Made two long visits to Grandview Cemetery in Fort Collins (Larimer) today. In
the "there's still stuff going on category":
Found another Broad-tailed Hummingbird nest today, this one in the southwest
corner, probably the same female that has nested in that area the last couple
years. Unlike the GBOWR female talked about a couple days ago, she seems to
build a new nest every year. I believe she is feeding newly hatched young, and
spends long periods hovering, hawking, even going to the ground, for both
flying and crawling insects for her brood.
Orchard Oriole (young male) #192 for my GC list. Unexpected, but by the same
token, overdue. Like many bird species at present, this individual went down
to a cotoneaster shrub and ate some of the whitish flower buds.
Cedar Waxwings continue to be most conspicuous, with at least 50 cruising
around. Mostly they are getting cotoneaster flower buds, but have also been
seen eating European Elm Scales from the bark surface of American Elm branches
(several locations), drinking water puddling ominously near the Pump House in
the se corner of the cemetery (Boys, you've got a leak), and going after scale
insects in Scots Pine near the bathroom building on City Park Nine golf course
(just s of the sw corner of the cemetery). One beheaded waxwing was seen in
the mouth of a young Fox Squirrel. Beheading is often an MO of Great Horned
Owls, so not sure if the owl killed the bird, beheaded it, and then the
squirrel founds the remains, or what? Doubt a young squirrel would have a
taste for, and the ability to kill, a waxwing. Scavenging anything - now
that's a different story.
FOY at Grandview: Common Nighthawk, Chimney Swift (solo flying around at tree
top level at 8pm), Western Kingbird, Black-headed Grosbeak (female), Northern
Rough-winged Swallow, and, of course, the oriole. Think I might have also
heard briefly a distant Bullock's Oriole.
Total of 40 species, plus two more possibles, which makes this the second best
species total I've ever had here. [FORGOT TO MENTION THAT TWO DAYS AGO THERE
WAS A NEW DRAGONFLY ADDED TO THE GC LIST: DOT-TAILED WHITEFACE.]
The place looks very lush. Gershwin could write another verse to "Summertime":
"Ditch is high, and the locusts are leafing......" Late-leafing trees, like
ash, elm, hackberry, and honey locust, have a lot of the bird action at present
(as opposed to cottonwoods that were favored statewide early in the spring
migration season because of their catkins (eaten whole by some species, and
gleaned for Dorytomus weevil larvae and pollinators by other species). I would
attribute this current attraction to the late-leafers to the presence of moth
caterpillars, leafhoppers, plant bugs, scales, and psyllids. All of these prey
items are of value to migrating adults and as food for nestlings.
Dave Leatherman
Fort Collins
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