CFO at Lamar

Colorado Field Ornithology held its annual meeting and bird festival in Lamar last weekend.  Lamar is in the southeast corner of the state in landscape of arid grasslands and open agricultural fields.  Why would birds be attracted to this dusty landscape ?   The Arkansas River's riparian and some private special places have created shelter belts and migrant traps for hungry tired birds.  This area also benefits from proximity to Kansas and Oklahoma.  Birds can't tell the difference.  Cardinals are common in Kansas, and rare in CO.  The SE corner of CO is the only place to see a Cardinal in CO.  The same holds true for Orchard Orioles.
      A highlight of the trip was a Golden-winged Warbler who found himself in one such oasis, sheltering from the strong winds.  We watched an active Raven nest as the adult came in to feed the nestlings.  Bullock's Orioles, Mississippi Kites, recently arrived vireos, sparrows, flycatchers, and thrushes.  Western Kingbirds were everywhere !
      Another Internet photo of a Northern Parula.  I cannot take photos like this during such windy weather.

      Weather was sunny, wind was forecasted at 40 - 50 mph.  Afternoon birding locations needed to be in sheltered areas.  Photos are available on CFO's  Facebook page.  E-bird reports are posted for May 6th and May 8th trips. 

    
Another posting coming soon.  I took some photos today of the rookery at Belmar Park.

Owl adventure

Boreal owls are known to come into the US along the Rocky Mountains, in the Great Lakes region, and sometimes at the New England border with Canada.  A small population has been observed in Colorado at Cameron Pass (10,276 ft) along Highway 14.  I was lucky to join the adventure.  This trip was organized by the Colorado State University student Bird Club, who invited members of Denver Field Ornithology to come along.
     We arrived at the parking area and started a 2.5 mile snow-shoe hike along Michigan Ditch Rd before dusk.  The snow was firm  "corn snow"  and we did not sink in much.  Estimating by the drifts along the short bit of plowed road, the snow was 4 feet deep.  As the sun set we had beautiful views to the north of the Never Summer range.  A Pine Grosbeak sang briefly from the top of a Fir tree.
     The group of fast hikers met the slow hikers at a trail junction and we had dinner together.  The group split into 3 small groups to watch at each of 3 potential nest cavities.  No action.  Leaders cautiously played a recording, and received a response.  We returned to the trail junction.  A Boreal Owl swooped in on silent wings and sat in a Spruce looking at the 22 humans who had invaded her territory.  It was an amazing experience to see a beautiful owl watching us.
     In complete darkness we hiked out with head-lamps, thinking of the Boreal Owl we had just seen.   Photo here is from Internet. I did not take any photos that night.
    

photo of me during the snow-shoe hike.  Karen's old wooden  BearPaw snow shoes created much discussion.  The metal  "foot fangs"  on the bottoms were quite helpful.

We had a few flurries of icy snow as we were standing around listening for the owl.  



I am glad the owl trip was last weekend because this weekend the bird trip is cancelled / postponed because of a big snowstorm blowing in tonight with about 6 inches forecasted.

Snow and Transportation

     Its been so warm and Springlike for a few weeks that everyone thought Spring was here.  Last Friday a snowstorm caught some people, including the bus system, by surprise.  Snow started Thursday night and accumulated quickly.  I watched many cars,trucks, and SUV's on the main roads. Where are the buses ?
     It melted from the streets during the afternoon and froze overnight.  Saturday morning slippery roads and icy highways caused many accidents.
      Tuesday night another storm was forecast.  This morning my neighborhood had 6 inches.  Silver truck stays home during snowstorms and I take the bus.  The office building is 13 stories;  my work section is on the 9th floor. I had a great view of a serious white-out blizzard when I arrived.  Strong wind was blowing snow sideways down Lincoln Ave.
      At 11:30 am we received the email announcement,  the building would be closing soon and all employees are asked to go home.  Wow !  Last Fall we were told the building had been closed for weather events only twice in the past 12 years.  Snow was much deeper now.
     Denver does not snow plow the streets.  You would think that the largest city in a state that is famous for winter snow would run snow plows on the streets.  Wrong !   This is the worst snow plowing of any place I have ever lived.  Apparently the city does have a few plow trucks, but they are used on the big interstate highways mostly.
     I stood at one bus stop for awhile with other people and gave up on that bus.  I walked down to Santa Fe Dr and stood for nearly 45 mins waiting for the First Ave bus.  Again, many cars, trucks, and SUV's  driving on the snowy roads,  but no buses.  A man who was also waiting thought we would be better off using the LightRail train.  OK, we walked 5 blocks to the LightRail station and I boarded a train.  Now, it does not take much to put me in a part of Denver I have never seen.  Then I learned the train to the southwest has stopped running because a tree fell onto the tracks.  A bus along Colfax St. was still running, and the bus going south on Wadsworth St. would go as far as Alameda.  I walked from there.  The entire transportation mis-adventure took  2.5 hours.

I cannot have a posting without a bird, so the Pine Siskin at the start is a nice bird to post.  While I was shoveling the driveway late afternoon, I saw flocks of House Finches flying over and landing in trees.  Robins, Flickers, and Starlings as well.  During the winter I made Peanut butter Suet for any birds who came to the backyard.  I ran out a week ago, and did not make more because of the Spring-like weather.  Now my birds need some more food.
     The other photo is Squirrel foot-prints.  A silly Squirrel was running around the train station in the midst of the storm.

mid-February

With a great scarcity of

birds at my backyard feeders I went to Bear Creek Park for Great Backyard Bird Count last weekend.  The lakes remain frozen, the creek yielded a few Mallards and a male Common Goldeneye floating downstream.  The remaining 16 species were residents of the winter dormant forest.  My contribution to Citizen Science.
      The Oregon Junco I saw on Saturday was hiding in a bush, so this is a photo I took 2 years ago.

Going out the next day I found a flock of American Tree Sparrows at Cherry Creek Park.  The camera decided not to focus on anything, so this is a not-focused picture. Of course the lake is still 98%  frozen, however some winter ducks managed to find a sliver of open water.  Common Mergansers, Common Goldeneyes,  a distant Scaup, and Hooded Mergansers were sharing water space with Ring-billed Gulls.  5 Bald Eagles were standing on the ice keeping watch.  They were even more distant than this Eagle I photographed a few weeks ago.

end of January

     The big excitement in the neighborhood is a new grocery store that opened in mid-January.  A sleepy strip mall on the corner of Wadsworth had a few cars at the TJ Max clothing store, a few more cars at the fitness center, and a mostly empty parking lot.  Sprouts is a natural foods store with good vegetables, fruits, and a large bulk section.  The  store is very popular, now the parking lot is full and finding an empty space requires much patience.  I wonder if the mattress store is having more business since Sprouts opened.
     My backyard feeders have been quiet, except for the Starlings and the squirrels.  I have suspected the unusually warm weather has allowed birds to find food elsewhere.  Today I found another answer. 

Its hard to attract little birds when there is one of these watching the feeders from a neighbor's tree  !!     (It can have all the Starlings it wants to eat.)

And this morning I was surprised to find a Bald Eagle across the street.




The top photo is a Gadwall, one of the continuing winter ducks in South Platte River.

Around and about

Its been awhile since there has been a serious snowstorm and the mountain roads are clear.  Sunday I drove into the foothills on highway 7 stopping at 2 known locations for winter birds.  It was a pretty blue sky day, cold and windy. 
    A herd of Rocky Mt Sheep was a surprise.

These are not my feeders !!    A Rosy-finch and a Pine Siskin share the feeder with American Goldfinches.   This one Common Redpoll was exciting.   I have not seen Redpolls since Winter 2010 - 2011 in Durham.  

Winter ducks can be found in several places along South Platte River as it runs thru Denver.   Canvasback is the only expected species I have not found yet.  They are reported in the area.  This Ring-necked Duck is looking serious about finding a mate.

Christmas Bird count # 2

       My 2nd count this season was at Barr Lake State Park, a very nice place.  Birders gathered at 7 am just inside the park.  I was assigned to Section 2, the east side of the lake.  Our first stop was a hedgerow of Cedar trees where we flushed 5 Long-eared Owls !!  I was impressed.  We walked from the boat ramp to the Nature Center, watched their feeders for a few minutes, and continued along the trail for another 1.5 miles to an observation platform.          
      Highlights were:  Bald Eagles wintering in numbers (we counted 25),  Common Mergansers that had found a small patch of open water, and a Northern Shrike, singing.  We found the 4 expected Sparrows:  Song, American Tree, House, and White-crowned.  At the Gazebo/ observation platform we found 2 unexpected birds, a Peregrine Falcon and a Say's Phoebe.
      Drama on the ice was observed.  An adult and an immature Eagle were sitting on the ice near a brown lump.  In the 'scope the brown lump became a Canada Goose, either stuck in the ice or sick.  Late in the morning the Eagles had fresh Goose for lunch.
      The total for the entire count circle was 73, considered low because the lake was frozen and there were no ducks to count.  (No ducks for the Peregrine to dine on, either)
      Photos of my feeder birds during Christmas weekend.  The top photo is a Flicker HYBRID, Red-shafted  X Yellow-shafted.  This Flicker below is a typical Red-shafted.  Notice the feeder he is sitting on !!

This sparrow showed up just after the snow stopped falling.  I took these photos through the kitchen window and posted them on the  Facebook page of Denver Field Ornithology. Local experts commented this bird could be a juvenile White-throated Sparrow.  !!!

A Spotted Towhee also came by.