Owls highlighted today's visit to Grandview Cemetery in Fort Collins (Larimer) at the west end of Mountain Avenue.
The female Great Horned Owl was on the nest for the first time I've seen this year. It should be pointed out that I have not been at Grandview since the 24th (on that date the nest was empty but the male was in a nearby spruce). Kathy, a weekend jogger and owl observer said the female was not on the nest "last Saturday or Sunday" (the 28th-29th). An Eastern Screech-Owl was in the same broken trunk cavity in a silver maple on the east side of the ditch north of the entrance as reported on January 7th (and not seen again in several visits until today). It is impossible for me to describe the location of this owl. Today I showed it to three people at about 40X thru the spotting scope, with the owl dead center filling about half the frame, and all viewers had more than a little trouble seeing the bird. It is that cryptic. Had not chickadees alerted me to the bird by yelling at it intensely (back on Jan 7th), I would have never seen it, either. Also of note, considering the big snow we just had and the temperatures in the 20's, an American Robin was seen with a large, wriggling nightcrawler. Do earthworms pack little flasks of peppermint schnapps? Lastly, I believe a small group of siskins were engaged in early courtship activity. Total of 21 species. 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.
