DIA Owl Loop & Cherry Creek Reservoir

October 28, 2019

Richard Stevens:

Once the snow stopped, the sun came out and dried out the busier roads.  High temperature was a nippy 21 degrees.  Winds were 3-4 mph with gusts to 10 mph at Cherry Creek Reservoir.

I spent the morning trying to relocate the Snow Bunting Rebecca and I found yesterday.  It was not found.  One flock of 200+ Horned Larks flew north of 114th avenue.

In the afternoon, I drove over to the Cherry Creek Reservoir area.  While scoping from the east side of the Lake Loop I observed a Loon at 60 yards.  The identification was not a simple one.

Field marks for Yellow-billed Loon: the Loon held its bill in upward slant, bill appeared yellow especially at the point, and its back had pale barring

Field marks for Common Loon: dark culmen on 1/2 bill closer to head, in spite of obvious barring on back, the loon appeared darker than Yellow-billed Loons I have seen previously, and some Common Loons can appear to have yellowish bills especially at sunset

I ran into Cole Sage who had several photos of the Loon.  His photos were darker than actually looking at the Loon.  Being there, the Loon was much lighter in appearance.  I am at a lost to call the Loon either species.  

It took quite awhile; eventually I did detect the previously reported lone Black Scoter.  The larger size, similar to the Redheads and American Wigeons around it and darker flanks separated it from the possible male Ruddy Duck.

Two Bonaparte's Gulls flew toward the southwest marina.  Misses included the Red-necked Grebe, Jaeger and Clark's Grebe.

Fourteen American Pipits walked the road to the ranger's office.  One hundred twenty or so Sandhill Cranes circled over the field east of the Campgrounds.  They started to descend; however, I was not able to find them on the ground.

Successful Drive Along the DIA Owl Loop!

October 27, 2019

Richard Stevens:

High temperature today was 30 degrees.  Winds were 16-18 mph most of the day.

In the morning, I went over to Barr Lake (Adams County) to search for the Pacific Loon reported yesterday by Ira Sanders.  The loon was swimming at the northern-center of the Lake.

A lingering Lesser Black-backed Gull stood on the east side of the banding station peninsula.  

Later Rebecca and I drove the DIA Owl Loop in search of flocks of Horned Larks and owls.  A Snow Bunting all by itself surprised us.  First observed south of 112th Avenue where it crosses W. Cargo Road and parallels 114th Avenue.  The Snow Bunting then flew south along and west of Gun Club Road.

We sat at Gun Club Road south of 104th avenue and saw a Short-eared Owl flying over the field to the southeast!  It was quite an enjoyable drive in the snowstorm!

Cherry Creek Reservoir

October 26, 2019

Richard Stevens:

High temperature in Walden today was 28 degrees.  Winds were 5-6 mph, mild for this area.

I went out two hours before sunrise and listened for Boreal Owls.  None called this morning.

No Rosy Finches visited the Colorado State Forest Visitor's Center this morning.  We heard the American Three-toed Woodpecker drumming north of hwy 14 however never saw it.

Reports of severe approaching snowstorms changed our plans and we returned to Denver.

We detoured through Cherry Creek State Park (Arapahoe) to search for the birds reported yesterday by Ben Sampson (Red-necked Grebe, Sabine's Gull, Jaeger).  

Unfortunately, none was found.  We did see two Bonaparte's Gulls and one of the previously reported Black Scoters.

Owling at Pennock & Cameron Passes

October 25, 2019

Richard Stevens:

Temperature was 14 degrees when we arrived in Gould.  Winds were calm this evening.

Rebecca and I headed up to Gould.  We drove by way of Pennock Pass (Larimer) and stopped four times at GPS waypoints of previous Flammulated Owl reports.  Regrettably, none was found tonight.

No Boreal Owls called at Joe Wright Reservoir (Larimer) or Cameron Pass (Jackson)

Chatfield Reservoir to Cherry Creek Reservoir to Aurora Reservoir

October 24, 2019

Richard Stevens:

High temperature was only 41 degrees today.  Winds were 6-7 mph with gusts to 15 mph.  The day was quite pleasant relative to last night.

My birding day commenced at Chatfield Reservoir (Jefferson/Douglas).  Most Murres found in Colorado have been during or just after a snowstorm.  Last night's storm dropped over 4 inches across metro Denver.

I scoped the Lake from above the Dam; unfortunately, no Murres, Jaegers or uncommon waterfowl were found.  A Lesser Black-backed Gull stood on the southeast sand spit.  An Iceland Gull (Thayer's) flew below my vantage point several times.

A report of Black or Surf Scoters at Cherry Creek Reservoir prompted my next stop.  Five Black Scoters swam off the western point at the Lake Loop. 

Additional scoping of the Lake did not find any other uncommon birds.  There were many Western Grebes, American Coots, Ruddy Ducks, and Ring-billed Gulls.  I thought there was a brief glimpse of a Red-necked Grebe; however, I could not confirm the sighting.

My next stop was Aurora Reservoir (Arapahoe).  The storm did not bring any uncommon waterfowl here.  Ruddy Ducks were the majority duck, followed by American Coots, American Wigeons and Pied-billed Grebes.

For an unknown reason the three thousand+ Gulls were not on the swim beach today; instead they were below the pavilion at the lower parking lot.

I studied the gulls for several hours looking for a Mew Gull or Sabine's Gull.  Highlights were one Lesser Black-backed Gull and one Iceland Gull (Thayer's).  Half a dozen Herring Gulls and dozens of California Gulls were among the horde of Ring-billed Gulls.

There was not enough daylight to reach Barr Lake before sunset; instead, I walked The Pronghorn Open Space.  Perhaps a Short-eared Owl would appear at sunset, none did however.

Highlight was a Swamp Sparrow and six American Tree Sparrows fluttering about the cattail marshes.  The Swamp Sparrow was about 400 yards from the parking area.  Not much else was encountered during the 1.2 mile (one way) hike.

A Warbler Day!

October 23, 2019

Richard Stevens:

Weather changed drastically throughout the day.  Boulder had a high of 54 degrees with winds 10-11 mph.  Denver's high was 51 degrees with winds 5-6 mph until the gusts of 33 mph and snow around 4:00 pm.

I enjoyed a superb warbler birding day.  After leaving Denver at 4:00 am to miss traffic and an early breakfast, I stopped at Meadowview Park (Boulder).  It only took about 10 minutes to find the Palm Warbler.

Then I drove over to the creek at 29th/30th Street (Boulder).  It took a bit longer to relocate the Black-throated Green Warbler, Townsend's Warblers and Nashville Warbler all previously reported.  The Wood Thrush was missed if it was around early in the morning.

My next stop was Belmar Place Apartment's Lake (Jefferson).  After walking around the southwestern trail, Renee Casius and I decided to try the southeastern corner.  There is not a complete loop around the Lake; one has to backtrack.

While we watched a couple of Yellow-rumped Warblers at the leaf-less trees in the southeast corner, the Palm Warbler joined them. Eventually the "flock" flew into the tall pine next to the most southeastern building.

My next bird was a strange coincidence.  Another birder gave directions to the nearest public library as 2nd and Perry Streets.  Perry and 2nd Streets in Denver do not meet and I circled the neighborhood searching for a library.  Note: the library was a good mile away at Alameda & Lowell.

While circling the neighborhood a flock of what turned out to be 14 Yellow-rumped Warblers caught my eye.  They were near a trailhead to Weir Gulch trail.  When I got out of my car for a better look a Palm Warbler was found among the flock!

I gave up trying to navigate Denver's traffic and had a late lunch as snow started to fall.

Later around 9:00 pm, Rebecca and I went out for a late dinner and to enjoy the snow covered landscape.  As we passed through Cherry Creek State Park (Arapahoe) we noticed a Great Horned Owl standing on the wooden fence at the west end of the West Shades Picnic area.  The snow covered owl stayed for as long as we wanted to watch!

Note: I ate too much today :-)

Aurora Reservoir & Barr Lake

October 22, 2019

Richard Stevens:

High temperature today was 62 degrees.  Winds were 15-16 mph with gusts measured at 31 mph at Cherry Creek Reservoir and 25 mph at Barr Lake.

I met Terry Michaels at Aurora Reservoir (Arapahoe) and we spent two hours looking for our target bird; without success.  Hundreds of Gulls were again on the swim beach.  Highlights were an adult Lesser Black-backed Gull and Iceland Gull.

After we split up, I spent five and a half hours at Barr Lake (Adams).  A detour to Cherry Creek Reservoir (Arapahoe) again found no shorebirds on Pelican Point.  Eight Song Sparrows wandered around in the willows.  Fourteen American Pipits walked the shore.

While walking to Pelican Point, I caught a glimpse of a sparrow that appeared to be a Sagebrush Sparrow.  Unfortunately, it scurried into the willows at the eastern end of the Point.  The bird had gray head and nape, pale gray-brown slightly streaked back and long tail.  Regrettably, I did not see its breast of face.  Most likely a Sagebrush Sparrow, however I am reluctant to report it was such.

My plan at Barr Lake was to search for shorebirds.  However, activity in the riparian area around the banding station was full of bugs and kept my interest for almost two hours.

The willows below the main trail had a male Wilson's Warbler, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher and Ruby-crowned Kinglet.  A male Hairy Woodpecker drummed on the cottonwoods overhead.

The area north of the willow field and south of the northern east-west banding trail had many birds.  These included an Audubon's Yellow-rumped Warbler, two Ruby-crowned Kinglets, a late migrating Hermit Thrush, a House Wren and Black-and-white Warbler.

Finally, I made it out onto the sandy shore.  A walk along the shore from mile 8.8 to the Pioneer trail (mile 8.1) found only one shorebird.  A lone Baird's Sandpiper stood on the most extreme northern point.

Many Franklin's Gulls and Ring-billed Gull stood at the water's edge.  Highlights were an adult Lesser Black-backed Gull, which has been around since 9/14, and an Iceland Gull.

Later I found one Long-eared Owl in the windbreak along the entrance road.

No Short-eared Owls appeared this evening along the DIA Owl Loop as I parked at the 88th avenue high spot.