Teller City and Jack Creek

October 2-3, 2011

Richard Stevens:

Our choice for birding and owling this afternoon was the old Teller City Ghost Town (Jackson County). The history of the area as a Silver Mining town is quite interesting. For a short period of time, over 200 miners and "friends" occupied the town. Remnants of the old town are highlighted with a self-guiding tour. Parts of the "house of ill repute" still stand.

Two American Three-toed Woodpeckers were heard drumming along the northern trail. The resident Northern Pygmy-Owl called at dusk; however again eluded our eyes.

After dark, we made one of our longest hikes. The Jack Creek trail hike as a little over 6.0 miles (one way), elevation 9300 feet to 10,800 feet.

Winds calmed down tonight (well most of the night); skies were mostly clear.

Boreal Owl count was good. We took waypoints on 9 owls. There is no way to calculate how many of the total Boreal Owls were in the area covered. Surely, we did not find all or perhaps 50 percent? It would be great to be able to know or calculate.

It should be mentioned that driving from highway 14 to Teller City requires a 4-wheel drive vehicle. I would not attempt it in any car that I liked or wanted to keep. It is not a good place to break down either (I expect AAA does not visit or charges a fortune for retrieval).

Our owling for the night was not over. We decided to sleep in our car back in the Colorado State Forest. For the third time in the last 10 years, both a Flammulated and Boreal Owl were heard at 4:30 am! One of my favorite places to camp!

Laramie River Road & Zimmerman Lake Loop

October 1, 2011

Richard Stevens:

Bryan Ehlmann and I went birding up Laramie River Road today. We ran into a Wyoming birder who reported a Pileated Woodpecker at the Tunnel Campgrounds (Larimer County). If we could photograph or get a decent sighting, the bird would be a first state record.

Unfortunately, no Pileated Woodpecker was found in a 3-hour search. There have been four reports of a Pileated Woodpecker in Colorado. All were single birder sightings; none has been confirmed.

Tunnel Campgrounds did have a male American Three-toed Woodpecker and 2 Townsend's Warblers as consolation prizes.

Next, we hiked the Zimmerman Lake Loop Trail (Larimer). We were not disappointed. Two White-winged Crossbills circled overhead between the trailhead and the lake!

Our plan was to hike up to tree line (11,005 feet) wait until dark and return to Zimmerman Lake (10,495 feet), then continue to Highway 14.

We enjoyed a night of almost no wind and clear skies. Up there, stars appear to be in the millions! The eastern ridge must block most northeastern winds; we could have heard a pin drop!

Owls did not disappoint us either. We found/ heard only three Boreal Owls, (no reason to hit the owls with a spotlight and disturb them, we only wanted to get a count). There might have been a fourth, too close to number 3 to be sure.

We enjoyed the night so much, that when reaching our car, we decided to hike up to Montgomery Pass. The trail follows an old jeep trail and is not difficult to follow in the dark. The trailhead is just a little north of the Zimmerman Lake Loop trailhead.

I was familiar with this trail as it was climbed when I was trying to hike the 300 highest passes in Colorado. By the way, I only have three to go and I will have accomplished that!

Again, we relished the calm night and owls. The forest is quite noisy even at night! Figuring out what was calling is always interesting and challenging! In the mammal category, several bull elk were heard bugling.

At least another 3 Boreal Owls responded to our recordings. Montgomery Pass (11,004 feet) was reached about 4:00 AM. The return trip was just as pleasurable.

Owling Canadian Fork River

September 30, 2011

Bryan and I continued our owling. This night we hiked deep into the Colorado State Forest along the Canadian Fork River Road (Jackson County). We found three Boreal Owls around Kelly Lake and took GPS waypoints.

Weather continues to be cooperative. We are running into mild wilds, star filled, clear nights. Bear activity appears to have increased. We found many Aspens ripped up by bears. Are they sharpening their claws? No bear sightings yet.

Jackson County Birds

September 28-29, 2011

Rebecca Kosten;

Bryan Ehlmann and Richard Stevens have been hiking areas around the Colorado State Forest in Jackson County. The weather has been cooperative. They are experiencing mild to calm winds and warm temperatures for autumn in the high country.

They are finding owls are really vocal. GPS waypoints have been acquired on seven Boreal Owls in the past two nights. The most successful locations have been south of the Crags Campgrounds (over 1.5 miles south) and along Michigan Ditch (over 4.5 mile hike).

Thursday afternoon, they found a Caspian Tern, Pectoral Sandpiper and many California Gulls at Walden Reservoir. A Common Loon was on Lake John Wildlife Area.

Pawnee National Grasslands Playa and Owling in High Country

September 26-27, 2011

Rebecca Kosten;

Richard Stevens and I stopped by the newly filled and named flooded field at Weld County Road 75 between County Road 100 and 102. Many shorebirds took advantage of the temporary water hole.

We saw American Golden-Plovers, Black-bellied Plovers, Pectoral Sandpipers and some other smaller shorebirds. The highlight for us was two Mountain Plovers.

Later Bryan and Sue Ehlmann met us west of Loveland (highway 34 and Larimer County Road 27). We headed up to Pennock Pass for some owling. Eventually three Flammulated Owls were found east and north of Pennock Pass' Summit!

On the way to Gould, we made four stops and heard Boreal Owls at two of them. Successful stops were the upper parking lot for the Joe Wright Reservoir and just west of Cameron Pass.

Wheat Ridge Greenbelt, Jefferson County

September 25, 2011

Richard Stevens:

Rebecca and I decided to visit Wheat Ridge Greenbelt (Jefferson County). Once one of the top 5 birding locations in Colorado, few birds or birders have visited the Prospect Park area since our long 7-8 year drought.

Birds were few again this morning. No uncommon birds were found. Our count from Kipling Avenue to Youngfield Street was:
21 Yellow-rumped Warblers
1 Orange-crowned Warbler
1 Wilson's Warbler
2 Common Nighthawks (late?)
2 Spotted Towhees
1 House Wren
2 Song Sparrows
And the usual ducks and Ring-billed Gulls.

We could not find any of the resident Eastern Screech-Owls. Several of their past "holes" were covered with cobwebs. One had a raccoon in it.

Adams & Arapahoe County Birding

September 24, 2011

Richard Stevens:

Bryan Ehlmann and I returned to Rocky Mountain Arsenal when they opened at 6:00 am. Again, no Long-eared Owls were found flying around the Governor's row.

We hiked the south side of Lake Ladora and circled back to the northeast corner. A Virginia Rail was heard calling from the south side cattails. A Townsend's Warbler fluttered about the tall cottonwoods at the southwest corner of the lake.

A loose flock of birds moved from east to west at the edge of the trees at the northeast corner. Yesterday's Cassin's Vireo was with a Red-eyed Vireo, 9-11 Yellow-rumped Warblers (mostly Myrtle), 4 Black-capped Chickadees, and an Orange-crowned Warbler.

Yesterday's Tennessee Warbler was not found.

Another Townsend's Warbler was at the Rod & Gun Club Trailhead (perhaps the same bird seen a little farther east yesterday)? The only bird found around the bird blind was a Rock Wren.

After dropping Bryan off at home, I heard about the great birds being seen at Barr Lake (Adams) and headed over that way. I spent three hours walking around the banding area.

Few birds were encountered. Three brief unsatisfying glimpses of the male Black-throated Blue Warbler were seen at the extreme end of the point of land & trees that jut into the lake.

Several Wilson's Warblers were found, all three more or less by themselves. No flocks of birds moved about (it was 2:00 pm, not the best time of day to search for birds).

Missed birds included the Cassin's Kingbird, Philadelphia Vireo and the Tennessee Warbler.

I picked up Rebecca Kosten and drove into Denver for dinner. We passed Aurora Sports Park (Arapahoe) and could not resist stopping for a quick look around. A Sage Thrasher was on the fence at the extreme southeast corner of the park.

I made a quick hike into the woods at the northeast corner of the riparian woods. There is a grove of short trees and bushes under the tall cottonwoods, which on many occasions have attracted some uncommon birds.

The area was quite birdy again today. I counted 11 Yellow-rumped Warblers, 2 Orange-crowned Warblers, 2 Wilson's Warblers, 2 Wilson's Warblers and 6 Black-capped Chickadees. The prize with this flock was a Palm Warbler pumping his tail!

We stopped to watch the sunset at the west end of East 11th Avenue (off Picadilly Road). Hundreds of White-cheeked Geese flew overhead. Another Sage Thrasher was on a fence post.

This small subdivision of homes has a Eurasian Collared-Dove problem. We counted 80+ doves in the thick windbreaks around the houses.