Foothills Birding

June 10, 2008

Rebecca Kosten and I drove the DIA Owl Loop late in the afternoon. We counted 11 Burrowing Owls.

June 11, 2008

I left Denver about 2:00am and conducted "hearing" point counts along Foxton Road. The target birds were Northern Pygmy-Owls and Common Poorwills.

A Common Poorwill was finally found singing on the rocks just west of the main parking area for Reynolds Park. A Northern Pygmy-Owl answered my playback recordings at the junction of the Songbird and Oxen Draw Trails! I only hiked about 200 yards up the Oxen Draw Trail in search of Dusky Grouse; none were found.

Just after sunrise, I parked near the South Platte yard where a Painted Bunting had been visiting feeders. By the time the bird appeared, he had tested my patience. I sat from 7:00am to 9:30am. I had set a 3 hour limit so at least he showed before then (if history holds, I probably would have waited longer).

The habitat was fantastic and I counted many species which included: Spotted Towhee, Northern Mockingbird, Gray Catbirds, Pine Siskin, Mountain Chickadee, Black-capped Chickadee, Hairy Woodpecker, Downy Woodpecker, Red-naped Sapsucker, Northern Flicker, Yellow Warbler, House Finches, and a Sharp-shinned Hawk.

Afterwards, I drove down North Platte River Road (CR 97) in search of owls and other birds. I finally had success with my second Northern Pygmy-Owl of the day. He was approximately 200 yards north of the junction of CR 97 & 67. I turned back around here and drove to Pine Valley Ranch Park.

I checked the south side of Pine Lake for American Three-toed Woodpeckers; without success. Along the Buck Gulch Trail at 400 yards south of Pine Lake, a male Three-toed Woodpecker crossed the trail from west to east.

From Pine Valley Ranch Park I drove through Pine and around to FR 550. A Northern Goshawk was seen at the intersection of FR 550 & 552!

As dark approached I headed to my favorite camping area in Pike National Forest. It did not disappoint. A Flammulated Owl answered my recordings around 11:00pm.

Back to the Mountains

June 9, 2008

Richard Stevens:

Paul Stein and headed to the mountains in search of a few target birds. The weather was fantastic. Cool 50 degree temperatures and little wind. Unfortunately we missed a couple of "hard to find" species.

Our first stop of the day was Genesee Mountain Park (Jefferson County). A male Williamson's Sapsucker was drumming on one of his favorite poles (the telephone pole at the northwest corner of the group picnic area building). Within 10 minutes, a female Williamson's Sapsucker showed up.

We drove to the top of the park for the view. Another male Williamson's Sapsucker came to the dead tree north of the flag pole! A pair of Red Crossbills made a short appearance as did 2 White-breasted Nuthatches and a Downy Woodpecker.

We continued west and made a brief drive through the small mountain town of Silver Plume (Clear Creek). Three Band-tailed Pigeons were in a dead tree east of Woodward and Cherokee Streets. No Rosy Finches were around the rocks on the north side of town. A couple of Mountain Chickadees and White-crowned Sparrows visited feeders underneath the rocks.

In Silverthorne (Summit) we stopped by a friend's home. He still had about 20 Gray-crowned Rosy Finches and 4 Brown-capped Rosy Finches visiting his feeders. We also added Pine Siskin, Pygmy Nuthatches, White-breasted Nuthatches, Red-breasted Nuthatches, Mountain Chickadees, Black-capped Chickadees, Evening Grosbeaks, Pine Grosbeaks, Clark's Nutcrackers, Downy Woodpeckers, and a Hairy Woodpecker to our trip list.

Next we thought we would try a spot near Red Cliff and Turkey Creek Road where White-winged Crossbills were reported last year. We explored a bit but did not find any. The area did add a MacGillivray's Warbler and Wilson's Warblers to our trip list.

Our next stop was to be A.M. Bailey Bird Sanctuary. Our vehicle could not get up to the parking area. Last winter/spring snows have left several spots that we could not traverse.

We turned back south and drove to Spruce Creek Subdivision (south of Breckenridge). Again the road was quite muddy and not passable. The road up to Argentine Pass was also snow covered and we did not try it.

We did explore the Montezuma Area but did not get far without snowshoes (and did not think it worth our time to try and find a place to rent any). After dark I played tapes in locations (St. Johns & Hunkidori Trailheads) where I had found Northern Saw-whet Owls, Northern Pygmy-Owls, and Boreal Owls in the past; without success.

Finally we tried the switchbacks on highway 119 toward Rollinsville. Again in the past, Northern Saw-whet Owls and Northern Pygmy-Owls have been seen. We managed to hear a Northern Pygmy-Owl for about 10 minutes, but never put a spotlight on the bird.

Birding Boulder County

June 8, 2008

Richard Stevens:

Paul Stein and I decided to search for the Scarlet Tanager up Gregory Canyon (Boulder County). It was another fine day in Colorado, cool and mild winds.

Before sunrise we first climbed back up the Fowler Trail to see if we could get a photo of the Hooded Warbler that has been singing for several weeks now.

On the way up, we ran into two singing Red-eyed Vireos behind the post office and within 400 yards of the trailhead. The Hooded Warbler was singing when we arrived at the junction of the old Conda Mine Road and Eldorado Canyon Trail. While we again had brief views of the bird, it did not allow for any photographs.

Our next climb was the Gregory Canyon trail. It was quite a hike up. When we finally arrived at telephone pole #2, the Scarlet Tanager was singing away. Unfortunately it never approached close enough for good photos.

On the hike back down, we found a Willow Flycatcher, MacGillivray's Warbler, and several Virginia's Warblers. Several Black-headed Grosbeaks flew around the trees back at the parking area. A Gray Catbird popped out of the willows along the road in from Baseline Road. We looked for the Chestnut-sided Warbler reported a few days earlier by Gary Weston (along 6th street, north of Baseline); without success.

After a late lunch, we headed up to Gross Reservoir. We searched several hours for Northern Pygmy-Owls; without success. Twice we ran into 2-4 Red Crossbills.

Near dusk we searched for Common Poorwills and found several. Check the switchbacks that drop sharply downhill along the east side of Gross Reservoir and around the Ranger's Home.

We made several stops trying to hear Flammulated Owls along Gross Dam Road and Highway 72; without success. Highway 72 to Hwy 93 did not add any owls to our trip list either.

Birding the Front Range

June 7, 2008

Richard Stevens:

Paul Stein, Gary Weston and I went looking for White-tailed Ptarmigan on Mt Evans (Clear Creek County) Saturday morning. Unfortunately we did not find any in an hour or so search. Back down at Summit Lake, we observed 2+ Brown-capped Rosy Finches at the northwest shore. They later were relocated on the rocks to the northwest corner of Summit Lake.

We then continued on to Guanella Pass (Clear Creek County) where we enjoyed better luck. A Ptarmigan jumped up on the rocks just southeast of the sign up box for the Rosalie and 603 trails.

From there we went over to Pine Valley Ranch Park (Jefferson County). We had to climb all the way up Buck Gulch Trail to Strawberry Jack Trail to Parkview Trail to find an American Three-toed Woodpecker. The woodpecker was found on our return trip back down the Strawberry Jack Trail at 300 yards below the Parkview Trail.

At dusk we searched for Northern Pygmy-Owls at White Ranch Open Space (Jefferson); without success.

Rocky Mountain Arsenal

June 6, 2008

Richard Stevens:

Rebecca Kosten and I rode our bikes along Buckley Road between 56th and 88th avenues and back (8 miles).

We found Burrowing Owls both in Denver County (the field just north of the cell phone building, east side of Buckley) and Adams County (just outside the 80th avenue gate).

We hoped to find the previously reported Lark Buntings but did not have success with that. We did find a couple of interesting birds. A Northern Mockingbird was in Denver County (west side of Buckley) at 7 telephone poles south of the old Eagle Watch Bunker (about a mile north of 56th avenue). A Loggerhead Shrike was at 6 telephone poles south of the bunker.

Another highlight was a Cassin's Kingbird among the dozens of Western Kingbirds observed along our trek. The Cassin's Kingbird went from the chain link fence to the trees close to the fence at about 9 telephone poles south of the Eagle Watch Bunker. We watched closely to see if there were two (and possible breeding behavior). Only the one was observed in the 30 minutes we watched. It would be interesting to return and see if a second and possible mate could be located.

Other birds seen along the ride included: Bullock's Orioles, Song Sparrows, White-crowned Sparrows, Lark Sparrows, Vesper Sparrows, American Robins, 6 Eastern Kingbirds, 2 American Kestrels, and a Prairie Falcon. No Ferruginous Hawks were found today.

After we returned to the car, we headed over to the DIA Owl Loop. A pair of American Avocet surprised us at the small "puddle" just east of the entrance to the Pena Park and Ride (south of 40th avenue and east of Pena Blvd).

The Burrowing Owl count ended up to be 13 owls. No Short-eared Owls made an appearance this evening.

Owling

June 1 through June 5, 2008

We conducted owl counts on Pennock Pass and Cameron Pass. A friend has a cabin which was our home base near Gould (Jackson County).

The counts on Pennock Pass were conducted 6/1 and 6/5. 6/2 to 6/4 we wandered around Cameron Pass (Larimer/Jackson) and into the Colorado State Forest. There are 152 Boreal Owl boxes that are being monitored in the Colorado State Forest. The Flammulated Owls appear to prefer the lower forest of Pennock Pass)

We are not going to divulge locations of nesting owls. However, we do take birders to individual sites (upon request). Our owl totals were 7 Boreal Owls and 9 Flammulated Owls! Bill Cryder found a Northern Pygmy-Owl at one of the campgrounds along highway 14 on his trip back to Aurora.

We all enjoyed a great time. Several sites in the Colorado State Forest required snowshoes to reach. Two sites required hikes of over 7 miles.

Cherry Creek Reservoir

May 31 & June 1, 2008

Bryan Ehlmann and I hiked up Waterton Canyon early Saturday morning.

Along the way we passed Spotted Towhees, Yellow-breasted Chats, a Lazuli Bunting, Chipping Sparrows, White-crowned Sparrows, and Song Sparrows. An adult Golden Eagle soared overhead.

We set up camp south of the reservoir (on Forest property) and then went hiking up the Colorado Trail to the south in search of owls. Not having any success, we returned to our tent. Not far north of our campsite, Bryan got a Northern Pygmy-Owl to call!

After a rather chilly night, we broke camp and hiked back by way of Roxborough State Park. Just before the trail drops down into a meadow (about 1.5 miles from the Visitor's Center) we both heard the "teacher, teacher, teacher" of an Ovenbird. It stayed deep in the underbrush and we were able to only get partial glimpses of the bird.

We continued to the Visitor's Center where Sue Ehlmann & Rebecca Kosten picked us up (we called ahead on our cell phones for a ride).

A brief stop at Chatfield Reservoir (also Jefferson County) added an adult and 1st year American Redstart to our trip list. A Gray Catbird was also added to the list.