Douglas County Birding!

July 6, 2009

Richard Stevens:

I spent most of last night walking Castlewood Canyon Road in search of owls (especially Northern Saw-whet Owls); without success. At sunrise I started driving around counting birds.

It was such a beautiful morning that I stopped along Highway 83 and walked about a mile in an area where many sparrows appeared flying around. I found at least one Cassin's Sparrow singing along highway 83 at 1.5 miles north of Lake Gulch Road.

I then took another hike at the Winkler Ranch along Castlewood Canyon Road south of the State Park. Nine Bobolinks were along Castlewood Canyon Road at 0.2 miles south of the entrance to the Winkler Ranch. The ranch area was quite birdy. Birds included 3 Gray Catbirds, a Cordilleran Flycatcher, 2 Common Yellowthroats, Western Scrub-Jays, Grasshopper Sparrows, Vesper Sparrows, Western Bluebirds, Mountain Bluebirds, and one Dickcissel (which was along the edge of the cut field just north of the ranch's entrance.

Inside of Castlewood Canyon State Park I found 2 singing Plumbeous Vireos and several Warbling Vireos. Spotted Towhees, House Wrens, and Black-headed Grosbeaks sang around the old Homestead farm house.

Two vulture roosts were found with 3 Turkey Vultures in one tree and 4 in another (at least 0.2 miles apart). Several additional Turkey Vultures were slightly hidden in the evergreen trees. I could not pick out the Black Vulture among the roosting birds.

While driving around searching for additional vulture roosts, this time along Willow Drive which runs west off Castlewood Canyon Road (just north of the park), a male Rose-breasted Grosbeak was seen on the telephone wire next to the first house (brown) on the south side of Willow Drive. At least 2 male and 2 female Black-headed Grosbeaks perched on the wire or the whitish fence on the north side of the road.

I lost the Rose-breasted Grosbeak when it went behind (south) of the brown house. Most of the Black-headed Grosbeaks flew into the woods north of Willow Drive. This spot is less than 0.6 miles as the crow/grosbeak flies from where Cheryl Teuton reported seeing one yesterday at the Homestead parking area.

My plan was to sit in a chair at Castlewood Canyon and Willow Roads and wait for the vultures to take advantage of the thermals. I figured that even though previous sightings were 1120 and 1040 hours, this day was hotter and thermals may form earlier. Got lucky, they were (though winds on the ground were only 3.5 mph and temperatures were 77.4 degrees). Tomorrow is predicted to be 10 degrees warmer and thermals may start even earlier.

Going back out to search for more Cassin's Sparrows in Douglas County until late this afternoon when I hope to find one in undeveloped Arapahoe County.

A walk along the Cherry Creek Trail from Castlewood Canyon State Park to a 1/2 mile north of the Walker Pit and back did not find additional Cassin's Sparrows. I then drove some of the roads east of Highway 83, again not finding any Cassin's Sparrows.

My search for Cassin's Sparrows in Arapahoe County was thwarted by heavy rains. We have to try that tomorrow.

Boulder County Today

July 4, 2009

Richard Stevens:

Last night, Roger Danka and I went looking for Common Poorwills in Boulder County. We saw one and heard another along Gross Dam Road. Coming from Flagstaff Road, the Common Poorwill were at the sharp switchbacks as the road drops sharply downhill. I would guess this is about halfway from Flagstaff Road to the Southern entrance to Gross Reservoir.

While searching for Common Poorwills around the Ranger's home/office and as an added bonus, we heard Northern Pygmy-Owls at two locations; east and south of Gross Reservoir.

Spruce Creek Trail, One of My Colorado Favorites

July 3, 2009

Richard Stevens:

Today, Roger and I hiked up the Spruce Creek Trail in Summit County (south of Breckenridge). Highlights included two Northern Pygmy-Owls, a Flammulated Owl, and a Boreal Owl. It was the 41st time up my favorite hike in Colorado.

Best directions to birds:

We hiked from the lower parking area which is 4 miles north of Mohawk Lakes. If you have a vehicle with very high clearance you can make it to the upper parking area. This cuts off about 2 miles of the hike. We were counting birds and wanted to make the whole trip.

American Three-toed Woodpecker
Right along the trail at 0.2 miles north (downhill) of the upper parking area

White-tailed Ptarmigan
Ninth time I have found them up here. Two were south of Mohawk Lakes about halfway up to the top of the ridge. In my 41 trips, I did not always hike to the top of the three mountains (which I have been on twice each). Pacific Peak is 6 feet short of a 14er. Helen Mt and Crystal Peak form a beautiful box canyon like area. The final two miles of the hike goes along a waterfall and several Mohawk Lakes. Brown trout in lakes. With the full moon, it was a spectacular trip!

Northern Pygmy-Owls
One observed along trail at 0.4 miles below (north) of upper parking area. We bushwhacked some east of the trail and heard two others.

Flammulated Owl
(Second time I have found them, but difficult hike, bushwhacking uphill south of the upper parking area.

Boreal Owl
Thought they were up there and finally heard one. Again difficult bushwhacking trip at 0.35 miles uphill (south) of the upper parking area).

A Visit to a Bird Sanctuary

July 2, 2009

Richard Stevens:

Today, Roger and I hiked up to the A.M. Bailey Bird Sanctuary. We again enjoyed a wonderful day in the mountains. Winds were calm again; temperatures were in the high 50s!

We ran into a male American Three-toed Woodpecker about halfway between the parking area and the sign for the sanctuary. The woodpecker's distinct drumming was heard 10 yards east of the trail. It took no time at all to find the bird which was more interested in hunting for food.

The bird sanctuary was a cornucopia of birds. We found Willow Flycatchers, a Dusky Flycatcher, Cordilleran Flycatcher, Fox Sparrows (gray headed race), Wilson's Warblers, MacGillivray's Warblers, Golden-crowned Kinglets, Ruby-crowned Kinglets, and a few more I am probably forgetting.

A male Red-naped Sapsucker wandered around the aspen grove at the northeast corner of the property.

It was such a nice day that Roger and I decided to make the rather strenuous hike up the Ptarmigan trail. We hiked about 2 miles up above tree line. Our efforts were rewarded with the sighting of two White-tailed Ptarmigan about 1.0 miles north of the sanctuary.

After sunset, we even got a Northern Pygmy-Owl to answer our recordings. The owl called but was never observed northwest of the property.

Owling in Summit County

July 1, 2009

Richard Stevens:

Roger Danka and I birded up Keystone Gulch Road. While the area was quite birdy, we did not find any uncommon birds.

Next we hiked up the Saint Johns Trail to above tree line. This hike is interesting and not too difficult. One passes a couple of old cabins and emerges from the sparse trees onto rolling hills. Then we waited until dark to start back down to our car parked at Montezuma.

We enjoyed a wonderful night on the Saint Johns Trail. Winds were mild and temperatures in the low 50s. The almost full moon lit up the woods! We could see rather well through our binoculars.

The hike in the dark started above tree line. Just after entering the woods we heard a Boreal Owl off to the west. While playing a recording to try and draw in the Boreal Owl, a second Boreal Owl answered from about 30 yards further downhill!

We arrived back at Montezuma around 3:00am. It was such an exquisite night that we settled on a hike up the nearby Hunkidori Trail. This trail runs through Douglas Fir and Lodgepole Pine forest. According to my GPS, we hiked about 1.5 miles up this trail.

A Northern Pygmy-Owl answered our recordings when we were 0.55 miles from the trailhead. No further "action" was heard this night.

Birding Summit County Today

June 30, 2009

Richard Stevens:

Roger Danka and I headed to Summit County today. It was another beautiful summer day in the mountains. Winds were mild and temperatures in the low 60s.

A walk up to the Loveland Ski area found a pair of Pine Grosbeaks, Mountain Chickadees, Black-capped Chickadees, Common Ravens, American Crows, White-breasted Nuthatches, and quite a few Pine Siskins.

We searched around Loveland Pass for about 2 hours. No White-tailed Ptarmigan were relocated during out stay.

No uncommon birds were found around the Keystone Ski Area. So we decided to hike up Argentine Pass. About 2/3 of the way to the old building up the pass, we ran into a wandering male White-tailed Ptarmigan. No uncommon birds were found.

Our trip down was timed to start after sunset. Winds were calm which is strange for this area and we could almost hear a pin drop.

A Northern Pygmy-Owl answered our recordings at about 3/4 mile from the parking area at Montezuma Road and Highway 6. A second Northern Pygmy-Owl called about 80 yards west of our first discovery. Both were somewhere in the woods south of the trail.

Birding in Douglas County

June 29, 2009

Richard Stevens:

Roger Danka and I drove up to Cheesman Park (Jefferson) to try and relocate some of the American Three-toed Woodpeckers found a few days earlier by Bryan and Sue Ehlmann. Also we hoped to find a Red-headed Woodpecker or Lewis's Woodpecker reported in previous years.

On the trip south we stopped at three locations where Northern Pygmy-Owls were found in the past. One Northern Pygmy-Owl answered our recordings just south of where Deckers Road turns from paved to gravel.

A walk along highway 126 west (uphill) to the old green trailer did not find either Red-headed Woodpeckers or Lewis's Woodpeckers. We did see a Cordilleran Flycatcher, Green-tailed Towhee, and MacGillivray's Warbler along the creek.

Our hike up the Cheesman Canyon Trail to the reservoir found 5 American Three-toed Woodpeckers. Three species of nuthatches wandered around the west side of Cheesman Reservoir.

On the return trip to Denver we went by the Winkler Ranch (Douglas) south of Castlewood Canyon State Park. We counted at least 3 male and a female Bobolink at 0.2 miles south of the Ranch entrance.