Some Mountain Birding

December 13, 2009

Richard Stevens:

Joe Zark, Mike Borneman and I headed to the mountains at 5:00 am this morning. Temperatures were around 20 degrees; fortunately, winds were calm most of the morning.

After searching for Rosy Finches in Summit County, we made a brief stop at the Blue River Water Treatment Plant. Ducks there included 17 Barrow's Goldeneyes, 2 Common Goldeneyes, Gadwall, Green-winged Teal and Mallards.

Next, we drove up to Loveland Pass (Clear Creek). It was one of those lucky days for us. It took only 15 minutes to find a White-tailed Ptarmigan! The bird was below the eastern side of the parking area. It walked along the bottom end of the ragged rocks about 200-300 yards below us.

Several American Pipits were observed on the snow. Two Rosy Finches (species not determined) circled overhead a couple of times and disappeared to the west.

We returned to Denver and headed up Highway 285 to Pine Valley Ranch Park (Jefferson). A male American Three-toed Woodpecker was seen up the hill south of Pine Lake.

A Northern Pygmy-Owl recording was played at the Buck Gulch-Strawberry Jack intersection; without getting a response. We then walked to the west end of the Narrow Gauge Trail; again missing owls.

Finally, we decided to return to the Buck Gulch-Strawberry Jack intersection. This time a Northern Pygmy-Owl called for us. Unfortunately, it did not allow us a sighting.

Birding in Boulder County

December 12, 2009

Gary Weston: Richard Stevens and I decided to do some owling at Allenspark and Olive Ridge Campgrounds Highway 7. We arrived in the area about 5:00 AM. While Northern Pygmy-Owls have been found at both locations in the past, we saw little luck this morning.

At sunrise, 20+ Rosy Finches visited the feeders at Fawnbrook Inn at Allenspark. Gray-crowned Rosy Finches made up the majority with a few Brown-capped Rosy Finches. No Black Rosy Finches were found. Other visitors included Steller's Jays, Pine Siskins, Downy Woodpecker, Hairy Woodpecker, Cassin's Finches and Dark-eyed Juncos.

As we drove back to Olive Ridge for a second time, a flock of 150+ Rosy Finches was seen atop the Lodgepole Pine trees just south of the Campgrounds. Again, it was a mixed flock, but no Black Rosy Finches were among them.

We stopped at the Wild Bird Center in Boulder and walked around for an hour hoping to run into the "yellowish" warbler and possible Palm Warbler reported yesterday. It could be that a Palm Warbler is wintering in Boulder? Nevertheless, we didn't find it.

We waited an hour at Plaster Reservoir in Broomfield County hoping to see the Harris's Sparrow that was around last month. It never showed or maybe never survived our recent brutal nightly temperatures?

Late in the afternoon, we walked around Golden searching for the Yellow-bellied Sapsucker that Bryan Ehlmann and Richard had found yesterday. Again, we had no luck.

Hunt for Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers

December 11, 2009

Bryan Ehlmann:

Rich Stevens and I were seeking a place to go for a walk on this balmy (38 degree) day. It felt much warmer after our recent days with a string of temperatures in single digits.

Rich had not searched for Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers yet this year in Golden so we drove to the west side of Denver. Our expectations were low; but we were getting some exercise. Our hunt centered around 1519 Ford Street where several Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers have been reported in the past.

Surprisingly, I noticed a sapsucker clinging to the side of a tree along 15th street, just west of Ford Street. This was during our third circle of the area. It stayed completely still for 10 minutes, then took off up 15th Street to the northeast.

We found it again about halfway between Ford Street and East Street. A Sharp-shinned Hawk chased House Sparrows in the same area and we lost sight of the Yellow-bellied Sapsucker.

We stopped briefly at Red Rocks Park, Jefferson County. No additional Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers were found. We did see a flock of 9-10 Bushtits.

Drive Around Northeast Denver Area

December 10, 2009

Richard Stevens:

Rebecca Kosten and I went over to Barr Lake (Adams County) and the DIA Owl Loop this afternoon.

Barr Lake is 100 percent ice covered. All the waterfowl from just a few days ago are gone to somewhere else. At least six Great-tailed Grackles flew about the first house south of the Tree Nursery at 152nd Avenue and Picadilly Road.

Two Ferruginous Hawks were observed. One along Picadilly Road at 0.2 miles south of the entrance to Barr Lake. The other was at the Burrowing Owl/Prairie Dog Village (3.4 miles east of Tower Road and 96th Avenue). We also saw 2 Rough-legged Hawks along Picadilly Road between 128th and 152nd avenues. Four Red-tailed Hawks, 6 American Kestrels and 7 Northern Harriers rounded out our raptor count.

We watched thousands of Horned Larks fly back and forth at Trussville Road and 128th Avenue. No Snow Buntings, we did pick out at least one Lapland Longspur.

Lakecrest had to be scoped carefully; we found the Greater White-fronted Goose and one white Snow Goose among thousands of White-cheeked Geese. Most were much smaller than the Snow Goose and likely Cackling Geese.

At Emerald Strand Park another thousand or so White-cheeked Geese were around the ever shrinking open water hole. A blue phase Snow Goose was among them.

Green Valley Recreation Pond and Montbello Recreation Pond were frozen over and had less than several hundred White-cheeked Geese. Although, we watched hundreds of geese fly away from the Green Valley pond as we approached it.

I do not know about the mornings, but the best time to see the geese in the afternoon is between 2:00 and 3:30 pm. They mostly fly away around 4:00 pm for another feeding and many do not return until well after sunset.

Enjoyable but Cold Birding Day in Adams County

December 7, 2009

Richard Stevens:

This morning I walked along the South Platte River from 88th avenue to the Water Treatment Plant south of I76 and back (7.0 miles) and with a detour along Clear Creek to Washington Avenue and back (3.2 miles).

Most surprising was that the lakes along the route had no ice on them. East Gravel Lake, West Gravel Lakes, Tani Reservoir, A New Unnamed Reservoir, & Dahlia Pond were all ice free. The second surprise was the complete lack of gulls or maybe not since there was no ice or shoreline on which for them to stand.

Plenty of ducks and geese were on the lakes; however, the only uncommon ducks was a pair of Barrow's Goldeneyes. They were first on the Platte River 20 yards south of the green/white tower (about a mile south of Colorado Blvd); later they flew to Tani Reservoir.

The detour along Clear Creek was to search for sparrows. Harris's Sparrows have shown up in several past years; none today. A small flock of 7 American Tree Sparrows and 2 Song Sparrow were the total.

Afterwards I searched for the 100+ Great-tailed Grackle flock previously found 0.9 miles east of Harvest Road and 168th Avenue; without success. Four to six Great-tailed Grackles were around the cows and first house south of Picadilly Road and 152nd Avenue.

I spent 30 minutes scoping Barr Lake for the Long-tailed Duck reported Saturday by Bill Kaempfer; without success. The search was hindered by a 10+ mph wind directly in my face. Watering eyes, mist coming off the lake, and hundreds of ducks cramped together hampered my attempt. These 30 minutes was much colder to my bones than the 10.2 mile hike along the South Platte River (which was sheltered from the wind).

A drive around the DIA Owl Loop found 8 Northern Harriers, 1 Ferruginous Hawk, 4 Red-tailed Hawks, and 1 Rough-legged Hawk.

I parked at Trussville Road and 128th Avenue and watched for 1.5 hours thousands of Horned Larks fly back and forth across 128th. Watching them walk and plow through the several inches of snow was quite comical.

My target bird was a Snow Bunting (not found) and I settled for nice views of 2 Lapland Longspurs and several of the harriers flying by my car.

At dusk, I repeated the trip around the DIA Owl Loop going for a Short-eared Owl; again without success. Quite an enjoyable day of birding in spite of temperatures around 12 degrees.

Cherry Creek Reservoir

December 6, 2009

Richard Stevens:

Rebecca Kosten and I made a quick trip over to Cherry Creek Reservoir (Arapahoe). No uncommon gulls, ducks, geese or swans had flown in by late afternoon. We hoped one of the Chatfield Reservoir Glaucous Gulls might wander east to Cherry Creek Reservoir.

Search for a Snowy Owl

December 5 and 6, 2009

Bryan Ehlmann:

December 5

Gary Weston, Richard Stevens and I went to Morgan County after at Snowy Owl report. We drove around for hours east of Riverside Reservoir never seeing any sign of a Snowy Owl.

Since we came so close to Jackson Lake State Park we detoured over to it. It was a good choice. A Black legged Kittiwake and dozens of Ring-billed and a California Gull were circling the west end of the reservoir.

Later we walked the Campgrounds from the Visitor's Center to the Boat ramp. A dozen Long-eared Owls were found without going deep into the woods. A flock of 23 Cedar Waxwings also contained 1 Bohemian Waxwing. The American Robin count was over 40, but no Varied Thrushes were found among them.

We returned north of Jackson and west to Riverside again not finding a Snowy Owl. Several flocks of one hundred+ Horned Larks were passed. Two of the flocks had at least one Lapland Longspur among them.

Crow Valley Campground didn't have any birds. Well, one Flicker was seen. We didn't find the resident Long-eared Owls or a Saw whet Owl at the windbreaks or cemetery. No Common Redpolls or rare sparrows, but we searched hard for them.

We were having such a good time that we decided to drive up to Cameron Pass and Gould. It was snowing lightly when we arrived, but winds were calm. One could hear a pin drop it was so quiet. Richard took us to two locations where Boreal Owls called. We didn't even have to play a tape.

December 6, 2009

We got a late start after going to bed around 4:00 AM. Several Gray-crowned Rosy Finches and one Brown-capped Rosy Finch, Pine Siskins, Mountain Chickadees, a pair of Pine Grosbeaks, a Gray Jay, many Dark-eyed Juncos and a Clark's Nutcracker were seen at the Colorado State Forest Visitor's Center.

Weather was deteriorating rapidly so we decided to get back to Denver. Most of the lakes we passed were mostly frozen; finding rare waterfowl was probably out of the question anyway.

We passed most lakes too early in the day for gulls to come to roost. So, we didn't expect much of them either.