more on Clark's Nutcrackers in lower foothills of Larimer County

[David Steingraeber]

Just adding to the discussion:
For the past 2+ weeks, Clark's Nutcrackers have been hammering cones
and gathering seeds in the ponderosa pines around our house, on the
hogback just west of the South Bay area of Horsetooth Reservoir,
elevation 5,760'. I've seen them nearly every day; they visit for a
while, but then move elsewhere. There's usually a small group (2-5
birds evident), but a few times, I've only seen/heard a single bird
at a time.

We've lived up here 25+ years and in that time, we've observed
nutcrackers during 4 different multi-month periods:
--Sept., 1996 to May, 1997;
--March & April, 2003;
--Sept., 2010 to Jan., 2011; and
--April to June, 2011.

The current "cone crop" on the pines around us is bountiful, so
perhaps they'll stick around for a while this time, too!

Dave Steingraeber
west of Ft. Collins & Horsetooth Reservoir