Crossbills & other. Elbert
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Hugh Kingery
Feb 14, 2015, 5:35:55 PM2/14/15
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Yesterday, Feb. 13, Urling & I visited the cemetery & park in Elizabeth. Crossbills continue.
While at the Cemetery, we talked to a man who lives across the street, on the south by the walk-in gate, who has feeders. He had lots of birds hanging around, including Red Crossbills, Downy Woodpecker, Pygmy, White-, & Red-breasted nuthatches, Mtn. Chickadees, juncos, House Finches, and a Cassin's Finch. More action there than in the cemetery itself. A constant hum of sound puzzled us as to its source(s) because we could not see any birds, all hidden in the pines. Probably finches & crossbills. He mentioned that he has seen Bushtits and even watched a buck deer shed its antlers!
(A couple of days ago at the cemetery, we had watched crossbills feeding on Douglas-fir. We think that despite their tree selection they qualified as Type 2 (Ponderosa).) As Norm Lewis says, a definite sure maybe.
At the park, a similar mix, with magpies & crows added in. But crossbills stole the show. We watched a male perch on a dead branch without moving, for 10 minutes. Then a female arrived, took some stuff off the trunk of a nearby ponderosa - cobwebs, grass, or some sort of similar strands. She took them to a nest about 40 feet up in a ponderosa, impossible to see. She made 4 or 5 trips before the two flew off and disappeared.
While at the Cemetery, we talked to a man who lives across the street, on the south by the walk-in gate, who has feeders. He had lots of birds hanging around, including Red Crossbills, Downy Woodpecker, Pygmy, White-, & Red-breasted nuthatches, Mtn. Chickadees, juncos, House Finches, and a Cassin's Finch. More action there than in the cemetery itself. A constant hum of sound puzzled us as to its source(s) because we could not see any birds, all hidden in the pines. Probably finches & crossbills. He mentioned that he has seen Bushtits and even watched a buck deer shed its antlers!
(A couple of days ago at the cemetery, we had watched crossbills feeding on Douglas-fir. We think that despite their tree selection they qualified as Type 2 (Ponderosa).) As Norm Lewis says, a definite sure maybe.
At the park, a similar mix, with magpies & crows added in. But crossbills stole the show. We watched a male perch on a dead branch without moving, for 10 minutes. Then a female arrived, took some stuff off the trunk of a nearby ponderosa - cobwebs, grass, or some sort of similar strands. She took them to a nest about 40 feet up in a ponderosa, impossible to see. She made 4 or 5 trips before the two flew off and disappeared.
Hugh Kingery
Franktown, CO
Franktown, CO
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