[Douglbirds] Bobolinks and Buntings

[ouzels8]

We surveyed the Cherry Valley School Atlas block on Sunday by visiting a private ranch which has ponds, a willow stream bottom, grasslands, and a ponderosa forest. The biggest surprise: two fields, a half-mile apart, with singing Bobolinks. This makes five fields of Bobolinks along Cherry Creek, from Franktown south to El Paso County. 

We also found a hummingbird on nest, a pair of Hairy Woodpeckers feeding young in a nest, and some high-elevation willow carr birds (migrants or not? -elevation 7100 feet): Willow Flycatcher, Wilson's Warbler, and Lincoln's Sparrow.

Tuesday we walked the Walker Trail in the Castle Rock North Atlas block. The highlight: listening to a Lazuli and an Indigo Bunting counter-singing. The Indigo's song lasted twice as long as the Lazuli's, and more robust. Natl Geog. field guide describes it best: Lazuli "faster and less strident." Bob Righter's recordings (Bird Songs of the Rocky Mountain states and provinces) compare the two songs very well. 

Urling and Hugh Kingery
Franktown, CO 
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