Quick Trip to Cherry Creek Reservoir

May 24, 2009

Richard Stevens:

I had been up all night owling, but had to go over to Cherry Creek Reservoir (Arapahoe) to see the possible only second Least Tern reported in Arapahoe County. At 8:15am the Least Tern was on a small island in the new wetlands southeast of the model airplane field. The area can be observed from inside the park or outside of the park; along East Bellevue Avenue. I managed to show the bird to Steve & Debbie Kennedy and six other birders who had not heard about it. The tern was still there at 8:34am.

The White-rumped Sandpiper was no longer there, however I did find 2 White-rumped Sandpipers in the southeast corner of the lake. They could not be seen from the northeast corner. I had to walk in from the Shop Creek trail (east side of the park).

Went to check on the Black-chinned Hummingbirds southeast of the rangers office fence. Most the "south facing" male show up. However once two additional male Black-chinned Hummingbirds came and there was a three way fight for the "favorite perch". The south facing male won each time. Later I observed the other two males (still being able to see the one to the south) east of the fence at 50 paces south of the northeast corner of the wooden fence bordering the ranger's office.

Boulder Owl Count Continues

May 23, 2009

Richard Stevens:

Gary Weston and I were joined by two additional birders tonight for our owl count in Boulder County. We continue to search the roadless canyons along the foothills. Final report will be later next week.

Return to Barr Lake & Welchester Tree Park

May 22, 2009

Richard Stevens:

After owling all night, I decided to hit Barr Lake (Adams) before getting some sleep. When I arrived at 6:00am winds were calm and skies cloudy (until around 9:00am).

The park was quite birdy this morning. I walked from the Visitor's Center Footbridge left (south-southwest) for a mile, then reversed and walked to the boat ramp (mm 7.5). Highlights follow:

A Rock Wren was picking insects of the picnic tables next to the Visitor's Center footbridge. Several Blue Jays flew around the same area. Three pairs of Wood Ducks swam just off shore.

As I walked across the Niedrach little red footbridge which is just west of the Visitor's Center footbridge, a Cassin's Vireo flew around the taller cottonwoods. This bird stayed very high in the cottonwoods at 6:15 AM.

Not as many birds were in the Niedrach boardwalk circle. Many Bullock's Orioles and Western Kingbirds appear to have set up territories here. A pair of Orchard Orioles also hunted for insects on the willows here.

Black-and-white Warbler was again in the thick cottonwoods at mile marker 0.6 which is just west of the Niedrach Boardwalk. It came out briefly as I watched a male Blue Grosbeak singing from the top of one of the taller trees.

It was quiet until I reached the lone tree at mm 8.5 (the clearing is north of the old banding station). A Gray-cheeked Thrush was under the lone tree. Eventually the thrush flew along the west side of the next tree line to north-northeast. Four pairs of Eastern Kingbirds were observed between mm 0.0 and 8.5.

At mm 8.3 I found an interesting Oriole. She appeared to be a female Baltimore Oriole. It will be interesting to see if another birder runs into this bird!

When I turned the corner at mile marker 7.8 a Northern Waterthrush was below the trail. This was the spot the Mourning Warbler was first observed on Monday, May 16th. My first Warbling Vireo at Barr Lake was also here.

At mm 7.6 a Swainson's Thrush and another Western Wood-pewee were found.

I walked down the Pioneer Trail and found another male Blue Grosbeak. This bird took food to a female Blue Grosbeak. She carried nesting material away on several occasions. Will keep an eye on the possible nesting attempt! A male Lazuli Bunting was singing at the north end of the trail.

A pair of White-breasted Nuthatches and a pair of Black-capped Chickadees were observed carrying food. I followed them back to trees where they disappeared with the food. They carried food in several times and were apparently feeding young. At the Black-capped Chickadee "nest" I could hear the young beg for food when the adults came close.

On the return to my car, a Olive-sided Flycatcher was observed at mm 8.2.

I drove around to the Old Stone House and searched the trees south. Nothing uncommon was found. Continuing west, I parked in the town of Barr and hiked to mile marker 2.5 and back. The "best action" was at the tall cottonwoods around mm 3.0. A male Townsend's Warbler and male Tennessee Warbler worked the trees here.

On the way home, I drove the DIA Owl Loop. Burrowing Owls were found at the site 3.4 miles east of Tower Road and 96th avenue; along Powhaton Road between 128th & 120th Avenues; south of Powhaton Road and 112th Avenue; and along Tower Road at 0.4 miles north of 56th Avenue.

Unfortunately someone had plowed the field at 112th and Trussville where a pair of Burrowing Owls had been nesting. I hope the birds escaped to another location! Just north of there, a pair of Ferruginous Hawks were walking along the field in search of food!

In the afternoon, I picked up Rebecca Kosten and we headed over to Welchester Tree Park. It is a small but beautiful park with really nice old growth cottonwoods and underbrush (of choke cherries, goose berry bushes, and other plants).

It only took about 15 minutes to relocate the Chestnut-sided Warbler reported earlier by Peter Plage. We continued around to the east side of the park and observed a singing male Western Tanager, singing male Blue Grosbeak, and singing male Lazuli Bunting.

Chatfield Reservoir!

May 21, 2009

Richard Stevens:

Again we went owling all last night (Wednesday) in Boulder County.

After catching a few hours of sleep I drove south to Chatfield Reservoir (Jefferson/Douglas) to search for Glenn Walbek's Least Tern. At 3:00pm the Least Tern was not on the southeast sand spit. The only Gull there turned out to be an adult Laughing Gull! Not a bad consolation prize!

A walk along Plum Creek Delta was uneventful. A couple of Yellow Warblers and many House Wrens sang.

I decided to check the old White-eyed Vireo spot south of Kingfisher Bridge. The woods were surprisingly quiet. Again Yellow Warblers and House Wrens were about the only birds singing. Occasionally a Northern Flicker would drum on a hollow limb.

Finally another species, a male American Redstart fluttered about 10 yards south and 20 yards west of the paved path. Yellow Warblers and a Gray Catbird were the only birds at the White-eyed Vireo spot (the thickets along the S. Platte River and 60 yards south of the paved Kingfisher Bridge path (west side of the Platte).

While doing my terrible imitation of a White-eyed Vireo a vireo answered back. It was not a White-eyed Vireo or Warbling Vireo. Separation of the Solitary Vireo complex by voice is beyond my ears. It took 20 minutes to see the Plumbeous Vireo that was deep in the cottonwoods about 15 yards south of the above White-eyed Vireo spot.

I continued south on the main path until a fork where the western fork returns north at 215 degrees northwest. This path runs along the east side of a long and narrow cattail field. Just southeast of the cattails a medium size flock of birds were found.

The flock was feeding on insects on some medium sized willow trees underneath large cottonwoods. There were 9 Yellow Warblers, 1 Orange-crowned Warbler, many House Wrens, 2 Western Wood-pewees, and a Downy Woodpecker. A male Black-throated Green Warbler was also in the mix!

As I returned to my car, I thought of the misses. Not one Chickadee was found in the 1.5 hours of the trek.

According to the radio, traffic on the major highways was a mess, so I returned to the southeast sand spit for another search for the Least Tern. Another birder was scoping the spit where the adult Laughing Gull was still there. Also on the sand spit were 2 Spotted Sandpipers, and 2 Killdeer.

He said that the Least Tern had been there 45 minutes ago but now was nowhere to be seen. However within five minutes the Least Tern returned! The yellowish bill and white spot on the forehead were unmistakable for the small tern.

With Traffic still bad I drove out the south entrance of Chatfield Reservoir which led me past Louviers. Forgot to mention that is was raining ever since my trip to Kingfisher Bridge. I walked around for an hour in Louviers in the rain. Kind of a favorite thing of mine next to walking in the dark (great reason to go owling).

Many Lesser Goldfinches (green and black backed) were observed at 4th Street and Elm. I would never have known where the male Northern Cardinal was visiting except the woman who has it visit her backyard came out to talk to me (First Street, across from the Library).

She said that the Northern Cardinal usually visits her feeder around 3:00pm most days. It then flies to the taller trees north of her house. I made another circuit of the small town and found the Northern Cardinal in the short trees south of the lime green house on 2nd Street (just behind or east of the above home).

This small town has an Eurasian collared-Dove problem. In the hour of the visit I counted way over 100 of them.

We still had not decided whether to return to Boulder County for owling in the rain.

We cut our owling short tonight (Thursday) as the rain appeared to quiet the owls. We only found 1 Flammulated Owl while hiking through the wet woods.

Boulder County Owl Count

May 18 through May 20, 2009

Richard Stevens:

Owl Count through three nights:

Flammulated Owl: 8
Northern Pygmy-Owl: 2
Northern Saw-whet Owl: 1
Long-eared Owl: 2
Eastern Screech-Owl: 5

Update later!

Birding Around Denver Again

May 18, 2009

Richard Stevens:

After owling all night, I decided to head over to Cherry Creek Reservoir (Arapahoe County) to see if I could relocate the Rose-breasted Grosbeak reported yesterday by Steve Kennedy.

I arrived at 6:00am. There was much noise south of the parking area for the 12 mile Beaver Pond. Dozens of birds were singing. I did pick out a Rose-breasted Grosbeak among several Black-headed Grosbeaks.

Eventually I was able to see a male Rose-breasted Grosbeak for a minute or two. He and a male Black-headed Grosbeak were just south of the parking area. They both flew deeper into the western woods when an unidentified female grosbeak flew by and west. The area is quite wet and I could not follow.

I walked down to the southern end of the Beaver Pond and continued to the larger cottonwoods farther south. Birds observed included: Gray Catbird, Yellow Warbler, Orange-crowned Warbler, American Goldfinches, Pine Siskin, 2 Lesser Goldfinches, Common Yellowthroat, and Marsh Wren.

I heard a Virginia Rail but never found it. American Avocets and Killdeer walked the mudflats. Quite a few Cinnamon Teal were joined by Blue-winged and Green-winged Teal. Never found any Green Herons.

On the way back to the parking area, I may have discovered why the male Rose-breasted Grosbeak was there. A female Rose-breasted Grosbeak popped out of the willows and gave great looks.

Grosbeak count in total: 7+ male and 2 female Black-headed Grosbeaks; 1 male and 1 female Rose-breasted Grosbeak.

While walking back to my car, I observed two Broad-tailed Hummingbirds but also a male Black-chinned Hummingbird. This gave me the idea to check behind the ranger's office for hummingbirds.

Two Black-chinned Hummingbirds were southeast of the office. They preferred the two taller (10 foot) trees southeast of the back fence. One always faced south when he landed, the other north. The south facing Black-chinned Hummingbird appeared to have priority? If my photos come out, I will put a few on the CoBus photo library before I leave for my next trip.

I walked along the eastern fence line to get a look at the southern field. Last week's Bobolinks appear to be long gone. If the hummingbirds are not on their perch, check the five hummingbird feeders in the subdivision to the east.

Later, I walked the woods east of the Mountain Loop. Bird count was different than last Saturday. The pair of Blue-gray Gnatcatchers were still there. Yellow-rumped Warblers were up to 57. There was a unidentified thrush that in 30 minutes I could not put my binoculars on for more than 2 seconds.

At the southeast end of the Lake Loop a Yellow-billed Cuckoo flew (would have missed him it he had not moved). He was moving toward the cottonwoods at the bird platform, Cottonwood Creek Loop.

Few birds were at the Smoky Hill Group Picnic area and the small pond northwest of the swim beach.

I drove to Louviers and looked for Northern Cardinal and Green Heron. Without any directions I had little to go on as to where to search and did not find them.

Swung by Castlewood Canyon Road and saw at least 2 male and a female Bobolinks 200 yards or so south of the entrance to the Winkler Ranch. Western and Mountain Bluebirds, Lark Sparrows, Vesper Sparrows, and one Savannah Sparrow along south of Castlewood Canyon State Park (Douglas).

Then finally went home for some sleep around 4:00pm.

Repeated Owling Trip

May 17, 2009

Richard Stevens:

I was asked to repeat last week's owling trip. After making a few calls we ended up with 9 birders. Two additional birders joined us at Lower Latham Reservoir, but they gave up before heading into the mountains.

Our three car caravan went up Kersey Road to Beebe Draw Ponds area (Weld). In the Beebe Draw Ponds area we found a couple of Red-necked Phalaropes, many Wilson's Phalaropes, American Avocets, dozens of Yellow-headed Blackbirds, Killdeer, a Stilt Sandpiper, and Black-necked Stilt.

At Lower Latham Reservoir (Weld) we saw just about the same (another 2 Red-necked Phalarope), Willet, Cattle Egret, and many Great-tailed Grackles. A few Red-necked Phalaropes! were still at Loloff Reservoir also.

Crow Valley Campground was quite productive as we relocated the Tennessee Warbler, Rose-breasted Grosbeak Veery, a White-throated Sparrow, and male Hooded Warbler. A Eastern Screech-Owl gave us nice looks also. Missed the Barn Owls again.

We found 2 Mountain Plovers in the field south of Weld County Road 96 at 1.7 miles west of CR 77. Burrowing Owls were found at CR 90 & CR 51 and Highway 14 & CR 51.

We had to drive up to Highway 85 and CR 114 to get out Chestnut-collared Longspurs. McCown's Longspurs, Brewer's Sparrows, Clay-colored Sparrows, and Lark Buntings were all over CR 96.

We passed by Cameron pass and drove to Walden Reservoir. Here we relocated the Red Phalarope and Red-necked Phalarope before it was too dark to see.

At Cameron Pass we found at least 6 Boreal Owls. Then continued to Pennock Pass where 2 Flammulated Owls were found.