Author: frbcadmin

Mountain Chickadee (c) Bill Schmoker

Beaver Ranch is a new location for our Front Range Birding Company bird walks.  It is located just off US 285 a bit southwest of Conifer (about 25 minutes from the store) and is operated and managed by a local non-profit in agreement with Jeffco Open Space.  It provides cabin rentals, camping sites, a disc golf course, multiple ziplines, and occasional weddings are held there.  So, it can potentially be a bit of a zoo on a summer Saturday morning. However, we are quickly learning how to find some of its quieter corners, and it has excellent habitat for birds.

Downy Woodpecker (c) Bill Schmoker – note the black spots in the outer tail feathers, also the faint red spotting on the crown = juvenile.

Our first hot spot of the day was out in open montane grassland between a dense willow carr and a few scattered Ponderosa.  The grassy area was punctuated with some dense stands of purple-headed thistles which were proving very attractive to a beautiful male Lesser Goldfinch and a Downy Woodpecker.  It was difficult to get a good look at the Downy, which had the dark shoulders of the interior west subspecies (eastern Downys, which are the ones generally seen in Denver, have more white spotting on the shoulders).  Verification that the bird was a Downy was quickly obtained by noting the black spots on the outer tail feathers.  The very similar, but larger, Hairy Woodpecker lacks those spots. 

Red-naped Sapsucker (c) Bill Schmoker

In this same vicinity, while we were noting the Violet-green Swallows, Broad-tailed Hummingbirds, Song Sparrows, and Lincoln’s Sparrows, we saw a woodpecker fly into a nearby Ponderosa. A quick look with the binocs noted the long, white wing-patch characteristic of a sapsucker.  However, our bird was a juvenile (as were many birds on Saturday), and it took us awhile to determine that we had a Red-naped Sapsucker and not a Williamson’s.  The only red coloring noted was in the chin area, the rest of the head being rather uniformly dark with a faint white mustache stripe.  There was extensive white-and-black mottling in the back, and a patch of yellow on the belly.  We got to see none of the characteristic red, black, and white head stripes that we associate with Red-naped Sapsuckers, and we had to remind ourselves that until 1983 the Red-naped was lumped with the eastern Yellow-bellied Sapsucker as a single species, so yes it would have some yellow on its belly.  It was great getting to walk ourselves through the process of identification, and to be able to come out eventually with an ID that we felt comfortable with.

Evening Grosbeak (c) Bill Schmoker

Continuing on our way we had a good time sorting through the Mountain Chickadees, all three nuthatch species, the numerous juvenile Gray-headed (Dark-eyed) Juncos with their nondescript spotted plumage, and a male Western Tanager.  We eventually wended our way to our second hotspot of the day – a coniferous riparian area with great willows along a small stream.  We just stood there and couldn’t take it all in fast enough. The prize was getting wonderful long looks at a juvenile Evening Grosbeak – appearing rather doofy – and being fed by dad.  But in the same small area we had both species of chickadees, Red-breasted and White-breasted Nuthatches, a Brown Creeper, a Yellow-rumped Warble, and a couple of Ruby-crowned Kinglets.  What fun!

Lark Sparrow (c) Bill Schmoker

So, then, we got back to our cars, thinking we were done, but in those final minutes we still got to see another Red-naped Sapsucker, a Barn Swallow, a Cliff Swallow, two Lark Sparrows, and a Brown-headed Cowbird.  A great way to round out our morning!

See you on another walk soon!

Chuck

Beaver Ranch, Aug 3, 2019
35 species

Broad-tailed Hummingbird  12
Turkey Vulture  5
Red-tailed Hawk  2
Red-naped Sapsucker  2
Downy Woodpecker  6
Hairy Woodpecker (Rocky Mts.)  1
Northern Flicker (Red-shafted)  1
Cordilleran Flycatcher  4
Steller’s Jay (Interior)  1
Common Raven  5
Violet-green Swallow  10
Barn Swallow  1
Cliff Swallow  1
Black-capped Chickadee  5
Mountain Chickadee  18
Red-breasted Nuthatch  6
White-breasted Nuthatch  9
Pygmy Nuthatch  25
Brown Creeper  1
Ruby-crowned Kinglet  2
Mountain Bluebird  5
Townsend’s Solitaire  1
American Robin  2
Evening Grosbeak  3
Red Crossbill  5
Pine Siskin  4
Lesser Goldfinch  2
Lark Sparrow  2
Dark-eyed Junco (Gray-headed)  14
Song Sparrow  7
Lincoln’s Sparrow  3
Red-winged Blackbird  8
Brown-headed Cowbird  1
Yellow-rumped Warbler  2
Western Tanager  1

Black-crowned Night-Heron (c) Bill Schmoker

So one of the first things to happen Saturday morning was that a Great Blue Heron flew in and landed in the branches of a cottonwood tree right beside us just as we were being surrounded by a family of loquacious Black-capped Chickadees.  And, then, we got to our first pond and got to see a beautiful adult Black-crowned Night-Heron with four juvenile Wood Ducks right beside it. It turns out that Tom Bush, owner of the Front Range Birding Company, later that same day saw six juvenile Wood Ducks hanging out with mom Wood Duck right in the same area.

Female Mallard (c) Bill Schmoker

The South Platte was moving along at a good clip, and the only waterfowl were a smattering of Mallards.  The males are totally in their eclipse plumage and best identified by their yellowish bill, as opposed to the female’s orange and black bill.  Song Sparrows along the river were singing in a number of places.

Chipping Sparrow (c) Bill Schmoker

Moving to the west side of the river we got to hear the ongoing screechy begging call of a nestling, (or juvenile) Red-tailed Hawk, and we saw one adult perched on a powerline pole.  Remember that the adult has the “red” (actually rust-colored) tail, and juveniles have dark and light banded tails with no red. In the same area we had a good sized flock of Chipping Sparrows, evidently prepping for the voyage south.

Juvenile Red-tail begging (c) Xeno-Canto:

Double-crested Cormorant (c) Bill Schmoker

So, what didn’t we see?  The sixty or so Cliff Swallows of a month ago were entirely gone from the Bowles Avenue bridge, as, for the most part, were the ubiquitous Yellow Warblers from all the cottonwoods in the area. We encountered no nuthatches, and only one Bullock’s Oriole.  There were no gulls flying by overhead, and no crows.  So, as we can expect with birds, nothing stays the same for very long.

Good Birding!
Chuck

Hudson Gardens, July 27, 2019
26 species (+1 other taxa)

Canada Goose  9
Wood Duck  4
Mallard  9
Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon)  4
Mourning Dove  3
Broad-tailed Hummingbird  3
hummingbird sp.  1
Double-crested Cormorant  2
Great Blue Heron  2
Black-crowned Night-Heron  1
Red-tailed Hawk  1
Belted Kingfisher  1
Northern Flicker  18
Say’s Phoebe  1
Blue Jay  1
Black-billed Magpie  2
Black-capped Chickadee  12
American Robin  3
House Finch  17
Lesser Goldfinch  1
American Goldfinch  7
Chipping Sparrow  14
Song Sparrow  5
Bullock’s Oriole  1
Red-winged Blackbird  6
Brown-headed Cowbird  1
Yellow Warbler  1

Savannah Sparrow (c) Bill Schmoker

Meyer Ranch provides a wonderful array of habitats – montane meadow, montane shrubland, mid-elevation willow carr, mixed aspen-conifer forest, pure aspen forest, ponderosa pine forest, Douglas-fir forest, lodgepole pine forest, wetlands, stream, cliffs, bridges, culverts, power poles, etc…. WHEW!  In turn, this wide array of habitats results in a wide array of birds, particularly during breeding season.  Remember that getting to know your habitats will help you become a better birder.

Black-headed Grosbeak (c) Bill Schmoker

I arrived at Meyer Ranch about 45 minutes before my group showed up from the Front Range Birding Company, and in that time recorded about 25 species.  Unfortunately, seven of these did not remain around for the group – Say’s Phoebe, Steller’s Jay, Common Raven, Hermit Thrush, Pine Siskin, Red Crossbill, and Black-headed Grosbeak.  However, once the group was there, we had our own suite of birds, including about ten that I had failed to see earlier.  So it goes in the birding world.

Cliff Swallows (c) Bill Schmoker

Even before we got out of the parking lot, we could see that someone had knocked down all the Cliff Swallow nests on the US 285 bridge over South Turkey Creek Road.  A sad piece of news, since back in mid-May over one hundred Cliff Swallows were recorded in this area.  So, here’s the scoop on the removal of these nests.  This was done by the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT), and in compliance with the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA).  This means that as long as birds had not initiated egg-laying, CDOT was playing by the rules.  Their approach, which began in April this year, was to remove old nests in anticipation of construction projects scheduled for this summer.  They then continued to remove nests, as birds started to rebuild, in an attempt to discourage them from nesting in that area, which seemed to eventually work.

Cliff Swallow (c) Bill Schmoker

The reason for needing to discourage Cliff Swallows from nesting on the bridges is that if the birds are nesting at the time that a project eventually gets rolling, and that project then, subsequently creates a problem for the birds, then CDOT realizes that they would not be in compliance with the MBTA.  So, they try to be proactive.  It appears that there have been a number of projects along US 285 this year, so I think we need to give CDOT the benefit of the doubt, at least for this year.  What’s not clear is how much this could be anticipated to be an annual event, and whether there will be future years when the swallows will be allowed to breed once again with no disruptions.

Dark-eyed (gray-headed) Junco

Getting on with our walk, we had a number of highlights, including getting to see and hear singing Savannah Sparrows from very close.  We also got to hear two Williamson’s Sapsuckers calling and a Vesper Sparrow but failed to see them.  We had a nice variety of plumages for Yellow-rumped (Audubon’s) Warblers from a brightly colored male to a very drab first-year bird.  We definitely enjoyed getting to see a pair of Dark-eyed (Gray-headed) Juncos taking turns bringing in beak-fulls of food to their nestlings.  The latter we couldn’t see, but we could definitely tell where their ground nest was.  Finally, as a final treat we got to briefly hear a Wilson’s Snipe calling.

Of course, at this time of year we also spent a good amount of time enjoying the great variety of flowers. The columbine are reaching their peak.

Good birding!
Chuck

Meyer Ranch, Jul 6, 2019
26 species

Broad-tailed Hummingbird  11
Wilson’s Snipe  2
Williamson’s Sapsucker  2
Hairy Woodpecker (Rocky Mts.)  1
Northern Flicker (Red-shafted)  2
Dusky Flycatcher  1
Cordilleran Flycatcher  2
Empidonax sp.  1
Warbling Vireo  6
Violet-green Swallow  3
Barn Swallow  8
Cliff Swallow  4
Mountain Chickadee  2
White-breasted Nuthatch  1
Brown Creeper  1
House Wren  3
Ruby-crowned Kinglet  8
Mountain Bluebird  2
American Robin  7
Chipping Sparrow  7
Dark-eyed Junco (Gray-headed)  9
Vesper Sparrow  1
Savannah Sparrow  3
Song Sparrow  4
Red-winged Blackbird  5
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Audubon’s)  4
Western Tanager  1

Red-winged Blackbird male with Common Grackle male in background at far left. Photo courtesy of Stephen VanGorder.

FRBC Boulder’s May 11 bird walk started on a clear to partly cloudy and a balmy 50-degree morning in Boulder, Colorado for our group of twelve birders on Bobolink Trail. Bobolink Trail is a flat, walkable trail that runs north to south along a section of South Boulder Creek between Baseline Rd and South Boulder Rd just west of Baseline Reservoir. We started the walk from the East Boulder Community Center at 55th St and Sioux Dr, on a path which connects to Bobolink Trail in about the middle of its run. A walking trail runs close to the creek, while a multi-use trail runs along an open – and sometimes wet – field where cattle graze. There are patches of cattail marsh throughout the open space, and there are a couple of ponds at the East Boulder Community Center. Having all of these different habitats in one place means that there are opportunities to see and hear many different bird species: riparian birds like warblers and flycatchers, birds of the open fields like meadowlarks and Bobolinks, marsh birds such as rails and Red-winged Blackbirds, and waterfowl at the ponds.

American Kestrel female with prey. Photo courtesy of Stephen VanGorder.

We had hardly left the parking lot to head to the trail when we had our first highlight of the day: a female American Kestrel with prey perched on the trail sign near 55th St. The kestrel looked as though she had gone for a swim to catch her prey, which appeared to be a small mammal. The trail was fairly busy that morning with numerous walkers, joggers, cyclists and pets on the trail, and yet this kestrel sat calmly on her perch, watching the traffic go by. Moments later we saw a male American Kestrel – presumably her mate – flying around in the same area.

As we approached the trail sign, the whinnying call of a Sora rang out from a tiny patch of cattails mere feet away from the concrete path. The Sora is a short-billed species of rail, birds which excel at not being seen as they skulk through tall, thick marsh vegetation. Have you ever heard the expression “thin as a rail?” To get around more easily in said tall, thick marsh vegetation, rails’ bodies are laterally compressed, making them look tall and thin from the front. The jury is still out on whether the expression “thin as a rail” refers to the shape of these birds, but it makes sense when you see one head-on! Unfortunately but unsurprisingly, we never did see the stealthy Sora, but just knowing it was nearby was pretty cool. Even better, on our way back by this spot later, we heard the whinny calls of not one but TWO Sora in these cattails!

American Robin. Photo courtesy of Stephen VanGorder.

As we approached the pedestrian bridge over South Boulder Creek, we paused for several moments to watch a Blue-gray Gnatcatcher forage and a female Common Grackle busy herself with nest-building, both birds in trees very close to the bridge for great viewing.

The morning was full of spring birdsong: Red-winged Blackbirds, American Robins, Yellow-rumped Warblers, Western Meadowlarks, and House Wrens could all be heard singing from wherever we were on the trail. We had some beautiful views of singing Western Meadowlarks in the spotting scope. Another earbirding highlight of the day was a Brewer’s Sparrow singing in a mixed flock of Chipping and Brewer’s Sparrows near the playing fields at the East Boulder Community Center. And speaking of warblers, the group had some great looks at the Audubon’s and Myrtle forms of Yellow-rumped Warbler, a somewhat-cooperative Orange-crowned Warbler, and a beautiful singing male Yellow Warbler on the way back to the trailhead near where the Sora were calling.

Canada Geese with goslings. Photo courtesy of Stephen VanGorder.

Another sign of spring: the Canada Geese already have goslings hatching! We observed one little family grazing together near the community center and other pairs with young swimming on the ponds.

Thank you very much to Stephen VanGorder, who generously sent us these great photos he took during the bird walk for use on our blog.

See you next time – let’s go birding!

~Sarah Spotten

Bobolink Trail in Boulder, Colorado, May 11, 2019
36 species (+2 other taxa)
Canada Goose 20 (estimated)
Mallard 6
Eurasian Collared-Dove 3
Mourning Dove 4
Broad-tailed Hummingbird 4
Sora 2
Killdeer 1
Wilson’s Snipe 4
Double-crested Cormorant 1
Great Blue Heron 3
Turkey Vulture 1
Red-tailed Hawk 2
Downy Woodpecker 2
American Kestrel 2
Blue Jay 2
Black-billed Magpie 3
American Crow 1
Violet-green Swallow 7
Barn Swallow 4
Cliff Swallow 2
swallow sp. 20 (estimated)
House Wren 5
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 1
American Robin 10
European Starling 6
House Finch 2
American Goldfinch 8
Chipping Sparrow 5
Brewer’s Sparrow 5
Song Sparrow 4
Western Meadowlark 4
Red-winged Blackbird 30 (estimated)
Brown-headed Cowbird 6
Common Grackle 30 (estimated)
Orange-crowned Warbler 1
Yellow Warbler 2
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle) 4
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Audubon’s) 6