No Uncommon Birds at Rocky Mountain Arsenal or Cherry Creek Reservoir

November 27, 2012

Richard Stevens:

No uncommon birds to report today.  Temperatures were warmer than yesterday and winds mild. 

Rebecca Kosten and I stopped by Rocky Mountain Arsenal (Adams County) while out doing chores.  Three American Tree Sparrows and Dark-eyed Juncos were the only non-Red-winged Blackbirds to visit the Contact Station feeders.

On the way to dinner, we stopped at the bird observation platform at Cherry Creek Reservoir (Arapahoe).  A few California Gulls were mixed in with 231 Ring-billed Gulls.  The only shorebirds on the mudflats were Killdeer.

The lake was like a mirror with the lack of wind.  Unfortunately, no scoters, loons or swans were among the many Western Grebes.  At least one Eared Grebe and Pied-billed Grebe were also observed.

The colorful sunset and full moon were the highlights of the trip.

Return Trip to Boulder County

November 26, 2012

Richard Stevens:

After reading about an escaped Gyrfalcon, Rebecca Kosten and I drove the county roads between Parker Road and Aurora Reservoir (Arapahoe to Douglas Counties).  I drive these roads many times in a year and know them quite well.  Perhaps I could find the bird.  It was not to be.

On the way south toward Parker, we passed the eastern Denver Lakes and stopped for a quick look at the thousands of White-cheeked Geese (mostly Cackling Geese).  A Greater White-fronted Goose was among hundreds of White-cheeked Geese on Lakecrest.  A Ross's Goose was on Emerald Strand Park Pond.  Another Greater White-fronted Goose was with hundreds of White-cheeked Geese at the Green Valley Recreation Center Pond.

The weather today was much different from yesterday.  Temperatures were 22+ degrees lower; winds were calm most of the day.  It felt quite cold.  We passed a bank around 3:00 pm with the temperature displayed.  If accurate, it was 27 degrees out, definitely cold!

It was late morning, Rebecca and I did not feel like going home to be stuck indoors.  Instead, we picked up a non-birding friend and headed to Boulder County.  I had missed most of the uncommon birds there last week and thought to "give it another try".

We arrived at Baseline Reservoir shortly before 1:00 pm.  Several birders were there and had not found the flock of Common Redpolls.  As I walked Cherryvale, a flock of small finch like birds flew from the west of Cherryvale to the south end of Baseline Reservoir.  They were 32 Common Redpolls.  No American Goldfinches accompanied them today. 

Photos can be found at:
http://coloradobirdingsociety.net16.net/recentwitnessphotos.htm

The five adult and three juvenile Tundra Swans "rested" on a sandbar on Baseline Reservoir.  The lone American White Pelican was also there.  A flock of Pelicans came through just two days earlier, and then left.  Perhaps this lone Pelican is injured and could not join them on their trip south?

Our next stop was Hawthorn Gulch at the northwest corner of Boulder.  The pump house where the male Northern Cardinal has been seen is about 400 yards up the switchbacks.  The view of Boulder is superb along the switchbacks.

A dozen Dark-eyed Juncos fluttered about the willows around the pump house.  A Townsend's Solitaire "hawked" insects just ten feet from us.  After about 20 minutes, the Northern Cardinal came from below the trail and hid in the willows around the pump house.  Several witness shots (same webpage above) were taken.  He never exposed himself in the open, so no great shots.

Rebecca was cold so I dropped her off at a local fast food restaurant and made the next stop on my own.  A half hour walk at Cottonwood Marsh, Walden Ponds was productive.  A Swamp Sparrow popped out of the cattails for about 10 seconds.  Location was halfway between the most western boardwalk and the closure sign at the natural area.

Then I drove around to the northeast corner of the property (75th Street and Boulder Creek) hoping to find additional Swamp Sparrows or the Winter Wren reported last week.  Neither of those birds was found. 

However, a great bonus/consolation was a pair of Rusty Blackbirds walking the northern shore of Boulder Creek.  They popped in and out of the tall grasses along the shore at about 200-300 yards west of 75th street.

After picking up Rebecca, we made one final stop at North Teller Lake # 5.  It was now late in the day; I walked around the windbreak at the parking area looking for the Golden-crowned Sparrow found last week. 

The Golden-crowned Sparrow was not among 60+ House Sparrows.  Neither was it under the fallen down cottonwood east of the parking area (this is where Bryan and I found it last week, with half a dozen American Tree Sparrows).  It was cold and getting dark; the sparrows may have been there and not leaving the ground (tall grasses made searching difficult).

While on the walk, I heard the calls of thousands of geese.  It was a deafening sound but entertaining to a birder.  However, the geese could not be seen.  I walked over to Teller Lake, which turned out to be almost dry.  Only a couple of Ring-billed Gulls stood around, no geese?  I never saw the crowd that was making the thunderous noise.

We savored another outstanding day of birding on the drive home!

Afternoon Trip to Cherry Creek Reservoir

November 25, 2012

Richard Stevens:

In the afternoon, Rebecca and I drove over to Cherry Creek Reservoir (Arapahoe).  We found a Rusty Blackbird on the mudflats between the Prairie Loop and the Lake Loop.  No loons were found on the lake.  The only shorebirds were Killdeer.  No uncommon gulls could be found either.

The Harris's Sparrow was not found behind the Barr Lake Visitor's Center.  Raptors along the DIA Owl Loop included a Ferruginous Hawk, 4 Rough-legged Hawks, 2 Red-tailed Hawks, 2 American Kestrel and no owls.

An Aurora Pine Warbler

November 25, 2012

Richard Stevens:

I finally answered my phone calls this morning.  That is a mistake I will try not to make in the future.  Several great bird reports were on the phone.

An Aurora homeowner had a Pine Warbler visiting his yard for the past three days.  Rebecca and I drove over and relocated the Pine Warbler which visited his feeders every half hour or so.  Unfortunately, the owner preferred not to have a lot of birders visit.  I had called Jerry Petrosky and he also saw the bird.  We thanked the owner and I gave him my field guide for future reference.

Gone now, Bill Cryder had watched an adult Great Black-backed Gull at Aurora Reservoir (Arapahoe) from Thanksgiving 11/22 to 11/24.  One showed up at Pueblo Reservoir (Pueblo) and could be the same bird?

Ptarmigan & Northern Pygmy-Owl Search, Clear Creek to Douglas Counties

November 24, 2012

Richard Stevens:

I returned to Guanella Pass (Clear Creek County) with three Georgia birders today.  The weather was fair with temperatures in the high 40s and mild winds (16+ mph is mild for up there). 

This was after a brief trip into Summit County for Rosy Finches and mountain birds.  We relocated the Barrow's Goldeneyes on Lake Dillon and the Angler Mountain Ranch Pond.  The Lake Dillon Surf Scoter was not relocated.  We also found a pair of Barrow's Goldeneyes on the Blue River Water Treatment Plant.

Guanella Pass is a beautiful Colorado location.  Trying to forget the many hours, I have missed White-tailed Ptarmigan, that can be a problem.  Someday, I will have to add those hours up (not today).

Four of us searched over three hours on the southeast hills.  Then we dropped down the 603 trail to the flats and walked over to the lake (not named as far as I can find out).  Finally, we found a pair of White-tailed Ptarmigan sitting on a small patch of snow deep in the willows along the east side of the lake.

Heading back toward Denver by way of Grant, we stopped at the closure gate and listened for American Three-toed Woodpeckers.  A favorite spot in past year, none was found today.

Once on highway 285, we detoured the six miles over to Pine Valley Ranch Park (Jefferson).  Hoping we did not have to make the whole six mile loop to find a Three-toed Woodpecker, we took Buck Gulch Trail toward the Skipper Trail.  A female Three-toed Woodpecker was eventually found calling 20 yards east of the Buck Gulch Trail and 200 yards south of the Park Boundary sign (one of Merlynn Brown's favorite spots to find them)!

We split into two groups (limited to two radios) and took separate routes back to the parking area.  Our target bird was an elusive Northern Pygmy-Owl.  While most of the previous successful locations were examined, no owls were found.

We then drove up and down Pine Road (Harold Holt's favorite "Northern Pygmy-Owl drive") without finding a Pygmy Owl. 

The other three birders were game, what the heck, now completely dark, we drove the Platte River Road to Deckers, then highway 67 past Cheesman Reservoir (now in Douglas County) and back to toward Denver. 

The detour route along Sugar Creek Road finally ended our torment.  Well, mine, seven unsuccessful hours of searching and dozens of stops, we finally found a Northern Pygmy-Owl (at about 1.2 miles south of hwy 67). 

 It was a superb night out, with mild temperatures and little wind.  Still, seven hours is a long time to search and miss a bird. 

Trip Around Morgan and Weld Counties

November 23, 2012

Jerry Petrosky;

Richard Stevens and I birded in Morgan and Weld Counties.  We wanted to explore as many WIAs as possible in the nine and a half hours of daylight.  As a result, most of the public birding areas, reservoirs and parks usually searched were skipped today.  The day was colder than average but still nice for this time of year.

We arrived at Brush Wildlife Area in Morgan County 30 minutes before sunrise.  The resident Eastern Screech Owls could not be found.  A male Red-bellied Woodpecker called from the northwest corner of the Wildlife Area.  As Richard says, the area was very quiet.

We walked as quickly as possible over seven WIAs south of Brush.  Because of our limited daylight, our emphasis was in areas that the "major" creek, Beaver Creek ran through.  Although the creek is dry, it provides some riparian areas where migrating birds may use.

The WIAs east of Highway 71, mostly between Morgan County Roads I and C fit this requirement.  Few rare birds were found.  Mostly Horned Larks and longspurs were found.  Lapland Longspurs were the majority, in fact all but one McCown's Longspur.

A Field Sparrow for Morgan County was at WIA 33-C.
Savannah Sparrows were found at 31-H and 33-B
A late Grasshopper Sparrow was found at 15-F

After a quick lunch in Brush, we continued north along Highway 71 and stopped at nine of the twenty-seven WIAs north of Highway 34 and south of Hwy 14.  The WIAs were split about 50:50 between Morgan and Weld Counties.

Horned Larks out numbered any other species of birds.  Most of the WIAs here were grasslands with little riparian area.  Lapland Longspurs were the only representatives of their family.

We did find any Savannah Sparrow at WIA 31-JJ; which is in Morgan County.

To summarize, our only "Ammodramus" sparrow was the Grasshopper Sparrow in Morgan County.

Historically, Baird's and Henslow's Sparrows are seen in October (no November records), while Le Conte's Sparrow sightings peak in November and December.  Reference: November, 2012 "Colorado Field Notes".

Le Conte's Sparrows are usually reported in marshy areas with cattails.  We did not come upon such a habitat all day.  Although we kept our hopeful, eyes open to a possible sighting.

Raptors included three Prairie Falcons, two Merlin, many Red-tailed Hawks, many Rough-legged Hawks and a few American Kestrels throughout the day.

I enjoyed the company and exploring areas not visited before!  Thanks Richard!

Early Morning Drive to Weld County

November 22, 2012

Jerry Petrosky;

Rich Stevens and I visited a friend's ranch east of Prospect Valley. The ranch has two Long-eared Owls in its windbreak. Owner Bob saw a Golden crowned Sparrow last Sunday and again Monday. It did not return today.

We stopped at Banner Lakes Wildlife Area also Weld County. A Long-eared Owl was in the windbreak along the western side of Ponds 6-8.

Happy Thanksgiving!