Evergreen Audubon

Comment from Sherman Wing
July 22, 2010 at 8:46 pm

I spent about a half hour today watching Western Kingbirds at the Morrison parking area for Mt. Falcon Park. From the parking area I saw two Western Kingbirds perched and foraging from the tops of shrubs, on the adjacent hillside and another was perched on top of the cottonwood. All three were calling. Soon the three took off and joined 6 others playing and dancing and calling in the sky about 100-150′ up.

I was hoping to see breeding activity such as, carrying food, feeding young; but saw none of this.

What’s going on ? Do these bird form small flocks before the Fall migration ?

Comment from Marilyn Rhodes
July 23, 2010 at 2:19 pm

VG Swallow Update – Violet laid three eggs between June 23 and June 26. I named them Winken, Blinken and Nod. Winken and Blinken hatched July 8 & 9. Nod began pecking through his egg but, unfortunately, didn’t make it out. Winken and Blinken are now over 2 weeks old. They have big appetites and are very demanding. The are keeping the adults busy bringing them food. They’ve opened their eyes and developed downy feathers. Their tail and wing feathers are growing now, too. They seem to be very healthy and strong and I expect them to fledge by the end of the month. I am going to miss them.

Comment from Lonnie VanZandt
July 25, 2010 at 6:53 pm

Sunday at 8am, I came up the stairs of the back deck on the Witter Gulch house to look up into the bold, yellow breast of a green-billed Evening Grosbeak.

A comment on their local population is at http://blog.evergreenwildbirdstore.com/evening-grosbeak-population-trends/

Comment from Sherman Wing
July 26, 2010 at 7:58 am

Here are the birds seen yesterday at the Sunrise at Mt Evans field trip:

Mallard
White-tailed Ptarmigan
Broad-tailed Hummingbird
Rufous Hummingbird
Northern Flicker
Horned Lark
Gray Jay
Stellar’s Jay
Clark’s Nutcracker
American Crow
Common Raven
Mountain Chickadee
Brown Creeper
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Mountain Bluebird
American Robin
American Pipit
Orange-crowned Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Wilson’s Warbler
Sons Sparrow
White-crowned Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco
Brown-capped Rosy Finch
Pine Siskin

Total Species: 25

Comment from Michael Stills
August 1, 2010 at 2:20 pm

The baby Barn Swallows outside the Nature Center fledged today. 5 babies were seen flying and later sitting on the roof of the Nature Center by Linda Lorenz.

Comment from Marilyn Rhodes
August 8, 2010 at 9:41 am

I’m delighted to report that Violet and Buster, the Violet-green Swallow pair that began nesting in a box on the back of my house June 15th, successfully fledged two healthy chicks this week. Winken flew the coop on Monday morning, August 2nd, and Blinken took off Tuesday morning. They have not returned to the nest box and I have not seen the adults feeding them in the yard. They’re gone and I’m an empty nester now.

BTW, I highly recommend the use of nest cameras to monitor nesting activity around your home. I’ve had a wonderful 45 day experience with the VGSWs. I have acquired a second nest cam and look forward to monitoring different species in the future.

THE DOWNSIDE (other than technical challenges which you should expect) of a nest cam is that you must try very hard not to become totally obsessed, freak out over what you do or do not see, or start micro-managing events.

THE UPSIDE is you will have an intimate, fascinating, learning experience you can share with your whole family. You can monitor the box 24/7 without physically intruding (opening) the box, right up through fledging.

I believe nest cams will revolutionize our understanding of cavity-nesting birds because you can watch the secret lives of birds inside the box. They should also provide us with much more accurate and factual information about predation. You might want to put a nest cam on your Christmas list!

Comment from barbara klaus
August 16, 2010 at 7:39 am

There has been a small flock of Evening Grosbeaks in Sun Creek (off Lewis Ridge Road) several times over the weekend of August 14th. I haven’t seen them here before.

Comment from Emily Wald
August 17, 2010 at 8:49 pm

Tuesday evening at about 8:30pm we saw a Great Horned Owl on the electrical pole at the intersection of Lewis Ridge and Frontage roads (across from the main entrance to Elk Meadow). It just stayed perched there while we watched, swiveling its head around in search of food.

Comment from Aaron Wald
August 17, 2010 at 8:57 pm

A few days ago, we had a partially albino Pine Siskin at our feeder. He has been coming back every evening since then! Seen near Hiwan Drive. (see photos in Photo Gallery)

Comment from Brad Andres
August 20, 2010 at 1:55 pm

Hey Folks,

Keep your eyes open for migrant warblers. I have been seeing small flocks around evening and hearing chip notes overhead.

Comment from Marilyn Rhodes
August 26, 2010 at 10:49 am

Birds galore! My feeders have been VERY active this week with more than three dozen Pine Siskins, 6-8 Lesser Goldfinches, 3 juvie Red Crossbills, 1 Yellow-rumped Warbler and 1 juvie Black-headed Grosbeak joining the regular gang of finches, chickadees, nuthatches, jays, woodpeckers, magpies and crows. The BT Hummingbirds have been draining the feeders every couple of days and I still have Rufous hummers stopping by to tank up for their long journey (sure gonna miss these little guys). Raccoons and bears and their cubs are on the move in my neighborhood, too. Bringing all feeders in at night is a must!

Comment from Marilyn Rhodes
August 26, 2010 at 12:59 pm

This is probably not news to anyone but me. Although I’ve lived in Evergreen among a couple of hundred Ponderosa Pine trees for over 20 years, I just realized that their pine cones close in cold and rainy weather and open wide when the sun shines. We’ve had such a huge cone crop this year, I put six of the prettiest and biggest on my deck table and have been surprised almost daily at the change in their appearance and shape. In our Evergreen world, even the most ordinary of occurrences never cease to interest, teach and amaze me . . .

Comment from Marilyn Rhodes
August 27, 2010 at 8:11 pm

This year Pygmy Nuthatches elected not to nest in the box on the back of my house that they’ve used for years because I installed a nest cam in it. They continue to avoid that box but apparently have determined that the box next to it makes a dandy roosting place. I just observed 10 Pygmys fly into the box for the night. This has been going on all week, if not longer. Wish I could see inside.

Earlier in the day I was enjoying the flurry of activity at my feeders again. Suddenly, a Sharp-shinned Hawk flew in, perched on a branch near the feeders and literally cleared the place out for an hour. What an awesome bird. The master of the hit and run.

Comment from Sherman Wing
September 6, 2010 at 10:30 am

Labor Day morning at Mt Falcon… There were good numbers of scuffy-looking Western Bluebirds in the meadow, near the old burn area, perched on the mullen stocks. The dried thistle provided food for a large group of Pine Siskins. In the larger stands of scrub oak, I saw two Virginia’s Warbler and one Wilson’s Warbler. Heading uphill and around to the north-facing slope, I saw several migrating Townsend’s Warblers.