Saturday, August 15, 2009

Douglas County Wanderings

August 14, 2009

Richard Stevens:

After doing some owling 3 hours before sunrise in Douglas County (heard one Northern Saw-whet Owl) Bryan Ehlmann and I hung around Castlewood Canyon State Park to see if the Black Vulture was still around. We also searched several locations where Common Poorwills had been found in the past; without success this morning.

Shortly after sunrise, we stood along Castlewood Canyon Road about 0.2 miles south of the entrance to the Winkler Ranch and listen to the early morning chorus of birds. It was an enjoyable way to start the morning. Some of the birds heard from the one spot were Spotted Towhee, Gray Catbird, Bobolink, Grasshopper Sparrow, Common Yellowthroat, Vesper Sparrow, and a male Blue Grosbeak!

We did not see the Black Vulture between 9:30am and 11:00am. The usual Turkey Vultures took off over the northwest entrance about 10:17am. No Black Vulture was among them.

Then we wandered west to Louviers to see if any Lewis's Woodpeckers were still around; without success (kind of the story of our day). A walk around the town of Louviers did not find the previously reported Northern Cardinal.

Many Eurasian Collared-Doves still plague the town. They are about the only bird one hears when walking around this small town. Several Lesser Goldfinches and American Goldfinches were at the southeast corner and not much else.

We did not get to Barr Lake until late afternoon. Winds were 8+ mph with gusts to 14 mph. The Northern Parula found this morning was not relocated by me. We did finally manage to relocate the Townsend's Warbler in the Cottonwoods around mile marker 8.2. There are plenty of mosquitoes out there also!

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