Thursday, September 11, 2008

Birding Western Denver

Richard Stevens:

September 10, 2008

My plan was to search for the Prairie Warbler reported yesterday by Karleen Schofield at Belmar Historic Park and then head south to Chatfield Reservoir. Chatfield Reservoir appears to be under birded this year; thought I would give it a try.

At 6:45am I found 2 Townsend's Warblers in the trees over the gazebo. There was a third warbler with them. I only observed the face pattern (no body) for about 6 seconds. It may have looked like a female Prairie Warbler with the dark semicircle under the eye. I never relocated the bird and in hindsight am confident that I did not see or miss a Prairie Warbler.

At 7:30am, I was joined by Warren Finch and we found a flock of birds along the south side of Kountze Lake. The flock continued to flutter about the area for over an hour allowing us some nice looks.

Included in this loose flock were: 14 Black-capped Chickadees, 7+ Orange-crowned Warblers, 2 Clay-colored Sparrows (one a beautifully plumaged adult, the other a juvenile still with some streaking on its breast and flanks. Several Brewer's Sparrows (adults and juveniles) required close inspection to separate from the 2 Clay-colored Sparrows. Dozens of Chipping Sparrows (adults and juveniles) allowed for studying of the various species.

A single Virginia's Warbler was also in the mix. The early sunlight brighten the colors of the 2 male and 1 female Townsend's Warblers that were also observed all at the same time.

Later I circled the park twice, still searching for the Prairie Warbler; without success. A small flock of birds at the western end of the park included 7 Black-capped Chickadees, 2 Wilson's Warblers, 3 Orange-crowned Warblers, and another male Townsend's Warbler.

I was close to Welchester Tree Park and decided on a detour up there. Again circling the park twice I found a couple of uncommon birds. At the Welch Ditch at the eastern end of the park a Northern Waterthrush walked the shore line. Its bobbing up and down caught my attention or it never would have been seen in the thick foliage and dead limbs it walked under.

A small flock of birds at the western end of the path north of the Welch Ditch included another female Townsend's Warbler, 2 Wilson's Warblers, 2 male Yellow Warblers, and dozens of American Goldfinches. A female Lazuli Bunting was perched on a short bush in the clearing west of the grove of trees.

After lunch I did head down to Chatfield Reservoir (Jefferson/Douglas). There I hiked the east side of the Platte River to south of the second pond. Then I hiked the west side from Kingfisher Bridge to the Discovery Pavilion. Finally I wandered around Plum Creek Delta south along the newish bike path for a mile.

Many common birds were still around; I did not find many uncommon ones. A few House Wrens, Gray Catbird, Yellow-breasted Chat, Blue-gray Gnatcatchers, Spotted Towhees, Cedar Waxwings, and Broad-tailed Hummingbirds included expected birds.

The highlight was a Long-eared Owl along the East side of the S. Platte. Rather not say location, if it is relocatable (is that a word?) I rather it was not disturbed.

At Plum Creek Delta I found my 8th Townsend's Warbler of the day. Not far from it was a young American Redstart. Both were 50 to 60 yards south of the footbridge. One or two Peregrine Falcons flew along Plum Creek.

I ended my day by driving Deer Creek Canyon Road searching for Northern Pygmy-Owls; without success.

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