Well, the leaves
have all come in and it is much harder to see what is happening at most
previously visible nest sites, but there is still a fair amount of activity.
Here’s an update on a few of the local nests as well as some other Spring
sightings.
The “Jiffy Lube”
Owls have been disturbed from their nest by construction right underneath them
and they have moved to the tree behind just northwest. When I stopped by to check in the noise was
louder than ever and the tree empty. I searched
the surrounding trees and even went up the trail to look at the line of trees
back there. When I came back, I walked
under the tree and searched above carefully and finally found three puffy blobs
in the next tree over. At first, I
thought it was the three young ones, but when I got a closer look, it was an
adult with two only slightly smaller owlets.
The third one, who was probably also the youngest and smallest, likely
did not make the move and fell to become someone else’s dinner. I searched the ground in the area and found
many pellets and even part of a baby rabbit under the original nest, but I
didn’t see any signs of the owlet.
I am not
positive what is going on with “my” GHO nest west of Rothman and north of the
dog park. Although I had hoped to hike
out there again for a close-up report, I haven’t been able to to do so. When I have looked at it through binoculars a
few times, I did not spy the telltale “horned” head sticking out of the nest,
nor any other activity around it. At
some point I will hike out there again and see if there are any fluffy babies
visible, but I am a little skeptical.
The Red-tailed
nest on Michigan and Simpson is quite active and no one in the area seems aware
of its existence. It is not always easy to
spot if the “mom” is sitting down in the nest, but when she is sitting up, or
her mate flies in, it is quite obvious, and the leaves have not really covered
them yet. One of the birds is often out
flying from the nest site to the “T” post in Rothman Open Space. I am pretty
sure that this is the same RT pair that was chased out by the owls.
I have seen one
or more Cooper’s Hawks in the area lately, including one that looked like it
coasted into a tree across the open space in a tree right in the neighborhood
some of my students live in. I have
searched around the area but didn’t observe anything (nor have I been
approached by anyone or the police wondering why I am wandering around alleys
with binoculars). I really want to track this one down. I thought maybe it had a cavity nest of some
sort but my preliminary research shows they generally build bulky platform
nests pretty high in trees; there are a couple of candidates in the area but I
haven’t spotted anything yet. I need to
do a little more research and I had a student go through a few Raptor books and
their indices to mark pages with information on Cooper’s and their nesting
habits. I also have another student who
lives in the area keeping her eye out as well.
The Swainson’s Hawks are back in full
force and scoping out their own nest sites.
I got to witness a pair of Swainson’s Hawks flying and playing in the
wind this past week. As I walked the
dogs I detoured slightly to keep the aerialists in view. They were doing some great dives, but also
just holding flat and still, looking directly into the wind side by side. At one point they stopped on the prominent
nest on the west side of the Lafayette Cemetery, but then appeared to have
decided it was too small. However, since
then I have seen one sitting on that nest a few times and one or two flying
overhead and I believe they have claimed it.
Last year, a pair nested just east of County
Line, and just north off Baseline, and a couple more around Erie. They tend to nest lower to the ground, and
often closer to people than RTs so they can be great to observe in the summer
if you know where to look.
The Osprey
platforms are filling up around the county and beyond. The Boulder County
Fairgrounds pair has three eggs but weather took out the camera (for the third
year in a row). There are numerous other
great “cams” including Xcel Energy’s “bird cams”, the “Decorah eagles” and many
others with a simple search.
If you happen to
be driving I-70 between Glenwood Springs and Fruita, keep your eye open for the
many Osprey platforms visible from the highway up into June or July. There are also some Bald Eagle nests along
the way. Both species can usually be
spotted easily on this stretch of road.
Dinosaur Ridge Hawkwatch:
The general numbers seem to be pretty low this year, with only a few
days over thirty, and many more in single digits. I find it interesting that they hadn’t seen a
Swainson’s hawk near the end of the count in early May. However, there were a few Broad-Winged Hawks spotted
over the last week or so. A few others have
been reported around the state, but not as many as I remember last spring.
Other sightings: One of the most surprising reports of
the season was an immature Zone-tailed Hawk putting on a display at Community
College Park in Lamar. This spot has been mentioned in many places for many
birds and rare sightings, including a nesting pair of Kites and could
definitely be a summer target.
The first
sighting of Mississppi Kite (that I have read about anyway) was reported in
Widefield (El Paso County), near Watson Middle School. I guess there has been a pair in this area in
the past and might warrant a trip this summer.
