A puzzle - Douglas
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Hugh Kingery
Feb 1, 2016, 7:45:10 PM2/1/16
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A puzzlement.
The setting: We live in an area below an extension of the Castlewood Canyon cliffs, one of 16 homes scattered along a mile-long road. Several of the homes have bird feeders,though not as faithfully filled as ours. On top of the cliffs, a half mile away, a subdivision development has houses on half-acre or less lots. We haven't seen any feeders up there, though we haven't looked carefully.
The puzzle: Normally at this time of year we see 10-20 juncos below our feeders. Yesterday afternoon, as snow, cold, & night coincided, we counted 74 of them. This did not happen this afternoon; it has snowed here since mid-morning.
Where did these come from? Do they normally feed in shifts? Did they come from our neighbors, below the cliff? Or from the subdivision above it? Or do they simply lurk around the forest & shrubs below our cliffs and come in only when desperate? How can we figure this out?
[I suspect that our junco cotillion isn't unique -- I've heard other feeder watchers comment on similar phenomona.]
The setting: We live in an area below an extension of the Castlewood Canyon cliffs, one of 16 homes scattered along a mile-long road. Several of the homes have bird feeders,though not as faithfully filled as ours. On top of the cliffs, a half mile away, a subdivision development has houses on half-acre or less lots. We haven't seen any feeders up there, though we haven't looked carefully.
The puzzle: Normally at this time of year we see 10-20 juncos below our feeders. Yesterday afternoon, as snow, cold, & night coincided, we counted 74 of them. This did not happen this afternoon; it has snowed here since mid-morning.
Where did these come from? Do they normally feed in shifts? Did they come from our neighbors, below the cliff? Or from the subdivision above it? Or do they simply lurk around the forest & shrubs below our cliffs and come in only when desperate? How can we figure this out?
[I suspect that our junco cotillion isn't unique -- I've heard other feeder watchers comment on similar phenomona.]
Hugh Kingery
Franktown, CO
Franktown, CO
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