Saturday, June 2, 2018

Castlewood Canyon State Park to Cherry Creek Reservoir

June 2, 2018

Richard Stevens:

Rebecca and I had business in Colorado Springs this morning.  We chose Hwy 83 to return to Denver, which stayed clear of Interstate 25 traffic.

Temperatures only reached 77 degrees.  Winds were 7-8 mph with gusts to 15 mph.

At least two male and one female Bobolink flew around the field just south of the Winkler Ranch entrance.  Spotted Towhees, Western Kingbirds and a Cordilleran Flycatcher sang while we watched the Bobolinks.  

An Eastern Phoebe continues around the Hwy 86 bridge over Cherry Creek.  It stayed north of the bridge during our stay today.

Then we parked along the Cherry Creek Reservoir Shooting Range Road (Arapahoe) to wait for dusk and a possible Short-eared Owl sighting. 

Meantime, I walked along the road and was surprised to find a Long-eared Owl well hidden in the trees on the west side of the road.

Our highlight of the day occurred on the drive to the Shooting Range.  We stopped to watch several White tailed Deer and a small bird popped out of the grasses onto a Rabbit Brush.

This was south of Lake View Road and east of the Gun Range Road.  To our surprise, it was an Upland Sandpiper!  Wow!

No Short-eared Owls appeared.

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