Birdy, but Not Golden Morning - Centennial (Arapahoe)

[Jared Del Rosso]

I had a co-worker who started birding earlier this year over to my west Centennial (Arapahoe) yard this morning (10/4). We were to stake out the Golden-crowned Sparrow in advance of a few other visits from birders later today. That bird never showed; perhaps with the dry weather overnight, it was able to up and leave. (I'll keep watching for it, of course.) But it was a birdy morning nonetheless. A Green-tailed Towhee (lifer for my visitor) provided good views all morning, foraging alongside a Spotted. A Western Tanager made a brief visit, fetching what looked like a butterfly from a tree across my yard. (Looked more like a skipper than a Painted Lady, but it wasn't much of a view.) A Ruby-crowned Kinglet -- my first in the yard this fall & a lifer for my guest -- made a brief visit. We also had a pair of Mourning Doves, my first in my yard since early-September. And a Red-breasted Nuthatch visited my feeders. 

After my guest left, the yard came alive. An Orange-crowned Warbler moved through. Two Red-breasted Nuthatches joined the first; one made what sounded like hissing scolds at the others. A Broad-tailed Hummer made a brief visit to my feeders; I haven't, though, seen the Black-chinned today. And a lone Turkey Vulture passed over, headed southish. There were also plenty of Painted Ladies -- 20-30 in my back yard and even more up front. This is the most I've had of them this fall.

Elsewhere, I had my first neighborhood junco this morning, while walking my dog near Chapel Hill Memorial Gardens.

- Jared Del Rosso

Centennial, CO