April 25: Red Rocks Park

This time I went to Red Rocks Park. This is around the time of year that the birds that pick their mates, so naturally there will be a lot of singing and calling going around. I got into red rocks and immediately heard the song and chipping sparrows singing loudly, presumably to attract mates so that they can nest. Many song sparrows prefer to nest in bushes that are low to the ground, and I saw many doing just that in the nests at red rocks. Chipping sparrows usually nest on the edges of branches, and they can have a very rapid song when looking for mates. Many song sparrows have nests close to the ground because they forage on the ground, specifically insects and seeds. This way their nests are close to where they forage so it is easier to bring food to their young. When I got deeper into the park I started seeing juncos, blue jays, cardinals, downy and hairy woodpeckers, and ruby-crowned kinglets. As I got closer and closer to a blue jay, it started calling out at me loudly, so I can assume that its nest was nearby and it was trying to protect it. This blue jay' s nest seemed to be in an oak tree, which is a good spot for blue jays. This shows that this bird is fit and dominant because it was able to secure a good habitat to nest in. The same thing happened with a dark-eyed junco I saw on the ground, so I can presume that it was guarding its nest as well because they nest on the ground. They make their nests out of grass, bark fiber, twigs, moss, and maybe some other vegetation. They can find most of these on the ground where they nest or up in trees as well. I got even deeper into the park and saw two warbler species, a pine warbler and a yellow warbler. They were very hard to get a good view of because they were flitting around the trees so fast, but I was able to get a good enough view to ID both of them. I then got to the water and saw some turkey vultures soaring around, along with a great blue heron and 2 cormorants.

Posted on April 28, 2017 05:25 AM by nickvance17