Friday, May 16, 2014

Owling Trip to Northcentral Colorado

May 14-16, 2014

Richard Stevens:

May 14

Bryan Ehlmann and I headed to Jackson County for some owling.  Along the way, we made several stops.

Our first stop was a private yard near Washington Park (Denver County).  A birder had reported a Carolina Wren in her garden for the last three days.  While Bryan and I watched the Carolina Wren, Angela Koehler texted that two Carolina Wrens were currently flying around her yard!

Angela's yard is about 1.3 miles southwest of our location!

Next, we stopped at a friend's ranch outside of Loveland (Larimer County).  Northern Saw-whet Owls have nested on his property for 4 of the last 5 years.  They are back again this year.

Afterwards we continued to Estes Park (Larimer) and walked the Cow Creek Trail.  A Northern Pygmy-Owl briefly called (north of the wooden stairs about 0.7 miles west of the trailhead).

We continued over Cow Creek in search of Flammulated Owls.  Unfortunately, none was found this night.

May 15

The feeders at the Colorado State Forest Visitor's Center had few birds around.  The large number of Red-winged Blackbirds probably kept most other birds away.

Late in the afternoon, Bryan and I hiked the west side of Pennock Pass.  The road is closed between Stove Prairie Road and Larimer County Road 27 due to muddy conditions. 

Winds were calm and the full moon lit up the forest.  Eventually we found two Flammulated Owls.

May 16

On the way toward Gould, we looked for owls on Cameron Pass. Two Boreal Owls were heard this morning.

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