Date: 8/30/26 10:06 am From: stringer.dan via Colorado Birds <cobirds...> Subject: [cobirds] Clark’s Nutcrackers Alamosa
Yesterday 8/29 I drove up the road to Zapata Falls in Alamosa County, looking for Pinyon Jays. Near the top, just under 9,000’ the first birds I saw were two Clark’s Nutcrackers, then three more, then two of them going at it with a Sharp-shinned Hawk…within a minute I was able to see ten in the air in a wide circle of view. At every pull-off I saw one or two more, and their raucous calls were prevalent. The Pinyon Pine cones weren’t open, mostly greenish and sap-covered, and the birds were landing tree-top, pecking them apart. The lower I drove back towards the valley floor the less I saw, but at my last stop at 8400’ I was surprised to count eleven. I hadn’t seen this concentration of Clark’s Nutcrackers before, perhaps food sources up higher are sparse. I didn’t feel like getting scolded by eBird, so I’ll just say here, my count, considering I saw some of the birds more than once, was 66.
One of the Clark’s single-note calls is similar to Pinyon Jay, a fun challenge. I did see one small flock of about 6 PIJA.
Dan Stringer
Larkspur, CO
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