Pleasant Birding Day Around Denver

October 19, 2013

Richard Stevens:

This afternoon, Rebecca Kosten and I enjoyed the fabulous Colorado fall day with a birding trip around Denver.  Winds were mild; high temperature was around 60 degrees.

We stopped at Rocky Mountain Lake (Denver County) and found the immature/female Surf Scoter in about two minutes!  I believe it was a first county sighting for both of us.

Next, we continued to Lakewood where we found Knudsen getting his mail.  He had not seen the Lewis's Woodpecker since last Wednesday (10/16).  It saved us the time of waiting for a bird that surely was not going to show.

Our final stop was Chatfield Reservoir (Jefferson/Douglas Counties).  We scoped the lake from the top of the dam (my preferred vantage point).  The Pomarine Jaeger flew around several times.

To our surprise, a Red-necked Grebe was in the middle of a raft of Western Grebes!   This could possibly be the same bird that Jacob Washburn found at Cherry Creek Reservoir (Arapahoe) last Monday (10/14).

We could not pick out a Sabine's Gull or Bonaparte's Gull.  A previously reported Common Loon was not found either.

A drive down Deer Creek Canyon Road did not find any Northern Pygmy-Owls are traditional locations.

End of Our Eastern Plains Trip

October 17-18, 2013

Richard Stevens:

October 17

Weather continued to improve.  Winds were still 12-15 mph and gusts to 22 mph.

Jerry Petrosky, Bryan Ehlmann, Roger Danka and I drove the Sedgwick County Roads in search of Sprague's Pipits.  We relocated one along county road 30, east of CR 51.

We stopped at a private ranch (friend of Rogers) to look at his Long-eared Owls (which successfully nested early in the summer).  One of the owls was hidden in the homestead windbreak!  A flock of American Pipits caught our attention and Jerry picked out a Sprague's Pipit among them!

We hit two locations where Eastern Meadowlarks had been found on past visits.  None was found today.

Back at Roger's ranch, we enjoyed a fantastic barbecue (if not concerned with cholesterol levels).  A pleasant walk around the ranch after found two Field Sparrows, a Vesper Sparrow, Song Sparrows, an Orange-crowned Warbler, and Red-breasted Nuthatch.

Our birding day ended with the resident Eastern Screech-Owl and Great Horned Owls calling just after dusk.

October 18

Last night's snowstorm appears to have moved out/scared away most birds.  We found few migrating birds today.

We returned to Denver by way of Holyoke (Phillips County), Haxtun and Flagler Reservoir (Kit Carson).

Places visited with little success in finding uncommon birds included Holyoke City Park, Holyoke Fishing Pond, Holyoke Cemetery, Haxtun City Park, and Haxtun Sewage Ponds.

Frenchman Creek Wildlife Area (Phillips County) was also slow.  A late migrating Vesper Sparrow, Song and White-crowned Sparrows were the only birds left from the interesting ones reported 10 days ago.

Flagler Reservoir (Kit Carson) was also slow.  The Sedge Wren and other interesting birds of last Monday (10/14) could not be relocated.  A White-throated Sparrow was with a flock of White-crowned Sparrows in the northeastern windbreak.

We stayed until dusk and found a highlight of our day.  A Short-eared Owl appeared just before sunrise and flew around the northwest corner of the Wildlife Area.

Wandering Around Northeastern Colorado

October 16, 2013

Jerry Petrosky, Bryan Ehlmann and I wandered around northeastern Colorado today.  Skies were partly sunny, winds mild compared to yesterday.

Waves were still rather high on Jumbo Reservoir (Logan/Sedgwick Counties).  The Surf Scoters reported by Bill Kaempfer (10/13) could not be relocated.  A juvenile Jaeger flew by at least four times before we identified it as a Parasitic Jaeger.

Hundreds of gulls circled the reservoir; we could only pick out a Bonaparte's Gull as uncommon among the Ring-billed and California Gulls.

A Tennessee Warbler fluttered about the eastern Campgrounds.  A couple of meadowlarks caught our attention and time while we decided they were not Eastern Meadowlarks.

The resident Eastern Screech-Owls did not respond to our recording this morning.

We continued over to Tamarack Ranch Wildlife Area (Logan) and walked the western and eastern sections along the South Platte River.  A Northern Cardinal flew quickly across the trail at 1 West.  A Blue-headed Vireo was low in the cottonwoods near 2 East.  While a young male Black-throated Green Warbler worked high in the cottonwoods between 6 & 7 East.

Other birds included 2 Red-breasted Nuthatches, a small flock of Pine Siskins (probably rare here), 2 Red-headed Woodpeckers, a House Wren, Brown Thrasher, Field Sparrow, Chipping Sparrows, a Vesper Sparrow, Common Yellowthroat, Ring-necked Pheasants, Townsend's Solitaires, Eastern Bluebirds (6), Mountain Chickadee (pair), Red-bellied Woodpecker (Pond area), Gray Catbird, and 1 American Tree Sparrow (confirmed).

Late in the afternoon, we checked for Greater Prairie-Chickens along Logan County Road 93 (previous sightings CR 44 to CR 49).  Finding none, we headed over to CR 46 & 89 and scoped the southern sections of Tamarack Ranch Wildlife Area.  No Greater Prairie-Chickens appeared, but we watched a Short-eared Owl fly below us along the valley.

Dreary Day on the Eastern Plains

October 15, 2013

Today was a dreary, wet and windy day.  We stopped at several friends' homes in Wray to check up on previous sightings.  Northern Cardinals were found at two of four stops.  Uncommon warblers and vireos numbered zero in Wray.  It became obvious that birding was going to be slow today and we made our way toward Julesburg.

Our hope to find a Sprague's Pipit (or two, which was optimistic) was not fulfilled.  The few pipits that "zoomed by" in the winds (20+ mph) were unidentified or American Pipits.

Sand Draw Wildlife Area (Sedgwick) was slow.  Not even the resident Barn Owl was relocated.  A Loggerhead Shrike was in the wild plum at the south-central edge.

We wandered slowly north and finally reached Roger's Ranch, quite happy to get out of the wind.

Search for Sedge Wrens

October 14, 2013

Richard Stevens:

Bryan Ehlmann returned from his California trip yesterday.  Several Sedge Wrens were reported yesterday and along with Jerry Petrosky, we decided to try to relocate one or more of them.

Our first stop was a good one.  A Sedge Wren was relocated below the Flagler Reservoir dam (Kit Carson County).  While the Purple Finch reported Sunday was not found, we did find an Eastern Phoebe, Field Sparrow and White-throated Sparrow (northeast corner of the park).

Winds picked up in the afternoon.  We did not find the Golf Course Sedge Wren.  Few birds flew around Siebert.  We also missed the Sedge Wren reported along the Arikaree River (northwest of Idalia).

Few birds moved around Sandy Bluff S.T.L. (Yuma) and we ended our birding day at a private ranch farther north.  A Barn Owl and Short-eared Owl were our consolation prizes to additional Sedge Wrens.

Our birding day ended at private ranch in Yuma County.  A couple of Great Horned Owls were the highlight there.

Another Search for Owls in the Mountains

October 13, 2013

Richard Stevens:

We missed owls yesterday and Michael Roots, Dean Tyler and I gave it another try.  Today I picked Reynolds Park (Jefferson).  About 30 minutes before sunrise, we hiked along the Songbird trail in search of Northern Pygmy-Owls; without success.

We turned up (south) the Oxen Draw Trail and then picked up the Eagle's View Trail.  A female American Three-toed Woodpecker was just north of the intersection of the two trails.  Higher up we found a Dusky Grouse at the top (near the clearing) of the Eagle's View Trail.

A second Three-toed Woodpecker was found as we dropped down the Eagle's View Trail to the Elkhorn Trail (woodpecker was about 300 yards south of the old service road).

Fortunately, I had several GPS waypoints on previous Northern Pygmy-Owl sightings.  Shortly after sunset, we relocated one of the Northern Pygmy-Owls along Sugar Creek Road.

We stopped at highway 67 and Rampart Range Road.  Regrettably, no Northern Saw-whet Owls were called to us tonight.

Mountain Birding in Clear Creek & Summit Counties

October 12, 2013

Richard Stevens:

Visiting birders Michael Roots and Dean Tyler joined me on a trip to Guanella Pass.  While winds were rather strong (12-14 mph, gusts to 21 mph) on the foothills, winds on the pass were relatively calm (10 mph, normally 20+ mph, gusts sometimes into the 60 mph range).

We could not find a White-tailed Ptarmigan on the climb to the top of the southeast hill by way of the 603 Trail.  We scoped the southern side of the hill, without success, and then dropped down the east side to the Rosalie Trail.

Finally, I found two Ptarmigan peeking up from a bowl about 40 yards above the Rosalie Trail at 450 yards east and south of the 603 Trail.

Later we continued down to the Guanella Pass Campgrounds.  A male American Three-toed Woodpecker drummed on a tree along the road.  A flock of eight Red Crossbills stopped by to feed on the many pinecones.

We ended our day at Hunkidori and Saint Johns Trails (Summit).  No owls called tonight.