Foothills Birding

September 30, 2008

Richard Stevens:

Mark Hanson and I started our birding day on Mt Evans (Clear Creek County). We found 2 Brown-capped Rosy Finches at the northeast corner of Summit Lake. Another 3-4 Brown-capped Rosy Finches were at the northwest corner. We hiked about a half mile up (south) Mt Evans Road (which is closed to vehicles at Summit Lake) but did not find any White-tailed Ptarmigan.

A quick 30 minute stop at Genesee Mt Park (Jefferson) did not find any Williamson's Sapsuckers.

Our final stop was Pine Valley Ranch Park and Pike National Forest (Jefferson). We had to hike all the way up the Strawberry Jack Trail to the Parkview Trail before running into an American Three-toed Woodpecker. A female was approximately in the same location reported by Merlynn Brown last week (several hundred yards south of the Parkview Trail).

After I dropped Mark off, I went over to nearby Cherry Creek Reservoir (Arapahoe). As I got out of my car the dark mantled Gull that others are calling a Lesser Black-backed Gull flew along the north shore line of the Lake Loop. It was difficult to miss, large and dark mantled.

From this vantage point I saw 4 (up to 6) Sabine's Gulls. A Red-necked Grebe was fairly close to shore and there could have been 2 Red-necked Grebes. The many boats were chasing the gulls and waterfowl around quite a bit. I never located the Long-tailed Jaeger (if it is still there). Two small terns (definitely not Forster's Terns) stayed quite a distance from my location.

Many American White Pelicans, Double-crested Cormorants, a few Horned Grebes, Eared Grebes, and Pied-billed Grebes were among many Western Grebes. I did not see any Clark's Grebes. Also did not have time (daylight) to search for the Mew Gull.

North Park

To be filled in later!

Denver National Wildlife Refuges and Aurora Reservoir

To be filled in later!

Fall Counts

To be filled in later!

A.M. Bailey Bird Sanctuary

September 22, 2008

Richard Stevens:

I decided to drive up to Summit County and search for the Hooded Warbler reported last week by Forrest Luke. I had waited too many days, but enjoyed the trip back into the mountains.

My arrival was timed just before sunrise to see if any Rosy Finches were coming down from higher elevations yet. No Rosy Finches were found but many other mountain species were visiting local feeders. Birds observed included Mountain Chickadees, Black-capped Chickadees, a pair of Pine Grosbeaks, Pine Siskins, 3 species of nuthatches, and Clark's Nutcrackers. Two Band-tailed Pigeons were the highlight.

About 45 minutes were spent searching for the Hooded Warbler along Johnson Road north of Silverthorne; without success. There are plenty of willows along the Blue River for the warbler to wander along.

The weather was fantastic and I decided to conduct a one man fall count at A.M. Bailey Bird Sanctuary up Rock Creek. About halfway between the parking area and the sanctuary, a male American Three-toed Woodpecker worked the trees on the east side of the trail. Another Three-toed Woodpecker was later found across Rock Creek at the west side of the sanctuary.

No Northern Pygmy-Owls were enticed into calling. A pair of Red-naped Sapsuckers flew about the Aspens. Other birds encountered included McGillivray's Warblers, Wilson's Warblers, 2 Fox Sparrows, Lincoln's Sparrows, Song Sparrows, a Dusky Flycatcher, a Hammond's Flycatcher, Golden-crowned Kinglets, and Ruby-crowned Kinglets.

A hike about a mile up the Ptarmigan trail (above tree line), found no Ptarmigan and I returned to my car.

My birding day ended at Cherry Creek Reservoir (Arapahoe). I was too tired to walk/circle the lake, instead scoped the lake for about an hour from below the dam. A juvenile Sabine's Gull flew around the west side of the Lake Loop, drove many times into the water hopefully catching a meal. Another juvenile Sabine's Gull flew around the swim beach area. A small tern near the east side of the Lake Loop was too far away to identify.

If the Long-tailed Jaeger was still there, it did not fly around. I only half heartedly searched through the hundreds of Western Grebes swimming around. If a Clark's Grebe was out there, I did not find it. The Mew Gull was not picked out among the several hundred Ring-billed Gulls flying about.

Half a dozen California Gulls, 60+ White Pelicans, and 14 Double-crested Cormorants stood on the southwest sandbar. An adult and juvenile Black-crowned Night-Heron and 3 Great Blue Herons stood on the telephone poles outlining the southwest marina. The pelicans watched me as I enjoyed watching them. The Night-Herons waited for food to swim by and appeared to ignore me altogether. The Snowy Egret count was down to 9 from my vantage point.

Winds were calm; the air had the crisp cool smell of fall. Leaves have not changed colors yet at lower elevations; one of my favorite times of year to watch sunset (no mosquitoes). Unfortunately there was only a hint of sunset as the sun disappeared into the clouds over the mountains. It won't be long before the leaves turned to gold, fall off, then winter……….

Pawnee National Grasslands

September 21, 2008

Richard Stevens:

John Carlson and I went searching for Mountain Plover on the Pawnee National Grasslands. It is getting late in the year, but we thought we would give it a shot. Our 6 hour searched turned up without any Mountain Plover sightings. We hiked for hours in the field north of Weld County Road 94 and 63. Then we tried for another couple of hours along CR 96, north of Murphy's Pasture.

In the second field we did run into two Chestnut-collared Longspurs and a dozen McCown's Longspurs! Horned Larks were plentiful. We did not find any Lark Buntings however.

A brief stop at Crow Valley Campgrounds was uneventful. We did find a House Wren, Hermit Thrush, and Brown Thrasher.

No Mountain Plover were found at Highway 14 and CR 51. The search for the Lesser Black-backed Gulls at the Weld County Landfill was also unsuccessful.

We did not have time (daylight) to checkout Lower Latham and Loloff Reservoirs.

Mt Evans and Denver Foothills

September 20, 2008

Richard Stevens:

John Carlson and I headed up into the mountains today. Our first stop was Mt Evans and Summit Lake. When we hiked to the northwest corner of Summit Lake, three+ Brown-capped Rosy Finches were flying around the shore line. They were to the rocks up the hill, landed for half a minute and then continued to the southwest corner of the lake.

We decided to try our luck and hike up the Mt Evans Road (south and uphill). While trying to decide how far we would hike, I noticed a White-tailed Ptarmigan on rocks on the west side of the road. We barely had lost sight of Summit Lake (perhaps only 200 yards up the road).

Our next stop was Genesee Mountain Park to see if any Williamson's Sapsuckers were still around. We barely got out of our vehicle when a male Williamson's Sapsucker flew to the Ponderosa trees surrounding the parking area for the group picnic area. A 30 minute check of the area did not turn up a female and we decided that a trip to Pine Valley Ranch Park (for American Three-toed Woodpeckers) would be better use of our time.

The Three-toed Woodpecker that is quite often on the hill south of Pine Lake was not cooperative. We had to hike up the Buck Gulch Trail and Strawberry Jack Trail all the way to the Parkview Trail before hearing the distinctive drumming of a Three-toed Woodpecker. We eventually observed a female Three-toed about 200 yards south (downhill) from the Strawberry Jack & Parkview Trails.

I played a Northern Pygmy-Owl recording as we descended back to our car by way of the Parkview Trail. At the switchbacks where we could still see the eastern hills/mountains we heard a Northern Pygmy-Owl. It called for a good 10 minutes; however we never could put binoculars on the bird.

Daylight ended before we could hike to the western end of the Narrow Gauge Trail (where I had heard another Northern Pygmy-Owl earlier in the week).