July 15 to August 5, 2009
Bryan Ehlmann: Hello cobirders,
Over the next three weeks I will be leading the CoBus summer birding tour. Sue and I are the core of the group and we will be joined at times by up to 7 other birders including Richard Stevens, Rebecca Kosten, Gary Weston, Jerry Petrosky, a few other Colorado birders and a couple of out of state birders.
Our main goal is to relocate nesting owls in Southwest and northwest Colorado, but we will be searching for a few uncommon birds along the way.
July 15
We searched for American Three-toed Woodpeckers at Mueller State Park (Teller County) today. No Three-toed Woodpeckers were seen along our hike but a male and female Williamson's Sapsucker were relocated (Scott Campbell, 7/4) along the northwestern edge of trail 32.
Success was achieved when a male American Three-toed Woodpecker was found on the hike to Lone Dome.
Late in the afternoon we walked around the Crags Campground where the highlight was an adult Northern Goshawk perched on a snag east of the campgrounds.
At dusk, a Northern Pygmy-Owl answered our recordings.
Our birding day ended north of Divide where we searched unsuccessfully for Flammulated Owls.
July 16
Shortly before midnight, Richard Stevens took us down Phantom Canyon Road and found a Spotted Owl for us. It took him less than 10 minutes; experience really does help!
We continued south toward Canon City and we heard a second Spotted Owl about 3 miles south of the first one. These species is federally protected and searching for them can be very tricky.
After a few hours sleep, we went over to Tunnel Drive to see if last winter's Golden-crowned Sparrow might still be around. We didn't find one but did see at least one Rufous-crowned Sparrow behind the old brick building west of the parking lot.
After lunch in Canon City we walked the extreme eastern and western ends of the Arkansas Riverwalk (Fremont). Western Screech-Owls have been reported at the eastern end but none were out for us.
At the western end, one of the Eastern Phoebes reported to have nested this summer was perched at the old sewer tank east of Sells Pond. A small flock of Pine Siskins and Bushtits were somewhat of a surprise.
A brief stop at Pathfinder Park near Florence added a Black Phoebe to our trip list and we continued west.
We stopped at the Buena Vista Overlook (Chaffee County) and found 5 Pinyon Jays flying around the KOA campground below the northwest ridge.
Lewis's Woodpeckers were good to us. They were relocated at the Park behind Kay's along highway 24 and another pair at Brookdale Avenue and North Pleasant Avenue.
Near dark, a nesting Western Screech-Owl was found at a friend's home! There are very few of them in this valley.
After dark we drove up 304 road and had a Northern Saw-whet Owl answer our recordings west of Midland Hill.
July 17
Early this morning we decided to search for Bendire's Thrashers before the summer heat came. None could be found but we did find a pair of Curve-billed Thrashers and half a dozen Sage Thrashers along Forest Road 660, south of Forest Road 659 (Saguache County).
A quick drive through Monte Vista National Wildlife Area (Rio Grande County) found an early migrating Willet! No Bendire's Thrashers are Alamosa NWR or Monte Vista.
After lunch we hiked up to Zapata Falls outside of the Great Sand Dunes National Park (Alamosa County). Sue noticed an American Dipper along Mosca Creek! Our target birds, two Black Swifts flew overhead about an hour before sunset.
After dark, a Western Screech-Owl answered our recordings while played at Sawmill Canyon (Saguache County). A Northern Pygmy-Owl called around the Pinyon Flats Campgrounds.
Bryan Ehlmann: Hello cobirders,
Over the next three weeks I will be leading the CoBus summer birding tour. Sue and I are the core of the group and we will be joined at times by up to 7 other birders including Richard Stevens, Rebecca Kosten, Gary Weston, Jerry Petrosky, a few other Colorado birders and a couple of out of state birders.
Our main goal is to relocate nesting owls in Southwest and northwest Colorado, but we will be searching for a few uncommon birds along the way.
July 15
We searched for American Three-toed Woodpeckers at Mueller State Park (Teller County) today. No Three-toed Woodpeckers were seen along our hike but a male and female Williamson's Sapsucker were relocated (Scott Campbell, 7/4) along the northwestern edge of trail 32.
Success was achieved when a male American Three-toed Woodpecker was found on the hike to Lone Dome.
Late in the afternoon we walked around the Crags Campground where the highlight was an adult Northern Goshawk perched on a snag east of the campgrounds.
At dusk, a Northern Pygmy-Owl answered our recordings.
Our birding day ended north of Divide where we searched unsuccessfully for Flammulated Owls.
July 16
Shortly before midnight, Richard Stevens took us down Phantom Canyon Road and found a Spotted Owl for us. It took him less than 10 minutes; experience really does help!
We continued south toward Canon City and we heard a second Spotted Owl about 3 miles south of the first one. These species is federally protected and searching for them can be very tricky.
After a few hours sleep, we went over to Tunnel Drive to see if last winter's Golden-crowned Sparrow might still be around. We didn't find one but did see at least one Rufous-crowned Sparrow behind the old brick building west of the parking lot.
After lunch in Canon City we walked the extreme eastern and western ends of the Arkansas Riverwalk (Fremont). Western Screech-Owls have been reported at the eastern end but none were out for us.
At the western end, one of the Eastern Phoebes reported to have nested this summer was perched at the old sewer tank east of Sells Pond. A small flock of Pine Siskins and Bushtits were somewhat of a surprise.
A brief stop at Pathfinder Park near Florence added a Black Phoebe to our trip list and we continued west.
We stopped at the Buena Vista Overlook (Chaffee County) and found 5 Pinyon Jays flying around the KOA campground below the northwest ridge.
Lewis's Woodpeckers were good to us. They were relocated at the Park behind Kay's along highway 24 and another pair at Brookdale Avenue and North Pleasant Avenue.
Near dark, a nesting Western Screech-Owl was found at a friend's home! There are very few of them in this valley.
After dark we drove up 304 road and had a Northern Saw-whet Owl answer our recordings west of Midland Hill.
July 17
Early this morning we decided to search for Bendire's Thrashers before the summer heat came. None could be found but we did find a pair of Curve-billed Thrashers and half a dozen Sage Thrashers along Forest Road 660, south of Forest Road 659 (Saguache County).
A quick drive through Monte Vista National Wildlife Area (Rio Grande County) found an early migrating Willet! No Bendire's Thrashers are Alamosa NWR or Monte Vista.
After lunch we hiked up to Zapata Falls outside of the Great Sand Dunes National Park (Alamosa County). Sue noticed an American Dipper along Mosca Creek! Our target birds, two Black Swifts flew overhead about an hour before sunset.
After dark, a Western Screech-Owl answered our recordings while played at Sawmill Canyon (Saguache County). A Northern Pygmy-Owl called around the Pinyon Flats Campgrounds.
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