Front Range
Birding Blog

Grasslands are an iconic habitat of Colorado, although often overlooked since they lie in the shadow of the epic landscapes of Rocky Mountain National Park. However, grasslands and prairies account for a good percentage of Colorado natural areas. Sadly, in today’s day and age these crucial wildlife habitats are fragmented by roads and development, grazed…

As Saturday’s participants will attest Beaver Ranch, which is operated and managed by a local non-profit in agreement with Jeffco Open Space, is an “interesting” place.  It provides cabin rentals, camping sites, a disc golf course, and multiple ziplines, and occasionally weddings are held there.  So, on a summer Saturday morning it’s pretty much guaranteed…

Until 2020, I only thought of Lagerman Reservoir in Boulder County as a good place to stop for a bathroom break when driving the Boulder County Raptor Loop for winter raptors. Boy, was I wrong! Last year, Lagerman was featured in multiple rare bird alerts during spring and fall migration sparking my curiosity (and that…

As our group approached the Chatfield banding station it was not without some apprehensiveness.  The previous day Meredith McBurney, who runs the banding station along with her banding assistants, had recorded only three birds in a five-hour period.  Were we going to strikeout and not have any birds in the hand?  We could see that…

It was a beautiful morning of birdwatching and banding at Sombrero Marsh, in partnership with Thorne Nature Experience. We began by taking a short walk down to the bird blind that overlooks the marsh. In addition to the large flocks of Canada Geese, there were quite a few Green-Winged Teal, as well as Mallards and…

Early morning has the reputation for being the best time to go birding. It’s definitely a sweet spot for peak bird activity, but as the days get longer, you might find it convenient to bird later in the day. On April 2, we met at Stearns Lake at 5:30 pm. Even before leaving the parking…

It’s about a two-mile hike around Harriman Lake on a nice wide path.  The size of the lake is small enough that it’s possible to scan it with binoculars and be able to pick out most of the waterfowl, thus, for the most part, negating the need for a spotting scope.  Of course, a scope…

Hudson Gardens Field Trip – Mar 27, 2021 8:00 starting time Led by Patti Galli Wow, what a great start this morning! The weather was beautiful – sunny skies with the early temperature hovering around 35 degrees and it just kept getting nicer as the morning went along. Spring is almost here, and with it…

Leader Patti Galli, nine participants. Sunny, clear and 24 degrees at 8:00 starting time. It turned out to be another beautiful Colorado morning.  The temperature was indeed wonderful and we spotted a total of 23 species.We saw several common visitors in and around the area. Most of our group really considered themselves asbeginners, but they…

Hudson Gardens Field Trip – Jan 30, 2021 , 8:00am start time Led by Patti Galli   Our Saturday morning at Hudson Gardens was sunny and beautiful. As sometimes typical for January birding in Colorado, it was also a quiet start. The birds must still have been sleeping!  That was ok though, we enjoyed slowly walking…