Common Grackle movements in Lafayette, Boulder County
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Charles Hundertmark
Sep 11, 2016, 6:07:52 PM9/11/16
to Cobirds
This afternoon, we had a large flock of Common Grackles in our front yard - not a particularly exciting bird for list purposes, but an interesting phenomenon. For about a week or so now, I’ve been noting flocks of 100-200 grackles moving through the neighborhood. They are feeding vigorously and moving on quickly. Interestingly, many of them are molting. I’m wondering if the grackles undergo a molt migration in the fashion that Ted Floyd has so insightfully informed us about for Chipping Sparrows.
Chuck Hundertmark
Lafayette, CO
303-604-0531
Chuck Hundertmark
Lafayette, CO
303-604-0531
DAVID A LEATHERMAN
Sep 11, 2016, 9:38:07 PM9/11/16
to chunde...@gmail.com, COBIRDS
Like Chuck, I have noticed a lot of new activity with grackles at Grandview Cemetery. After seeing none for months, I watched 4 very quietly foraging in the very top of a cone-laden spruce in crossbill wannebe mode. My take was they were getting green seeds from this year's cones. Then yesterday a real invasion occurred of over 50, and as best I could tell they also stayed in the spruce trees, but rather than go up in the tops where the cones were, they rifled thru American elm and cottonwood leaves lodged in the spruce boughs. Not sure what they were finding in the dry, curled up leaves but I suspect creatures that hide in such plant niches like earwigs and maybe daddylonglegs (harvestmen) and true spiders. Today in Wellington and at the Wyoming Hereford Ranch, many birds, including grackles were feasting on the recent outpouring of sod webworm moths (the actual one we are seeing has the colorful common name of the "vagabond crambus moth"). Other birds eating these moths for sure today were House Sparrows, European Starlings, American Robins and Brewer's Blackbirds. At Grandview Cemetery in Fort Collins, birds I observed getting these small, slender, tan moths with long labial palps ("snout") were Gray Flycatcher, Western Wood-Pewee, Wilson's Warblers, Chipping Sparrows (by the dozens of moths per bird per hour), Green-tailed Towhee, and Northern Flicker.
Dave Leatherman
Fort Collins
From: cob...@googlegroups.com <cob...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of Charles Hundertmark <chunde...@gmail.com>
Sent: Sunday, September 11, 2016 4:07 PM
To: Cobirds
Subject: [cobirds] Common Grackle movements in Lafayette, Boulder County
Sent: Sunday, September 11, 2016 4:07 PM
To: Cobirds
Subject: [cobirds] Common Grackle movements in Lafayette, Boulder County
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David Suddjian
Sep 11, 2016, 10:53:36 PM9/11/16
to Charles Hundertmark, Cobirds
On the Grackle theme, on the morning of 9/10 I watched an estimated 2,500 Common Grackles moving past St. Mary Catholic Church and Lee Gulch at South Prince Street in Littleton, Arapahoe Co. They were all going SE in a more or less steady stream of flocks over 45 min.
The local breeders had departed some time ago, and I'm sure these were part of a migratory movement. Most of them showed tail feathers in heavy molt. I did not see a similar movement at the same time period this morning, and these were much larger numbers that I happened to have seen over the St. Mary area in the past two Septembers.
There is a rather large roost of migrants at this time of year SE and near C470 x Santa Fe (Douglas Co.), but that is about 2.5 miles south and the wrong direction for the birds I saw passing on 9/10, plus that roost flies out shortly after sunrise, about 1.5 hours earlier than my observation on 9/10.
David Suddjian
Ken Caryl Valley
Littleton, CO
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Chip Clouse
Sep 11, 2016, 11:07:15 PM9/11/16
to David Suddjian, Charles Hundertmark, cobirds
Harriman Lake in Jeffco had huge flocks of blackbirds coming in to roost this evening. The flock included at least 200 Common Grackles, 250 Red-winged Blackbirds, 750 European Starlings, 33 Brewer's Blackbirds (counted on the rocks at waters edge) and at least 1 Brown-headed Cowbird. My dog wouldn't let me stop long enough to do more than estimate on anything but the BRBLs that didn't flush as she dragged me along the trail.
Chip Clouse
Lakewood
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pygm...@frii.com
Sep 12, 2016, 9:57:04 AM9/12/16
to chip....@gmail.com, David Suddjian, Charles Hundertmark, cobirds
One thing I noticed over the years is that this time of year the Grackle
flocks are mostly juvenile birds. All the grackles seem to leave the area
then in the fall the flocks arrive from who knows where, and are comprised
almost entirely of juvenile birds. Are these grackles your seeing
juveniles?
Scott Rashid Estes Park
On Sun, 11 Sep 2016 21:07:12 -0600, Chip Clouse <chip....@gmail.com>
wrote:
> on anything but the BRBLs that didnt flush as she dragged me along the
> trail.
>
> Chip Clouse
> Lakewood
> On Sep 11, 2016 8:53 PM, "David Suddjian" wrote:
> ON THE GRACKLE THEME, ON THE MORNING OF 9/10 I WATCHED AN ESTIMATED
2,500
> COMMON GRACKLES moving past St. Mary Catholic Church and Lee Gulch at
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flocks are mostly juvenile birds. All the grackles seem to leave the area
then in the fall the flocks arrive from who knows where, and are comprised
almost entirely of juvenile birds. Are these grackles your seeing
juveniles?
Scott Rashid Estes Park
On Sun, 11 Sep 2016 21:07:12 -0600, Chip Clouse <chip....@gmail.com>
wrote:
> Harriman Lake in Jeffco had huge flocks of blackbirds coming in to roost
> this evening. The flock included at least 200 Common Grackles, 250
> Red-winged Blackbirds, 750 European Starlings, 33 Brewers Blackbirds
> this evening. The flock included at least 200 Common Grackles, 250
> (counted on the rocks at waters edge) and at least 1 Brown-headed
> Cowbird. My dog wouldnt let me stop long enough to do more than estimate
> on anything but the BRBLs that didnt flush as she dragged me along the
> trail.
>
> Chip Clouse
> Lakewood
> On Sep 11, 2016 8:53 PM, "David Suddjian" wrote:
> ON THE GRACKLE THEME, ON THE MORNING OF 9/10 I WATCHED AN ESTIMATED
2,500
> COMMON GRACKLES moving past St. Mary Catholic Church and Lee Gulch at
> South Prince Street in Littleton, Arapahoe Co. They were all going SE in
> a more or less steady stream of flocks over 45 min.
> The local breeders had departed some time ago, and Im sure these were
> a more or less steady stream of flocks over 45 min.
> part of a migratory movement. Most of them showed tail feathers in heavy
> molt. I did not see a similar movement at the same time period this
> morning, and these were much larger numbers that I happened to have seen
> over the St. Mary area in the past two Septembers.
> There is a rather large roost of migrants at this time of year SE and
> near C470 x Santa Fe (Douglas Co.), but that is about 2.5 miles south
and
> the wrong direction for the birds I saw passing on 9/10, plus that roost
> flies out shortly after sunrise, about 1.5 hours earlier than my
> observation on 9/10.
> David SuddjianKen Caryl ValleyLittleton, CO
> molt. I did not see a similar movement at the same time period this
> morning, and these were much larger numbers that I happened to have seen
> over the St. Mary area in the past two Septembers.
> There is a rather large roost of migrants at this time of year SE and
> near C470 x Santa Fe (Douglas Co.), but that is about 2.5 miles south
and
> the wrong direction for the birds I saw passing on 9/10, plus that roost
> flies out shortly after sunrise, about 1.5 hours earlier than my
> observation on 9/10.
> On Sun, Sep 11, 2016 at 4:07 PM, Charles Hundertmark wrote:
> This afternoon, we had a large flock of Common Grackles in our front
yard
> - not a particularly exciting bird for list purposes, but an interesting
> phenomenon. For about a week or so now, I’ve been noting flocks of
> 100-200 grackles moving through the neighborhood. They are feeding
> vigorously and moving on quickly. Interestingly, many of them are
> molting. I’m wondering if the grackles undergo a molt migration in the
> fashion that Ted Floyd has so insightfully informed us about for
Chipping
> Sparrows.
>
> Chuck Hundertmark
> Lafayette, CO
> 303-604-0531 [3]
> This afternoon, we had a large flock of Common Grackles in our front
yard
> - not a particularly exciting bird for list purposes, but an interesting
> phenomenon. For about a week or so now, I’ve been noting flocks of
> 100-200 grackles moving through the neighborhood. They are feeding
> vigorously and moving on quickly. Interestingly, many of them are
> molting. I’m wondering if the grackles undergo a molt migration in the
> fashion that Ted Floyd has so insightfully informed us about for
Chipping
> Sparrows.
>
> Chuck Hundertmark
> Lafayette, CO
>
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David Suddjian
Sep 12, 2016, 11:43:16 AM9/12/16
to scott, Chip Clouse, Charles Hundertmark, cobirds
As for the grackles I saw flying over Littleton on 9/10 there was a goodly percentage of adults.
David Suddjian
Ken Caryl Valley
Littleton, CO
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Chip Clouse
Sep 12, 2016, 1:48:49 PM9/12/16
to Scott Rashid, cobirds, Charles Hundertmark, David Suddjian
Harriman Lake had a mix of juveniles and adults. As my primary purpose was exercising the mutt I didn't look at the ratio but my initial impression was not one sided in either direction.
Chip Clouse
Lakewood
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Jeff Parks
Sep 14, 2016, 7:18:10 PM9/14/16
to Colorado Birds
I observed a similar phenomenon a few weeks ago. For the span of about an hour, there were lots of grackles moving through my neighborhood. I watched them in my back yard, and my neighbor's back yards as well. At times I would see around 30-50 birds, then they would thin out a bit, and then there would be another bunch moving through. They were moving from south to north in Keywaydin Meadows on the east side of Foothills Parkway in Boulder. I didn't see them feeding on anything, just moving through. I don't know if there were hundreds of birds, or if they were looping around and coming through several different times. Since they all seemed to be moving in the same direction, I suspect it was a large flock moving through in one direction. I almost expected to hear the soundtrack from "The Birds" playing in the background.
A few minutes ago, I looked out the window and saw the neighbor's tree full of grackles again. There were around 50 in this flock, but they quickly moved on and there haven't been any more yet. They were moving from south to north again, at this particular location anyway.
Jeff Parks
Boulder, CO
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