Beautiful Fall Day at Rocky Mountain Arsenal

September 23, 2011

Richard Stevens:

I arrived at Rocky Mountain Arsenal (Adams County) when they opened and drove to the Governor's Grove. No Long-eared Owl flew around this morning. Sunrise brought a beautiful day. Winds were mild and temperatures in the cool 60s most of the morning.

A hike around the southern and northeastern ends of Lake Ladora was quite productive. A Marsh Wren chattered at the southwest corner. A Virginia Rail called from the southeastern cattails. Several flocks of warblers turned out to be Yellow-rumped Warblers.

At the northeast corner a flock of birds included Yellow-rumped Warblers, a Cassin's Vireo and Plumbeous Vireo. Many Chipping Sparrows flew about the tall grasses.

I turned back south and walked over to the Rod & Gun Club Pond. A Townsend's Warbler was in the tall trees on the north side of the trail (just before the last clearing before reaching the bird blind.

A flock of birds around the bird blind included 9 Yellow-rumped Warblers, 2 Orange-crowned Warblers and a male Wilson's Warbler. No American Redstart as reported yesterday.

On the trip back to my car, I took the northern trail around Lake Ladora. Another flock of Yellow-rumped Warblers in the tall cottonwoods along the eastern side of Lake Ladora (below Lower Derby Lake's dam) was accompanied by a beautiful fall plumage Tennessee Warbler.

Many sparrows were at the northwest corner of Lake Ladora. Most were Chipping Sparrows with 4 White-crowned Sparrows and a couple of Song Sparrows.

After lunch, I drove through Cherry Creek State Park (Arapahoe County) for a last search for the possible Red Phalarope. In two hours of scoping the lake, no phalaropes were found. One juvenile Sabine's Gull was spotted.

Near sunset, Rebecca and I drove the DIA Owl Loop mostly to enjoy the fantastic fall day. No Short-eared Owls came out tonight. Two Burrowing Owls were at the prairie dog village (3.4 miles east of Tower Road & 96th avenue).

Search for the Red Phalarope, Cherry Creek State Park

September 22, 2011

Richard Stevens:

I had to checkout the possible Red Phalarope report at Cherry Creek Reservoir (Arapahoe County). The day was another fantastic "fall" day in Colorado. Mild winds and temperatures in the low 60s again.

It took several hours to scope the lake from the Lake Loop (no birds), eastern sand spit (Ring-billed Gulls, several Sabine's Gulls, many American White Pelicans, 8+ Great Blue Herons, 6 Snowy Egrets). No phalaropes.

Nothing seen from the northeastern boat ramp, my last try was the parking area below the dam's tower. Here we were able to see two phalaropes quite far off the shore. Eventually they flew giving us good looks at the white wingbars.

They swam closer and I could see the white transects on the back. Two Red-necked Phalaropes. The Red Phalarope was never found.

After lunch, chores "forced" me again pass through Cherry Creek State Park. Of course, I was not really "forced" :-)

This time I scoped the reservoir from the lake loop. Five phalaropes were close to shore. Unfortunately, by the time I set up my scope, I was only had good looks at four of them. As my scope hit the fifth bird, a boat came by and the phalaropes flew to the extreme southeast corner of the lake.

The fifth phalarope was much lighter than the first four. However, I am inclined to believe that all five were Red-necked Phalaropes.

A flock of warblers fluttered about the cottonwoods at the lake edge as I returned to my car. The flock included 11 Yellow-rumped Warblers, 2 Wilson's Warblers and a Townsend's Warbler.

Prewitt Reservoir, Logan/Washington Counties

September 21, 2011

Richard Stevens:

I spent the day circling Prewitt Reservoir (Logan/Washington Counties). It was a beautiful almost fall day. Winds were mild and temperatures were in the low 60s.

The inlet area was quite birdy, however it had many mosquitoes which made standing still difficult. Highlights were a Nashville Warbler, 2 or 3 Townsend's Warblers, Yellow-rumped Warblers, Wilson's Warblers, Cassin's Vireo and a Warbling Vireo.

After several hours at the inlet, I circled the reservoir clockwise. The area below the dam was also quite birdy. Two additional Townsend's Warblers, an Ovenbird, a Nashville Warbler and 2 Cassin's Vireos were the highlights.

I thought a Great Crested Flycatcher called briefly. Too briefly, I was not able to locate the bird or even be sure I was not hearing things?

When I reached the southeast corner of the reservoir, a warbler was seen jumping in and out of the bushes. It turned out to be a nice Worm-eating Warbler!

My hike continued all the way around to the southwest corner. Shorebirds were numerous. Nice, as they have been scarce this season. The best was a Bufflehead-breasted Sandpiper. Pectoral Sandpipers, Semipalmated Plovers and Red-necked Phalaropes were also entertaining. Unfortunately, the Short-billed Dowitcher was not around.

On the trip back to my car, other birds seen included: 2 Sabine's Gulls and 2 Common Terns.

After a late lunch, we returned to Prewitt Reservoir. Eastern Screech-Owls responded to recording at the west end and just west of the eastern parking/camping area.

Search for Least Bittern in Morgan County

September 20, 2011

Amy Davenport; Compiled from cell phone calls from Richard Stevens:

After leaving Estes Park yesterday, we drove to Andrick Wildlife Area near Jackson Reservoir in Morgan County hoping to find the Least Bittern reported the day before.

We did not have any success and did not find the American Bittern either. After sunset, we heard the Eastern Screech-Owl at the southern Campgrounds.

This morning we returned to Andrick Wildlife Area and again missed the Least Bittern. I got no response to a Least Bittern recording. An American Bittern did respond to an American Bittern recording.

A walk around Jackson Reservoir did find a few uncommon birds. Two Townsend's Warblers were at the southern Campgrounds. A Palm Warbler with a loose flock of Yellow-rumped Warblers, Black-capped Chickadees, and Chipping Sparrows that flew about the cottonwoods east of the northern Campgrounds.

We saw a juvenile Sabine's Gull from the dam, south side of Jackson Reservoir. No Eastern Screech-Owls were enticed to show themselves at the Campgrounds or the southern riparian area.

At Brush Wildlife Area, we circled the outer border. A male Red-bellied Woodpecker was along the northern side. Three Yellow-rumped Warblers were the only warblers found. They were along the east side of the pond.

At Fort Morgan Ponds, we walked west to Riverside Park. A Cassin's Vireo was in the tall cottonwoods just east of Riverside Park.

The many sparrows turned out to be Chipping Sparrows and White-crowned Sparrows. Several Red-tailed Hawks and two Swainson's Hawks were in the Wildlife Area. No Eastern Screech-Owls were found after sunset.

Estes Park and Rocky Mountain National Park

September 19, 2011

Amy Davenport; Compiled from cell phone calls from Richard Stevens:

Richard Stevens reports photographing the Prothonotary Warbler at Matthew-Reeser Bird Sanctuary, Estes Park this morning. The weather was fantastic in Estes Park today. Partly sunny skies, winds 8-10 mph.

He arrived at Estes Park at 10:30 am. Saw the bird as soon as he walked down to the footpath to Pine Point. The bird was in the trees across both fences to the north. Golf course trees. The warbler flew east and then south across the path. John Cobb relocated the warbler along Lake Estes. The bird stayed for 30 minutes along the lake where the paved path turns from east to south. It was still there when he and Rebecca departed.

Other birds reported in the area included a House Wren, 6 Orange-crowned Warblers and many Pine Siskins.

Richard Stevens and Rebecca Kosten continued east from Estes Park however want to report a few additional birds. After entering Rocky Mountain National Park winds climbed to 12+ mph. Temperatures were in the low 50s.

After finding the Prothonotary Warbler Richard and Rebecca went to medicine bow curve when Gary Weston called to say a birder from Missouri was looking for Ptarmigan.

They eventually found three White tailed Ptarmigan but no Missouri birders. Two birds were below the firs north of the extreme wet area north of the parking pullover. The third was where they saw two yesterday. The wet area below the west end of the pullover. Two British birders were shown the first two Ptarmigan.

Richard's suggestions for finding Ptarmigan at Medicine Bow Curve. Walk along the path going north from the pullover until it "ends" in about 0.5 miles. If no White-tailed Ptarmigan are found, drop down 20 yards and return to your car.

Richard has asked three different rangers in the past. It is legal to leave the main path. They prefer to not advertise that to tourists.

Today, Richard dropped down a little farther than past searches. About 30 yards, it was late in the day and several "tourists" were out looking for Elk, possibly scaring the Ptarmigan.

Another highlight at Medicine Bow Curve was a Sharp shinned Hawk flying 6 feet over the willows at 11481 feet.

No Rosy Finches were found.

On the trip back to Estes Park, they saw a Dusky Grouse above the pullover 1.7 miles west of Rainbow Curve. Several Clark's Nutcrackers were "begging for food" at the Rainbow Curve pullover.

Witness photos of the Prothonotary Warbler at:
http://coloradobirdingsociety.net16.net/recentwitnessphotos.htm

Trip to Estes Park

September 18, 2011

Richard Stevens:

Bryan Ehlmann and I went up to search for the Prothonotary Warbler at Matthew Reeser Bird Sanctuary this morning. We did not see it.

As a consolation, we continued into Rocky Mountain National Park and Medicine Bow Curve. A White-tailed Ptarmigan was seen below the trail (as we scoped from the pullover). Weather was not inviting and we decided to get the heck out of there (snowing).

In the late afternoon, Rebecca Kosten and I went over to Cherry Creek Reservoir (Arapahoe). We circled the Russian Olive grove northwest of the swim beach (the area is closed for vegetation so we could not go into it). No bird activity was observed.

A walk along the swim beach over to the picnic area near the boat ramp was more productive. We ran into a loose flock of birds, which included: 19 Yellow-rumped Warblers (all but one appeared to be Myrtle with one adult male Audubon's Warbler), 2 Orange-crowned Warblers, 1 American Redstart, 1 Townsend's Warbler, 4 Black-capped Chickadees and 27+ Chipping Sparrows.

We scoped the reservoir from the lake loop and were able to pick out the juvenile Sabine's Gull. We did not find the Red-necked Phalaropes that have been reported for several days now.

It was a beautiful fall afternoon with mild winds and cool temperatures. Much different from Rocky Mountain National Park and Estes Park this morning.

Eastern Plains

September 17, 2011

Bryan Ehlmann;

(Kit Carson County) The final day of our trip started with a walk around Burlington Cemetery, north of town. A Great Horned Owl called before sunrise. We would have liked an Eastern Screech-Owl but the GHOW was nice too. The definite highlight was a Pine Warbler by itself in the middle of the cemetery. It stayed pretty much up high in the middle of the evergreen trees.

Nothing much else was found around town except a few Great-tailed Grackles, traditional "hotspots" were quiet today.

Flagler Reservoir was slow. Highlights were a Hooded Warbler at the south end and a Field Sparrow at the northeast end. No Sedge Wrens or Black Rails.

(Adams County) After dropping off Sue and Rebecca, Richard and I hiked at Barr Lake State Park from mile 0.5 to 0.0 to 7.5. The walk helped to work the cramps out of our legs, too many miles sitting in a car. Winds were nil until a storm front hurried in rather speedily.

A small flock of birds at the southwest edge of the banding area included a Nashville Warbler, one Townsend's Warbler, one Orange-crowned Warbler, two Wilson's Warblers and a Yellow Warbler. Also a Hairy Woodpecker, Downy Woodpecker and Hermit Thrush.

It started to rain quite a bit at 5:00 PM. We had to make an immediate exit with the lightning and downpour.

The rain had stopped to the south and we searched for owls. It's too early for the Burrowing Owls to abandon their nesting grounds. However, we found none along the DIA Owl Loop. No Short-eared Owls either.

Richard gave an interesting talk at our meeting tonight on bird migration and radar. It will be summarized in October's "Colorado Field Notes".