Red Crossbill, Olive-sided Flycatcher - deKoevend Park (Arapahoe)

[Jared Del Rosso]

This morning, I led a short DFO birding trip around deKoevend Park. We had a flock of 11 Red Crossbills visiting cottonwoods across the parks. I had them before the trip in a cottonwood down by the Big Dry Creek, and I believe that we (badly) saw and heard them later in a cottonwood up along the canal. Other highlights included a cooperative Olive-sided Flycatcher, which allowed us to review all its field marks, a cooperative Swainson's Hawk, which perched fairly low over the canal trail as we walked by, a single Western Tanager, and two White-breasted Nuthatches visiting an apparent nesting cavity. Also of note: Northern Rough-winged Swallows can be seen collecting nesting material near the park's Goodson Rec Center entrance.

- Jared Del Rosso
Centennial, CO