August 10, 2019
Richard Stevens:
The day felt much nicer with a drop of almost 20 degrees in temperature. The high today was 73 degrees on the Plains. Winds were 4-5 mph with gusts to 8 mph.
My target bird today was Dickcissels. The Dickcissel reported five days ago along Castlewood Canyon Road (Douglas County) was not relocated. I drove most of the side roads including North Castlewood Canyon Drive loop and North Willow Lake Drive.
The majority birds were Black-billed Magpies. However, four Vesper Sparrows and a Grasshopper Sparrow were also increased my day list.
Walker Road on the north side of highway 86 also did not have any Dickcissels. The Common Loon summering on Walker Gravel Pond was relatively close to the south end fence.
A stop at a friend's ranch near Franktown discovered that she had a male Northern Cardinal coming to her feeders. Visits are irregular; she sees him every third or fourth day. Today happened to one of those good days!
The Dickcissel search in Douglas County was abandoned and continued west into Elbert County. I stood at the Dickcissel field east of the electric building along Elbert Road (4.1 miles south of Kiowa) for an hour.
The road is busy on Saturday and the constant stream of vehicles made hearing any Dickcissel quite difficult. Dozens of Black-billed Magpies walked the mowed fields. Immature Red-winged Blackbirds appeared to prefer the uncut field directly east of the building.
My route back to Denver was by way of Elbert-Kiowa Road. I tried to detour west to Kiowa Creek whenever a public road allowed. A Red-headed Woodpecker was observed at Elbert County Road 174 and Kiowa Creek.
Once at Arapahoe County Road 30, I turned west toward Aurora Reservoir. One detour was south at Arapahoe CR 129. No Dickcissels were found where they had nested in past years at CR 129 & Orchard Road.
The prairie dog town located 0.7 miles farther south of Orchard did not have any Burrowing Owls today. Perhaps they have departed for this year?
Instead of turning around, I continued south to County Line Road (Arapahoe-Elbert), then turned east to Kiowa Creek. No Red-headed Woodpeckers have been reported here this year; however, it was worth looking.
I took County Line Road back west to Smoky Hill Road and continued to Cherry Creek Reservoir (Arapahoe). No highlights encountered at the State Park. Water levels are extremely high; there is little exposed shore and no shorebirds.
Richard Stevens:
The day felt much nicer with a drop of almost 20 degrees in temperature. The high today was 73 degrees on the Plains. Winds were 4-5 mph with gusts to 8 mph.
My target bird today was Dickcissels. The Dickcissel reported five days ago along Castlewood Canyon Road (Douglas County) was not relocated. I drove most of the side roads including North Castlewood Canyon Drive loop and North Willow Lake Drive.
The majority birds were Black-billed Magpies. However, four Vesper Sparrows and a Grasshopper Sparrow were also increased my day list.
Walker Road on the north side of highway 86 also did not have any Dickcissels. The Common Loon summering on Walker Gravel Pond was relatively close to the south end fence.
A stop at a friend's ranch near Franktown discovered that she had a male Northern Cardinal coming to her feeders. Visits are irregular; she sees him every third or fourth day. Today happened to one of those good days!
The Dickcissel search in Douglas County was abandoned and continued west into Elbert County. I stood at the Dickcissel field east of the electric building along Elbert Road (4.1 miles south of Kiowa) for an hour.
The road is busy on Saturday and the constant stream of vehicles made hearing any Dickcissel quite difficult. Dozens of Black-billed Magpies walked the mowed fields. Immature Red-winged Blackbirds appeared to prefer the uncut field directly east of the building.
My route back to Denver was by way of Elbert-Kiowa Road. I tried to detour west to Kiowa Creek whenever a public road allowed. A Red-headed Woodpecker was observed at Elbert County Road 174 and Kiowa Creek.
Once at Arapahoe County Road 30, I turned west toward Aurora Reservoir. One detour was south at Arapahoe CR 129. No Dickcissels were found where they had nested in past years at CR 129 & Orchard Road.
The prairie dog town located 0.7 miles farther south of Orchard did not have any Burrowing Owls today. Perhaps they have departed for this year?
Instead of turning around, I continued south to County Line Road (Arapahoe-Elbert), then turned east to Kiowa Creek. No Red-headed Woodpeckers have been reported here this year; however, it was worth looking.
I took County Line Road back west to Smoky Hill Road and continued to Cherry Creek Reservoir (Arapahoe). No highlights encountered at the State Park. Water levels are extremely high; there is little exposed shore and no shorebirds.
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