Caching Blue Jays & Other West Arapahoe Co Birds

[Jared Del Rosso]

Yesterday afternoon, while I was working in my office, I watched two Blue Jays continually cache -- and occasionally eat -- peanuts in my yard. Twice, the entire routine was in view. A jay would nab a peanut (in the shell) from my neighbor's feeder, fly over to my yard with it, duck its head into a small plant (a clump of grass, a very small conifer), and come back out empty. Then it would pick up some mulch or dirt and "cover" the peanut. Afterward, one of the jays displaced a Spotted Towhee, who was washing in my bird bath, to take a drink. The towhee returned when the jay got its fill. 

When the jays were done, I went out and inspected their handiwork, finding those two peanuts with some of my landscaping material partially disguising them. Between the jays, the towhees who kick the mulch, and my dog who buries it, it's a miracle anything in the yard remains where it belongs. 

This morning, one of the jays returned and gathered a peanut from a hiding spot that I hadn't noticed. 

Over the past several days, a Brewer's Sparrow has hung around the yard. This weekend, there were at least two, but I've only seen one this week. I've had two Western Tanager sightings, though they haven't stayed long. Yesterday, around midday, the neighborhood Spotted Towhees, House Wrens, and Black-capped Chickadees all decided it was time to show off. Several of each started singing. One male towhee found a conspicuous spot on a power line in the corner of my yard, fanned its tail, and strutted. A female Spotted Towhee has been out and about, too; she and her presumed partner have been visiting my feeders and yard fairly regularly. 

Elsewhere in Arapahoe Co...

On Monday, there was a small flock of Pine Siskins at deKoevend Park. A Western Scrub Jay was in a neighborhood just beyond the park. Yellow Warblers and House Wrens were singing along the trail. And a Clay-colored Sparrow traveled with a flock of Chipping Sparrow in the open spaces at the park.

Today, at Marjorie Perry Nature Preserve, were many Yellow-rumped Warblers, several Yellows, and a few Common Yellowthroats. There was also a Bank Swallow and at least two Cliff Swallows with the many Tree Swallows and Northern Rough-winged Swallows. A Western Wood-Pewee has taken the place of the Eastern Phoebe at the easternmost lake. On the far eastern edge of the preserve has been an empid., which I think / am guessing is a Dusky Flycatcher, but I would welcome second opinions on my mediocre photograph. (It sounded enough like a Dusky to me and it looks medium-everything [tail, bill].) I quite like empids., even if I rarely know which one I'm looking at.

Swainson's and Cooper's Hawks are everywhere around Centennial. Red-tails,by comparison, suddenly seem uncommon. Great Horned and Eastern Screech Owls are also out and about. 

- Jared Del Rosso
Centennial, CO