cemetery, over 20 years ago. Gotta get a picture." After retrieving my camera, I fired off a few distant pics, and walked closer. "What!? That's a starling!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
I think I'm a decent birder. But in a very short span, under the influence of knowing early fall dispersal is imminent and/or on-going, any jay is possible on the eastern plains in late summer-autumn, woodpeckers sometimes chowder bumper cone crops, distance, less than ideal light conditions, age, and probably a lack of my morning Mountain Dew, I called a damn European Starling FOUR other species before coming to a sane determination. Immediately after mentally uttering these four IDs, I would have bet a reasonable amount (two cases of Mountain Dew or, say, $100) that I was right. Other factors that weighed into this: I have been visiting the cemetery in recent days in late afternoon/early evening and, unbelievably, starlings have not been on my list for weeks. Starling, at least this morning, was NOT a species I considered likely. Yesterday I saw my first fall migrant (excepting a few Chipping Sparrows and Nighthawks that probably did not spend the summer at Grandview), a very whitish, young-of-the-year Yellow Warbler. Mentally I was geared for the unexpected, like empids, or pewees, or Townsend's Warbler. Or jays and woodpeckers. Many of you are saying to yourselves at this moment, "Dave, admit it, you've been wandering around alone in the cemetery too long." That's not it. So, be forewarned and take what I say on this listserv with a grain of salt. That said, the Broad-tailed Hummingbird nest I've been watching since 21July (when two young nestlings were being attended by an adult female) is now empty. The young fledged successfully last weekend (August 6-7). At least one youngster is still present high in a spruce near the nest site, and is visited on a regular basis by the female. Interestingly, this young hummer makes a high-pitched chirp very reminiscent of a sparrow, or even Cordilleran Flycatcher. Even though the BNA account say nothing about juvenile sounds, I know this bird is making the sound because its mouth opens coincident with the chirp (and it's not a starling). Cool non-bird stuff of late: mule deer munching rose shoots with absolutely no fear of thorns; pelecinid wasps (check them out on-line) flying everywhere; a virtual explosion of several dragonfly species hunting off the shrubs and cruising the airspace. Lots more, but in the spirit of a bird listserv............. Dave Leatherman Fort Collins -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group. To post to this group, send email to cobirds@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to cobirds+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/cobirds?hl=en.
