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Today, Dan and I were in Colorado National Monument(Mesa County) seeking out west slope specialties,and after checking out the Devil's Kitchen area we decided to try our luck in No Thoroughfare Canyon. We were following a singing Gray Vireo up the trail when we were stopped by an unfamiliar buzzing sound, which was associated with some barely visible birds that were low in a juniper. When the birds popped up, we had two adult Black-Chinned Sparrows feeding a begging fledgling!
After some frantic calls to front range birders (thanks Steve Mlodinov for Larry Arnold's phone number), we actually were able to use a smarter-than-me phone for internet access, and googled the Grand Valley Audubon Soc. After so poking around on line, I called Nic Korte (new president of the group) who dropped what he was doing and came to see the birds. I wanted someone over in this part of the state to have a good location for the birds, even if it's only for today... We (Dan) took lots of photos, so we will be sending documentation to the Records Committee, and to eBird. If you've seen any of these sparrows this spring, note Larry Arnold's plea. I think they definitely were seen on a spring count over here, but am not sure what their status has been since, until today.
The birds were first seen about 0.4 mi up the No Thoroughfare trail, where a large Butte begins on the left, and ranged up to a bend in the trail where rough black Precambrian rock meets the trail bed. This is before 0.5 mile on the trail, where there is an alleged water hole. We didn't go that far. The fledgling is flying short distances after the parents, so who knows where they'll be tomorrow. They were, at times, right on the trail's edge, and pretty unperturbed by our presence (for about an hour and a half) and passing (oblivious) hikers. Occasionally, we would see the male at the top of a pinyon, where he would softly sing his "bouncing ball" song.
Some fun!
Cheryl Teuton and Dan Brooke
Usually in Aurora, but now in Grand Junction
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