Backyard Birds - December 2022 Report
Backyard birders rounded out the year with some unusual (and not-so-unusual) December sightings. Read on for their findings as reported to Hugh Kingery.
Char Gottlieb has enjoyed a female Red-bellied Woodpecker in her Arvada yard daily since mid-November. Only one, but she comes for sunflower seeds every day. Very special for us as we have never had this species in our yard.” Red-bellieds rarely come this far west, although we see them occasionally along Colorado’s eastern border.
![255 Red-bellied Wpkr a - Wak Sprgs 2019 02 01 Red-bellied Woodpecker clinging to the bark of a tree](https://denveraudubon.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/255-Red-bellied-Wpkr-a-Wak-Sprgs-2019-02-01-177x300.jpg)
Kevin Corwin had a new species “visiting my little townhouse yard” in Centennial December 18-19: a Cassin’s Finches.
Similarly, Jared Del Rosso stopped at Chapel Hill Memorial Garden in Centennial on December 20. “A Cassin’s Finch (Female/Immature) was around, among many House Finches, feeding in ash trees and feeders in adjacent yards. The Cassin’s was also occasionally calling. The Cassin’s Finch was a rewarding encounter. I have only once previously seen this species, way back in 2014 on a birding trip led by Joey Kellner. (I remember how all the more experienced birders on the trip made sure I got to see it.)
He also saw “A White-throated Sparrow, December 9-17, mixed in with juncos, Spotted Towhees, and White-crowned Sparrows. It only provided brief and just-barely-definitive looks through the row of lilacs and other plants that edges the cemetery.
Charlie Chase reported one on December 23 in his west Denver yard.
![Cassin's Finch Cassins Finch standing on ground](https://denveraudubon.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Cassins-Finch-300x300.jpg)
![425 White-throated Sparrow - Wuerthele_NEW White-throated Sparrow on the round among fallen leaves](https://denveraudubon.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/425-White-throated-Sparrow-Wuerthele_NEW-300x258.jpg)
Kevin says that on December 5, his yard “was overrun by robins this morning; the shriveled fruits on the various crabapple trees didn’t stand a chance. I counted only 18 in my little townhouse yard for Project FeederWatch, but when I later took a walk I encountered several different flocks of 25 – 30, totaling between 150 – 300 birds. There were a few Cedar Waxwings mixed in with some of the flocks, including some identifiable as 1st-year birds.”
In our Franktown yard, with the cold and snow December 20-22, we hosted a pile of common birds: 21 juncos, 11 House Finches, 4 Spotted Towhees, 1 each Downy & Hairy Woodpeckers, plus the usual numbers of chickadees, nuthatches, and jays.
Jared “counted up to 7 Spotted Towhees along one edge of the yard. A few weeks ago, 6 were together, ornamenting a bare chokecherry. This isn’t entirely unusual. eBird reminds me that the winter of 2017-18 brought a similar number through my yard. And I suspect it’s just an outcome of me more consistently tossing seed around my yard, attracting the neighborhood’s many towhees. (I use the waste-free type so I don’t end up with patches of millet and safflower.)”
Your contributions write this column. Thanks to all who send in these intriguing reports. Send a note or post card to P.O. Box 584, Franktown 80116, or Email Hugh Kingery at ouzels8@aol.com.