Thursday, February 26, 2009

Pine Valley Ranch & Reynolds Parks

February 26, 2009

Richard Stevens:

Gary Weston and I returned to Pine Valley Ranch and Reynolds Park today. It was a little windy; temperatures were in the 60s. This trip was spurred on by my lack to find any American Three-toed Woodpeckers last Monday. It was bad enough to not find any White-tailed Ptarmigan on Loveland Pass (though it was snowing), but to not find one Three-toed Woodpecker, ugh.

We hiked the loop Buck Gulch Trail to Skipper Trail to Strawberry Jack Trail to Parkview Trail. Along the way, 3 Three-toed Woodpeckers were encountered. The easiest to relocate would be an adult female that was south of the Strawberry Jack Trail and 200 yards west of the Parkview Trail.

We searched the locations where Northern Pygmy-Owls were previously reported; without success. A Northern Pygmy-Owl was heard just above (south) of the switchbacks along the Parkview Trail. The cliff drops off drastically here and the owl could have been anywhere. This could be the same owl were heard last Monday?

Also observed Pine Siskins, Mountain Bluebirds, Western Bluebirds, Hairy Woodpeckers, and a Northern Goshawk! An American Dipper was along the South Platte River below the lower parking area.

As we drove along the Platte River between Pine Valley Ranch Park and Reynolds Park we found another 4 American Dippers in a mile stretch.

At Reynolds Park we made the loop Oxen Draw to Eagle's View to Raven's Roost trails. My main goal was to search for possible nesting areas for Northern Saw-whet Owls. Hope to find some owls in a couple of weeks!

Along the way we found 2 Three-toed Woodpeckers. The easiest to relocate was a adult female below (north) the intersection of the Oxen Draw & Eagle's View trails.

No Dusky Grouse were found today. We heard 4 Northern Pygmy-Owls (observed 1)! Also observed 3 species of nuthatches, Pine Siskins, and 2 Cooper's Hawks. No Northern Goshawks.

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