August 24, 2010
Rich Stevens called me up at 5:00 AM and suggested that conditions were good today for a fallout of migrating birds. Rain and mild winds out of the north suggested just that!
We arrived at Rocky Mountain Arsenal, Adams County just as it opened at 6:00 AM and listened for owls at the old Governor's Row area. While many birds were heard, owls were not among them. It is still a little too light at 6:00 AM with sunrise 6:19 AM. This undertaking has better success when it is completely dark out.
After sunrise, we started out in a counterclockwise trip around the Lake Ladora trail. We circled a wide path around the southwest corner where 49 Double-crested Cormorants were roosting.
Our first interesting encounter was the bird of the day, a Pacific/Winter Wren. It called several times and popped out of the brush north of the lone cottonwood tree where the trail goes from east to south. We had about a 10-second look at its light brown throat. The call and its throat led us to believe that it was a Pacific Wren.
Continuing south, a flock of Lark Sparrows, two Song Sparrows and two Common Yellowthroats came out of the leafless brushes a little farther south of the Pacific Wren sighting.
Two Soras called from the cattails at the southwest corner of Ladora. A Townsend's Warbler loosely accompanied a flock of nine Yellow Warblers. While a Virginia Rail called from 20 yards east of here.
The woodpiles along the south side of Lake Ladora were full of birds. Nineteen House Wrens, the most I have seen at one time, were found along with 39 Chipping Sparrows, 1 Lincoln's Sparrow, 4 Song Sparrows and several hundred Red-winged Blackbirds.
Another flock of Yellow Warblers, seven this time, an Orange-crowned Warbler and our second Townsend's Warbler of the day were in the tall cottonwoods north of the cattails at the southeast corner of Ladora.
A third Townsend's Warbler was at the northwest corner of the trail, just below the Lower Derby Lake dam. The dead snag at this corner held 68 Western Kingbirds! By the time we would get back to the parking lot on the west side of Ladora, another 103 Western Kingbirds were counted.
Continuing around we hit the mother lode where the trail goes through/under a group of cottonwoods. A small Mexican Locust grove is along the north side of these trees. The bird count included 17 Yellow Warblers, 9 Western Wood-pewees, 4 Western Tanagers, and a pair of White-breasted Nuthatches, 2 Orange-crowned Warblers and a male Downy Woodpecker.
The most interesting birds were an Olive-sided Flycatcher and a Yellow-throated Vireo. Our fourth Townsend's Warbler of the day was also there.
Except for a few scattered cottonwoods, the trail leaves any dense riparian area here. So we turned around and walked to the Rod and Gun Club bird blind. Another 57 Western Kingbirds were found along this trail. A flock of 29 Lark Sparrows was seen also.
Nine Yellow Warblers, one Orange-crowned Warbler and a Black-and-white Warbler were around the bird blind.
There were no birds at the Havana Ponds. In fact, we did not see one Gull in six hours. With all the warblers, we did not see one Yellow-rumped Warbler the whole day. In addition, we could just imagine how many Western Kingbirds were on the Arsenal today as our count was just a small portion of the prairie. Many of the Western Kingbirds were perched on the miner's candles and not in the cottonwoods.
Two female or young Lark Buntings flew around the parking lot upon our return.
The skies started to clear before noon and we lost our great cloud cover. Still we decided to go over to Barr Lake State Park.
We split up at Barr Lake in order to cover more ground. While Richard walked the Niedrach trail, mile 0.5 and north to the boat ramp at mile 7.5, I parked at the boat ramp and walked from mile 7.5 east and north to the north end of the dam, mile 6.0.
Richard relocated the Plumbeous Vireo reported yesterday by Jerry Petrosky. He also relocated a Northern Waterthrush reported yesterday near the banding station by McBurney. A Townsend's Warbler was just north of the banding area.
Meanwhile I found a Black-and-white Warbler below the dam. It was in the tall cottonwoods south of the Old Stone House. A Virginia Rail and five Common Yellowthroats were along the outlet canal.
Richard picked me up at the Stone House and we circled around to the southwest corner of the reservoir. I dropped Richard off at mile 2.5 and continued around to the north side, parking the car at mile 4.0.
Richard walked toward the car and found another Townsend's Warbler at mile 3.5, along with 9 additional Yellow Warblers. At a similar time, I found a Tennessee Warbler at mile 4.5. The many gulls here appeared to be Ring-billed and a few California Gulls, nothing uncommon.
When I again reached mile 6.0, Richard picked me up. It was about 4:00 PM, with plenty of daylight remaining we decided to drive the 40+ miles northeast and look for the Scissor-tailed Flycatcher reported on 8/21 by Bruce Cyganowski at the northeast side of Jackson Lake State Park, Morgan County. Somewhere I saw a link to a photo of the bird. When I find it, I will put it on the CoBus Trip Report blog.
We gave it a good try, but never found the Scissor-tailed Flycatcher. At dusk, we heard an Eastern Screech-Owl calling while we waited for any Short-eared Owls that might fly by the western Campgrounds. No Long-eared Owls answered our recordings.
Bryan Ehlmann
Rich Stevens called me up at 5:00 AM and suggested that conditions were good today for a fallout of migrating birds. Rain and mild winds out of the north suggested just that!
We arrived at Rocky Mountain Arsenal, Adams County just as it opened at 6:00 AM and listened for owls at the old Governor's Row area. While many birds were heard, owls were not among them. It is still a little too light at 6:00 AM with sunrise 6:19 AM. This undertaking has better success when it is completely dark out.
After sunrise, we started out in a counterclockwise trip around the Lake Ladora trail. We circled a wide path around the southwest corner where 49 Double-crested Cormorants were roosting.
Our first interesting encounter was the bird of the day, a Pacific/Winter Wren. It called several times and popped out of the brush north of the lone cottonwood tree where the trail goes from east to south. We had about a 10-second look at its light brown throat. The call and its throat led us to believe that it was a Pacific Wren.
Continuing south, a flock of Lark Sparrows, two Song Sparrows and two Common Yellowthroats came out of the leafless brushes a little farther south of the Pacific Wren sighting.
Two Soras called from the cattails at the southwest corner of Ladora. A Townsend's Warbler loosely accompanied a flock of nine Yellow Warblers. While a Virginia Rail called from 20 yards east of here.
The woodpiles along the south side of Lake Ladora were full of birds. Nineteen House Wrens, the most I have seen at one time, were found along with 39 Chipping Sparrows, 1 Lincoln's Sparrow, 4 Song Sparrows and several hundred Red-winged Blackbirds.
Another flock of Yellow Warblers, seven this time, an Orange-crowned Warbler and our second Townsend's Warbler of the day were in the tall cottonwoods north of the cattails at the southeast corner of Ladora.
A third Townsend's Warbler was at the northwest corner of the trail, just below the Lower Derby Lake dam. The dead snag at this corner held 68 Western Kingbirds! By the time we would get back to the parking lot on the west side of Ladora, another 103 Western Kingbirds were counted.
Continuing around we hit the mother lode where the trail goes through/under a group of cottonwoods. A small Mexican Locust grove is along the north side of these trees. The bird count included 17 Yellow Warblers, 9 Western Wood-pewees, 4 Western Tanagers, and a pair of White-breasted Nuthatches, 2 Orange-crowned Warblers and a male Downy Woodpecker.
The most interesting birds were an Olive-sided Flycatcher and a Yellow-throated Vireo. Our fourth Townsend's Warbler of the day was also there.
Except for a few scattered cottonwoods, the trail leaves any dense riparian area here. So we turned around and walked to the Rod and Gun Club bird blind. Another 57 Western Kingbirds were found along this trail. A flock of 29 Lark Sparrows was seen also.
Nine Yellow Warblers, one Orange-crowned Warbler and a Black-and-white Warbler were around the bird blind.
There were no birds at the Havana Ponds. In fact, we did not see one Gull in six hours. With all the warblers, we did not see one Yellow-rumped Warbler the whole day. In addition, we could just imagine how many Western Kingbirds were on the Arsenal today as our count was just a small portion of the prairie. Many of the Western Kingbirds were perched on the miner's candles and not in the cottonwoods.
Two female or young Lark Buntings flew around the parking lot upon our return.
The skies started to clear before noon and we lost our great cloud cover. Still we decided to go over to Barr Lake State Park.
We split up at Barr Lake in order to cover more ground. While Richard walked the Niedrach trail, mile 0.5 and north to the boat ramp at mile 7.5, I parked at the boat ramp and walked from mile 7.5 east and north to the north end of the dam, mile 6.0.
Richard relocated the Plumbeous Vireo reported yesterday by Jerry Petrosky. He also relocated a Northern Waterthrush reported yesterday near the banding station by McBurney. A Townsend's Warbler was just north of the banding area.
Meanwhile I found a Black-and-white Warbler below the dam. It was in the tall cottonwoods south of the Old Stone House. A Virginia Rail and five Common Yellowthroats were along the outlet canal.
Richard picked me up at the Stone House and we circled around to the southwest corner of the reservoir. I dropped Richard off at mile 2.5 and continued around to the north side, parking the car at mile 4.0.
Richard walked toward the car and found another Townsend's Warbler at mile 3.5, along with 9 additional Yellow Warblers. At a similar time, I found a Tennessee Warbler at mile 4.5. The many gulls here appeared to be Ring-billed and a few California Gulls, nothing uncommon.
When I again reached mile 6.0, Richard picked me up. It was about 4:00 PM, with plenty of daylight remaining we decided to drive the 40+ miles northeast and look for the Scissor-tailed Flycatcher reported on 8/21 by Bruce Cyganowski at the northeast side of Jackson Lake State Park, Morgan County. Somewhere I saw a link to a photo of the bird. When I find it, I will put it on the CoBus Trip Report blog.
We gave it a good try, but never found the Scissor-tailed Flycatcher. At dusk, we heard an Eastern Screech-Owl calling while we waited for any Short-eared Owls that might fly by the western Campgrounds. No Long-eared Owls answered our recordings.
Bryan Ehlmann
No comments:
Post a Comment