Grandview Cemetery (Fort Collins, Larimer) on 18Sept2017

[DAVID A LEATHERMAN]

A very slow day (1-4pm) at Grandview Cemetery in terms of numbers of birds or diversity (only 14 species), but an interesting one.

FOS at low elevation Brown Creeper (2)

FOS at low elevation Mountain Chickadee (3-4)

Barn Swallows still engaged in feeding nestlings under the intersection at Laporte and Taft.  Getting late for that.  Turkey Vultures still drifting over.  Local homeowner on Frey Avenue one block to the east of GC said she had a couple hummingbirds in her yard today (presumably Broad-tails).

And best of all, my first ever RED PHASE Eastern Screech-Owl in Colorado.  Don't ask, but I will say it's NOT in the same place as the gray-phase bird last January.  [One of my pet peeves has always been the USFS birding sign at Crow Valley that shows 5 species, two of which I've always said "never" occur at Crow Valley: magpie and red-phase eastern screech-owl.  While certainly not the expected phase, guess I can't say "never" any more.  And, yes, I saw a magpie there, once.]

                                                                    

Dave Leatherman

Fort Collins