of Christmas counts and snow

When people at work ask me what I am doing for Christmas, I tell them I already had Christmas with my family during Thanksgiving week.  It has been a long time since we were all in the house at the same time.
     Saturday was the Denver Christmas Bird Count.  The count circle is in the southwest metro area, a bit  "gerrymandered" to include Chatfield State Park. At 8:45 am  I joined a small group of women in Area 20, near the center of the count circle.  Its a mostly residential area with a few ponds.  We found the expected residents, and many American Crows.  The ponds/ lakes were mostly frozen with ducks and geese standing on the ice.  The group dis-banded at lunchtime, and I drove the neighborhoods in the northern part of Area 20 looking for feeders attracting small birds.  Harriman Lake had a sliver of open water with several ducks and geese.  5 pairs of Hooded Mergansers were the day's best bird for me.
     The evening compilation potluck was a fun event.  A count total of 105 species was considered average.
      Monday (14th) in the evening and Tuesday the 15th we had a snowstorm.  10 - 12 inches was more than the forecasters and the city expected.  I am not driving in that much snow !!  I took a bus to work for 4 days.  After 2 days the main arterial streets and highways were clear enough, but the snowplows never came to my neighborhood.   Boooooo !   The local streets became icy and slippery and waited until the daytime temperatures melted the ice over the weekend.

a few photos of winter ducks and snowy mountains.   Top photo is a Green winged Teal,  above photo is Mt Elbert from Hwy 24,  to the right is a Ring necked Duck.

not our neighborhood, a local winter scene

early December

Thanksgiving week temperatures dropped below 30 F and the ponds began freezing.  Gadwall and other ducks have arrived, and are finding less open water to swim.
      This morning I saw American Wigeons, Bufflehead, and a pair of Ring-necked Ducks on a lake to the north.  A firm skin of ice claimed most of the pond leaving the ducks and Geese only a little open water.

I spent Thanksgiving week in NH and CT with family.  Good times. 
    This Great Blue Heron was photographed in Oyster River, NH on a misty morning.

White Pelicans on the move, not flying in a V like the Geese.

Walden Pond near Boulder, looking west

And the BIG news,  a new LIFE bird !!   Its a Pink-footed Goose.  My sister knew about it landing in CT and we drove to the pond in central CT to see it.   This is an internet photo, I did not get pictures of it.  The goose we saw was swimming with the Canada Geese and did not display its pink feet.

Fall in photos

 The season of colorful leaves has come.  Aspen in golden autumn dress.

Aspen with orange leaves at the top, yellow leaves below.










 Aspens drop their leaves on a trail.

Barberry turns bright red in the Fall



                                                                                        

A Ferruginous Hawk sat on a fence post at the edge of a county road.

Prospect Pond at Cottonwood nature area in Fort Collins.

female Belted Kingfisher on a railing.  This foot bridge was decorated for a Halloween event at Barr Lake State Park.

Last week Denver had a few days of rain.  This happened in the mountains.

Perspective

A new perspective.   Its early October and I am not packing up and leaving employee housing, nor driving to a new place in a few weeks. I have not been hiking every  day-off in beautiful places of mountains and flowers.   My clothes will stay in the closet and I can find paper clips and envelopes in the same place.  I have been to a few Sunday afternoon movies.  It's a good thing.
       Last night I went to a presentation titled "Subirdia"  at the Denver Museum of Science and Nature.  The researcher had studied urban and suburban birds interacting with their habitat for several years.  It was a fascinating talk.  He found the birds in and around cities could be divided into Avoiders (avoiding human settlements if possible), Adapters (will do OK in lightly settled areas), and Exploiters (who will use human made structures to their own advantage).
       A few random photos:

 Willows by a creek

Black-billed Magpie

Showy Milkweed, a different species than the eastern version

Yellow-headed Blackbird looking at its friend, "What did you say ?"

Rocky Mt Park

Last Saturday I drove north to RMNP and arrived quite early.  Elk were very active in the meadows at Moraine.  Bugling males were very exciting to listen to. A dominant bull with full antlers sang, splashed across a creek, and battled a bush.  I did not see any fighting, the big males seemed to be more interested in the females.  One large male sat in a field 100 feet from the road and did his bugling sitting down.  Another bull walked between the parked cars and stood 10 feet away from a man doing video with his iPad.  That bull was not afraid of people !
     I drove up Trail Ridge Road to the summit, and found it very windy. Tundra plants are almost finished blooming. I felt like I would be blown off the mountain so I descended back down to the valley.  Aspen leaves are golden on some hillsides, and still green in dense clumps in lower forests.  Sprague Lake was very pretty to walk around.  I found a few birds:  Pygmy Nuthatches, Grey-headed Juncos, Mountain Bluebirds, American Pipits, and Townsend's Solitaires.
    I was lucky to get a camp space, most of the campgrounds are all reserved. 




Arctic Gentian

I was lucky to stop for a "Moose jam"  and even better to get a few photos of Mama Moose and her little calf.









The Rockies are a very old mountain range and the peaks are rounded from erosion.  This is so different from the sharp craggy Tetons that are much younger. 

I decided to post this photo anyway.  The bold Elk meets technology

early September

Smoke from the big wildfires in California and Washington covered Denver with blue-grey haze for more than a week.  I was reminded of the old saying  "Red sky in the morning, sailors take warning."  What about a red sun in the morning ?
     Local bird experts say migration has barely started.  Warm temperatures are keeping birds to the north longer than usual. Sunday a week ago I joined a day-trip to NE Colorado visiting Prewitt and Jackson Reservoirs as well as several playa ponds.  The leader did a proper ebird report and used 8 checklists !!  Highlights were Baird's Sandpipers, Stilt Sandpipers, Wilson's and Red-necked Phalaropes, Red-headed Woodpeckers, and Franklin's Gulls. A Dickcissel and a Long-billed Curlew had wandered in from another state. They are not usually found here.

     Labor Day weekend I went out each morning. Saturday with a small group at Cherry Creek State Park. A group of Forster's Terns was fun to watch. Other highlights were a Sora who came out of the reeds to be seen, a Solitary Sandpiper, and 3 species of Grebes (Western, Eared, and Pied billed).  Swainson's Hawks are gathering for their trip south.
     Sunday to Pawnee Grasslands, also in NE Colorado.  In the Cottonwood groves Wilson's and Townsend's Warblers were foraging for insects, along with the Flycatchers.  This is a well known stopover for Hammond's, Dusky, and Cordilleans.
     Monday I took Dolphin-kayak to Barr Lake State Park.  That poor boat has not been in the water for a long time.  It spent the winter and spring in a barn on my friend Sandy's property.  I was able to bring it to Denver a few weeks ago.

No photos of shorebirds or warblers.  :(   The top picture is a pond behind the library, home to a successful Cormorant and Snowy Egret rookery.
     Belmar Park has a boardwalk/ gazebo area on shoreline that is home to several Barn Swallow nests.  The 2nd photo is the only picture I was able to capture of the adult Swallow feeding a fledgling. 
     These 4 little ones are almost ready to try their wings.

August mid-season

My first living place in Denver did not work out at all, and I was out in a few weeks.  I moved a bit west to the city-suburb of Lakewood, and its much better.  Barn Swallows were nesting in the carport when I moved in.
        I joined Denver Field Ornithologists and met some nice people on field trips.  Earlier in the summer I saw Western Grebes at Barr Lake.  During a recent field trip at Barr Lake we watched Western Grebes with fuzzy gray greblings who were very interested in the minnows offered by the parent.

       Yellow-headed Blackbirds were enjoying the sunshine and preening.  
     Next weekend I will join the group for a trip to a few good shorebird places to the NE.  It seems like shorebird migration is half-over. 

Penstemon is a favorite flower.  They grow in dry, rocky, inhospitable places with beautiful flowers.

Mid-summer

Mornings dawn clear and blue, most of the time.  By lunch time there are a few clouds to the west and by mid-afternoon big cumulus clouds are growing over the mountains.  Rain falls sometimes, in random parts of the city.  When I lived in central valley California I was used to the Mediterranean-type climate where you could leave a car window open until October and not see any rain.  Not so here !!
     Last Saturday I joined a small group of birders for a walk around Echo Lake.  At 10,600 ft we walked slowly !  The restaurant is popular for breakfast and lunch.  Birders come to watch the hummingbird feeders.

     A Rufous hummingbird busy chasing away the Broad-tailed hummer males.

This Yellow-breasted Chat surprised me during a walk at White Ranch Open Space park.  even more surprising that I could snap a picture of it !!

A young Robin standing on the trail, perhaps the parents have stopped feeding it.

Anthem

     I am doing training with a roomful of people, and an enthusiastic young woman who is the instructor.  There is no thick paper manual or binder, its all on computer now.  Each new employee has their own computer.  We have adequate breaks from our chairs, and the cafeteria is at the other end of the hallway.  Considering this is an 11-story building we are lucky to have the lunch room so close.
     Dress code ?   Everyone is wearing pants, except for the obese ladies wearing dresses. 
There is a bike rack in the front of the parking garage.  Maybe Thursday I can start riding Fuji-bike to work, when the rain storms clear away.
     I spent the Fourth of July holiday weekend with my friend Sandy at her house in the forest.  We went hiking at 2 nice places to the west of her place.  This Eastern Kingbird, above, was most cooperative.


Paintbrush,  and Penstemon.  2 beautiful wildflowers of the open meadows.









Western Wallflower at Tarryall Reservoir off Highway  24                                                   

Denver

The mile high city.  I accepted the job on Friday, and confirmed renting a room in an apartment in the southeast corner of Denver.  Hurray !!  It is true I am not a city person, I am glad to end this bout of unemployment.  Bus routes look good between the apartment and the office location.
     Early morning Saturday I went walking at Bobcat Ridge.  Birds were singing in the cool morning air.  A Yellow Warbler, Western Kingbirds near a nest site, a beautiful Lazuli Bunting male, and an Eastern Kingbird.  That surprised me.  An Eastern Kingbird in the same morning on the same trail as a group of Western Kingbirds.
     I have no photos of any of those birds, so I will close with the Red Crossbill family on the railing at my friend's house.  Top photo is Dad and Mom Red Crossbil, below is their recently fledged young one.  A few times I watched it begging Dad for food.

June

I have been looking in and around Denver, and will let everyone know when the good news happens.  In between phone calls, interviews, and internet sessions I have been walking in good bird places.  One morning I heard the calls of what sounded like a Blue Jay.  Not believing that Blue Jays came this far west I kept walking.  Later on I met a local birder who told me, Yes, there are Blue Jays here and they are successful.
     Other nice birds I have seen this Spring include Bullock's Orioles, Black-headed Grosbeaks, and Red Crossbills.  My one new Life Bird for this year was the Gunnison Sage-Grouse.
     3 years ago I spent the winter in Greeley, CO.  We traveled a few times to a marsh to see Owls and Harriers.  Another big surprise this year was in the Spring, when shallow ponds melt, many ducks and wading birds come to this marsh.  Photographs taken at Latham Marsh.  Above is a Black-necked Stilt calling.  Below a Cinnamon Teal looking beautiful.

Staying around

Hello blog readers.  No, I was not eaten by a bear, nor did I become lost in the forest.  I will say, bluntly, this winter was a difficult experience and I may never work for Vail again. (my choice).  Vail put the employees in a bad situation, and then made things worse.  I have been working for awhile on recovering my sanity.
     I have some good leads on real jobs that pay twice as much as working at the parks.  As much as I love Grand Tetons Park, the next time I go there I will be a visitor.
     A photo of the Evening Grosbeaks that come to my friend's feeders.

Snowboarding event

The 2015 US Open for Snowboarding was held at Vail this year.  As in February, being a spectator is free.  There much less formal structure to this event;  no stadium, no security for all spectators, and no presentation of flags for each country participating.  Spectators walked up the sleep slopes along a fence protecting the half-pipe.  I stood at a good vantage point to be able to see the half-pipe competition and the slope-style riders.

 The women were competing the day I went to see the event.  Participants are judged on style, technique, and the  "tricks"  performed.  Judges use the tall posts in the background to determine the height of each rider's acrobatic tricks.  "Getting good air"  is a goal.

This is slope style.  A rider achieves  "good air" coming up a steep slope and launches a trick at the top.

I wonder how many times he fell while learning this trick.

A rider with good form in the air.