Monday, November 19, 2007

Birding in Boulder County

November 18, 2007

Bryan Ehlmann and I drove up to Fawnbrook Inn at Allenspark to see if the Rosy Finches were coming to their feeders yet. We did not find any around the feeders but did see a small flock up the road to Brainard Lake later in the day.

The usual suspects came to the feeders. Pine Siskins, Downy Woodpecker, Hairy Woodpecker, White-breasted Nuthatch, Red-breasted Nuthatch, Pygmy Nuthatch, Mountain Chickadee, and Black-capped Chickadee. Highlight was a small flock of Evening Grosbeaks. No owls around town, we tried several likely spots; without success.

We also drove through Ward but again no Rosy Finches. The highlight of our mountain excursion was a Northern Goshawk at the top of the tree along the Brainard Lake Road about 0.2 miles west of Highway 72. We checked several reservoirs on the way back to Denver, but found little of interest.

We stopped at Baseline Reservoir and found the nice birds reported earlier in the day by Bill Kaempfer: Black Scoter, White-winged Scoter, Long-tailed Duck, and Common Loon.

Our birding day ended at Lagerman Reservoir where we hoped a Short-eared Owl or Barn Owl would make an appearance. Unfortunately, none did.

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