Birding Around Denver on Friday

September 21, 2007

Another beautiful fall day in Colorado! I went over to Wheat Ridge Greenbelt at Prospect Park (Jefferson) about 4:00am to see if I could find any Eastern Screech-Owls. None responded to my playback recordings this morning.

After sunrise, I walked from Bass Lake to Johnson Park (Wadsworth Blvd). This area which once was considered one of the top five birding locations in Colorado has been very slow since our years of drought. I found few birds.

The highlights were a Townsend’s Warbler and Plumbeous Vireo hunting for insects in the under story of the thick trees along the Tree Bridge Trail as it climbs uphill (south) to the subdivision above Wheat Ridge Greenbelt.

Johnson Park had few birds and many mosquitoes. After hiking the 3 miles between the two parks, I took a city bus back to my car.

In the late afternoon, I rode my bike along the eastern side of Rocky Mountain Arsenal (inside: Adams County, outside fence: Denver County).

It was not one of my better ideas as I rode 4 miles (from 56th to 88th avenues) into a 25-35 mph wind. The wind kept any birds that might have been in the area from moving about and being seen.

There are at least 2 Burrowing Owls still in the area (one in each county). This area can no longer be driven in a car; walk in or biking only.