Category: Bird Walks

December 10, 2022 Bird Walk to Milavec Reservoir with Jamie Simo

Posted on December 13, 2022 by frbcadmin - Bird Walks, Blog

Milavec Reservoir in Frederick, CO has always been a reliable place for good, close views of ducks and geese in the winter. So I was initially disappointed that there weren’t more birds on the water when we climbed the steps from the parking lot. My disappointment didn’t last long, however. I guess the birds were just waiting for it to warm up a little more!

Along with the American Robins and European Starlings that favor the Russian olives that grow around the reservoir, we got to see not only the usual red-shafted form of our Northern Flicker, but the intergrade form. The Front Range is where the red-shafted Western and yellow-shafted Eastern types of the Northern Flicker mix and mingle. Often you can catch a hint of a bird’s Eastern heritage by a faint red crescent on the nape of the neck (missing in Western birds) or by yellow or orange wing and tail linings rather than the reddish linings more typical of Western birds. On our walk we had a female bird with definite yellow linings and a male who showed a red and black malar or “mustache” stripe.

Male intergrade Northern Flicker. Photo by Jamie Simo.

Common Goldeneyes and Northern Shovelers particularly favor Milavec, interesting as this indicates there’s enough diversity in food to accommodate both diving and dabbling ducks. We witnessed a large group of shovelers milling around in a circle called a “scrum” making a whirlpool to draw things up from the bottom of the reservoir. Their large beaks are designed to filter food out of the water column. Curiously, we saw many males in non-breeding plumage. These males were likely first-year males, which take longer to gain their breeding plumage.

When the geese finally started leaving the adjacent golf course and agricultural fields and taking their siesta on the reservoir, we had a couple of special visitors. One was a Greater White-fronted Goose. We were first alerted to its presence by its call, which is very different than the Cackling and Canada Geese it was surrounded by. This large goose is named for the white at the base or “front” of its orange bill, which is the same color as its feet. We also had a hybrid goose, most likely a Snow x Cackling Goose hybrid due to the visible dark “grin patch” and small size.

Hybrid Snow x Cackling Goose surrounded by Cackling Geese. Photo by Jamie Simo.

Other species of note were an adult Bald Eagle, Ruddy Ducks, and American Tree Sparrows, a winter migrant. A great morning!

Frederick Lake (Milavec Reservoir) & Recreation Area
Dec 10, 2022
24 species

1 Greater White-fronted Goose
300 Cackling Goose (Richardson’s)
1 Snow x Cackling Goose (hybrid) — Pictures to follow
100 Canada Goose
1000 Cackling/Canada Goose
200 Northern Shoveler
1 Bufflehead
13 Common Goldeneye
3 Ruddy Duck
4 Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon)
3 Eurasian Collared-Dove
1 Ring-billed Gull
1 Cooper’s Hawk
1 Bald Eagle
2 Red-tailed Hawk
1 Downy Woodpecker
3 Northern Flicker
2 Northern Flicker (Yellow-shafted x Red-shafted)
3 Blue Jay
1 Horned Lark
8 European Starling
40 American Robin
1 American Goldfinch
7 American Tree Sparrow
2 Dark-eyed Junco
1 Song Sparrow
3 Red-winged Blackbird

November 12, 2022 Bird Walk to Lagerman Reservoir with Patrick Morgan

Posted on November 26, 2022 by frbcadmin - Bird Walks, Blog

The Boulder Front Range Birding Company November walk was held at Lagerman Reservoir on November 12 at 8:00 am. The morning was a little frigid, with the temperature in the 20s and a frozen reservoir shoreline. 5 intrepid birders showed up to brave the cold, though we weren’t the only ones. Two other birding groups were there, along with a running group. We joked that there might be more observers than birds at the park this morning.

Looking south across the reservoir with the sun right in your face can make viewing the birds on the water somewhat difficult, so we aimed to make it to the south shore of the reservoir to get a better view. Viewing backlit birds can be a good test of identification skills, however, and we used some of these skills to identify some Buffleheads, Ruddy Ducks, and the ubiquitous American Coots that frequent the reservoir in the winter months.

While we were on the western shore, we noticed multiple Killdeer flying around. These were the only shorebirds that we were seeing, but then we noticed one that was quite smaller in size. The sunlight was making a confirming id difficult, but we were able to narrow in on a Least Sandpiper. The small “peep” had a slightly down-turned bill and greenish yellow legs, good identifiers for this shorebird. They can be pretty rare this time of year, but this one seems to have been hanging out at the reservoir for a couple of weeks.

As we continued on to the south shore, we noticed multiple juvenile Bald Eagles flying around. There is a nest south of the reservoir, barely visible with the naked eye, so these ones could be offspring of that nested pair, but they could also be winter migrants that move into the area in the winter. We noticed them flying low to the ground west of the reservoir, along with multiple Black-billed Magpies and two Ferruginous Hawks. There must have been some type of carcass over there, as a couple of Bald Eagles stayed perched on the fence over there for the duration of our walk.

We finally made it to the south shore after walking less than a mile in about an hour and a half (you tend to not make it very far when the birds are flying around!) and decided that we would view the birds from here and then turn around. We could spot Northern Pintails, Redheads, and Lesser Scaups, but we were most amazed by the flocks of geese flying overhead. This time of year is great to view geese, as thousands of them come down from the north and congregate on the various reservoirs in the area. Most of what we saw were Canada and Cackling Geese, which when flying overhead can be pretty difficult to distinguish. What really excited us was a group of about 12 Snow Geese that flew over the reservoir. After watching the birds flying around and on the water we decided to head back to the trailhead.

Hope to see you next month for our December Bird Walk!

Taxa Reported

13 Snow Geese

500 (est) Cackling/Canada

8 Mallard

7 Northern Pintail

5 Green-winged Teal

7 Lesser Scaup

8 Bufflehead

3 Common Goldeneye

6 Ruddy Duck

30 American Coot

4 Killdeer

1 Least Sandpiper

3 Ring-billed Gull

1 Northern Harrier

4 Bald Eagle

1 Red-tailed Hawk

2 Ferruginous Hawk

1 American Kestrel

4 Black-billed Magpie

2 Common Raven

3 American Tree Sparrow

2 Western Meadowlark

October 8, 2022 Bird Walk to White Rocks Trail with Aron Smolley

Posted on October 8, 2022 by frbcadmin - Bird Walks, Blog

We could not have asked for a more magical day to spend birding for today’s walk along the White Rocks Trail. Our group showed up raring to go and we set off down the trail; black-capped chickadees, American goldfinches, and spotted towhees greeted us as we walked by. The sound of a belted kingfisher reached our ears and, sure enough, we spotted it perch hunting over the riparian area towards the beginning of the trail.

As the morning mist dissipated, we came across a very cooperative red-tailed hawk perched in a snag right by the trail and everyone got excellent views of its field marks through the Zeiss Gavia spotting scope. Further along, we started hearing killdeer and, sure enough, we looked up and observed a group of 5 migrating overhead.

At the first pond, we watched a northern harrier zoom past as an osprey ate its breakfast of fish on a post. An American white pelican showed up as we glassed over the waterfowl on the pond- a surprise treat for all of us. Other birds of note on the pond included a cackling goose, a cooperative pair of great-blue herons, a couple of pied-billed grebes, and 8 beautiful wood ducks- including one stunning male perched up in a tree. Ring-billed gulls chased each other over the pond and gadwalls gathered in the water.

We continued along the trail through the prairie dog down and were lucky enough to find a merlin perched on a fence post- this tiny falcon definitely had the songbirds on edge. As the sun warmed us up, red-tailed hawks, bald eagles, a Cooper’s hawk, and another osprey soared overhead on thermals, while a second northern harrier perched calmly on a post in the distance. The last noteworthy bird of the day was a white-throated sparrow, which is always fun to see this far west.

We also got our cute mammal of the day- a young raccoon peering down at us from high up in a tree! After all was said and done we tallied 34 species total (2 lifers for some of the participants!) in just under 4 hours. This trail area is definitely an underrated birding hotspot and I will definitely be returning here for future walks.

White Rocks Trail area, Boulder, Colorado, US Oct 8, 2022 8:05 AM – 12:05 PM

34 species

Cackling Goose 1 Observed in scope in water by 9 birders.

Canada Goose 13

Wood Duck 8

Gadwall 20

American Wigeon 1

Mallard 10

Pied-billed Grebe 2

Killdeer 5

Ring-billed Gull 2

American White Pelican 3

Great Blue Heron 3

Osprey 2 One perched and one flying over it.

Northern Harrier 2

Cooper’s Hawk 1

Bald Eagle 2

Red-tailed Hawk 5

Belted Kingfisher 1

Downy Woodpecker 1

Northern Flicker 4

Merlin 1

Blue Jay 5

Black-billed Magpie 5

American Crow 1

Black-capped Chickadee 3

European Starling 25

American Robin 7

American Goldfinch 4

Chipping Sparrow 3

White-crowned Sparrow 9

White-throated Sparrow 1

Spotted Towhee 2

Red-winged Blackbird 6

Common Grackle 2

Yellow-rumped Warbler 1

September 10th Bird Walk at Sandstone Ranch with Aron Smolley

Posted on September 20, 2022 by frbcadmin - Bird Walks, Blog

The weather was cold and wet this morning but the upbeat attitudes and great conversation made this walk very pleasant and fun. We started off the day with some American goldfinches feasting on wild sunflowers, and even though they were flitting about we still managed to get everyone some good views of the male with his bright yellow feathers starting to fade into his more drab winter plumage. In fact, we get asked all the time in the store if goldfinches migrate, but the truth is, goldfinches are found in Boulder County year round- only in winter they are in disguise!

American Goldfinch in drab winter plumage. Photo by Jamie Simo.

As we continued down the hill towards the bridge, lots of wet birds were seen through the scope- northern flickers, American kestrels, mourning doves, and even a pair of adult bald eagles with their highly vocal juvenile offspring. We were also treated to a flock of blue-winged teal, a belted kingfisher, and a solitary sandpiper, all viewed from the first bridge. Further along we had a great blue heron, cliff and barn swallows, and a double crested cormorant. We finished off the day with a Cooper’s hawk at a distance- this provided us with a great opportunity to practice raptor identification.

Solitary Sandpiper. Photo by Aron Smolley.

Although on this walk we didn’t see that many species, a good time was still had by all. At the very least it was a great demonstration of the high performance of the Zeiss Gavia spotting scope even on a rainy day, still providing us crisp detail and bright colors despite the low light due to the sky being overcast. Come visit our Boulder location to try out the Gavia for yourselves!

Bird list:

American goldfinch

Northern Flicker

Mourning dove

Belted Kingfisher

American Robin

Gray Catbird
Mallard

Canada Goose

Blue winged teal

Blue jay

Bald Eagle

Solitary Sandpiper

Great blue heron

Cliff Swallow

Barn Swallow

Double Crested Cormorant

Ring-billed Gull

Cooper’s hawk

Mt. Falcon Park, September 3, 2022–with Andrea Cahoon

Posted on September 17, 2022 by frbcadmin - Bird Walks, Blog

After a hearty continental breakfast at the Littleton Store, our group of 10 car-pooled to the west entrance of Mt. Falcon Park. It was a beautiful, sunny day, with nice breezes that kept us cool enough to enjoy the late summer walk. The most plentiful bird of the day was the Pygmy Nuthatch. Allaboutbirds.org describes these birds as “tiny bundles of hyperactive energy that climb up and down ponderosa pines giving rubber-ducky calls to their flockmates.” They breed in groups, and hang out in Ponderosa Pine trees. We got a few good looks, but heard more than we saw.

While at the observation deck (half-way up the tower trail) we heard a Plumbeous Vireo. This bird was high in the Ponderosa Pines, somewhat elusive, but some of us did see it. Once you are familiar with its song, it is easy to remember – three short phrases. One well-known birder in the Denver area described it’s song as: “three-eighths” (pause) “three-eighths” (pause) “five-eighths. This bird is found in coniferous and mixed forests – a dull, gray vireo with bold white spectacles. This bird winters primarily along the west coast of Mexico. No doubt it will soon be on its way. It is named for the rich gray color of its underparts – the gray looks like lead, and the Latin word plumbeous means leaden (from plumbum – lead).

Other birds of the day were Chipping Sparrows, seen by many through a spotting scope, and about seven female Western Bluebirds. Mixed in with the bluebirds was a Yellow-rumped Warbler. Just under half of the species we saw were migratory – nice to get a last look before they head to their wintering grounds.

Other notable sightings included an Abert Squirrel, primarily found in Ponderosa Pine forests, and in the wildflower department, Prickly Poppy and Gayfeather.

Now if you noticed a preponderance of references to Ponderosa Pine, you will understand that habitat pretty much determines what you will see when out in nature.

Mt. Falcon Park – Upper Trails, September 3, 2022
Travelling, 10 Observers, 2-1/2 miles, 74-84 degrees
13 Species, 45 Individuals

2 Turkey Vulture
1 Plumbeous Vireo (Heard only)
1 Steller’s Jay
1 American Crow
2 Mountain Chickadee
1 Swallow sp.
18 Pygmy Nuthatch
7 Western Bluebird
1 American Robin
3 House Finch
3 Lesser Goldfinch
4 Chipping Sparrow
1 Yellow-rumped Warbler

Hudson Gardens and South Platte River, August 27, 2022– with Andrea Cahoon

Posted on August 30, 2022 by frbcadmin - Bird Walks, Blog

A group of 12 of us started our walk around 8:00 a.m. on a beautiful sunny day with temperatures in the mid-70’s. Though August is a bit of a quiet time for birds, we ended up seeing 25 species, with a total of 210 individuals. We had some excellent spotters in our group, and we all saw much more because of their contributions. Right off the bat we saw a Cedar Waxwing on a dead branch at the top of a tree across the river. Though seen more often in the warmer months, these stunning birds winter here and wherever berries are plentiful. We saw a bit of their aerial acrobatics while hunting for insects, but mostly they were in resting mode, perhaps recovering from the breeding season – those youngin’s are a lot of work! Cedar Waxwings often flock together, and are sometimes mistaken for a flock of starlings since they are about the same size. They are often seen in berry bushes and along rivers and ponds.

As we approached the bridge over the South Platte River, we spotted a Black-Crowned Night-Heron flying overhead. This heron is rather oval-shaped, with its neck hunched down. It is striking with its red eyes and yellow legs and feet. It roosts in trees during the day, and becomes active late in the day, foraging for fish and small aquatic animals in shallow water on the edges of ponds. We also saw a Great Blue Heron, more commonly seen than the Black-crowned Night-Heron. Missing today was the Snowy Egret, which breeds in Colorado and migrates to Mexico and South America. Though seen more often in the warmer months, the two aforementioned herons are here year-round.

Black-crowned Night-Heron. Photo by Jamie Simo.

After crossing the bridge and getting off the main trail, we saw many of our species: a Red-tailed Hawk; a Western Kingbird; three swallow species – Northern Rough-winged, Cliff and Barn; House Finches, a female Broad-tailed Hummingbird, and male Red-winged Blackbirds among others. We heard but did not see an American Goldfinch, making its “Potato Chip” flight call, and the skulky Gray Catbird.

Flying overhead, brilliant white in the sun, we saw several large groups of Ring-billed Gulls; one group had over 50 individuals.

Coming back to Hudson Gardens, we saw a lone male Wood Duck, another stunning bird, swimming in the stagnant pond. Wood Ducks nest in trees and nest boxes. When the ducklings are ready to leave the nest, they jump, sometimes as far as 50 feet to the ground!

We had a nice surprise at the Hudson Garden bird feeders – as the leader was reviewing the birds we’d seen and imitating the Gray Catbird, a Spotted Towhee responded with its similar call. More and more, the Spotted Towhee is becoming a regular backyard bird, not only scratching in the underbrush for insects, but also snatching seed dropped by other birds at bird feeders.

Here is the list in taxonomic order:

36 Canada Goose

1 Wood Duck

20 Mallard

2 Broad-tailed Hummingbird

3 American Coot

92 Ring-billed Gull

5 Double-crested Cormorant

1 Great Blue Heron

1 Black-crowned Night-Heron

1 Red-tailed Hawk

4 Northern Flicker

1 Western Kingbird

1 Blue Jay

2 Black-billed Magpie

4 Black-capped Chickadee

3 Northern Rough-winged Swallow

6 Barn Swallow

3 Cliff Swallow

3 White-Breasted Nuthatch

1 Gray Catbird

8 Cedar Waxwing

8 House Finch

1 American Goldfinch

1 Spotted Towhee

2 Red-winged Blackbird

Old St. Vrain Road, August 13, 2022–with Jamie Simo

Posted on August 23, 2022 by frbcadmin - Bird Walks, Blog

Old Saint Vrain Road in Lyons, Colorado is a gem for birders owing to the fact that it is what is known as an “ecotone.” An ecotone is a transition zone between one habitat and another and tends to be very biologically active because of that mixing. Old Saint Vrain transitions between riparian, rocky cliffs, and drier hillside with shrubs and Ponderosa pine and birds from all three habitats can be found here.

Blue-gray Gnatcatcher. Photo by Jamie Simo.

On Saturday the 13th we met at the adjacent Picture Rock Trail parking lot for Heil Valley Ranch then walked the short distance down to Old Saint Vrain Road. The scrubby environs around the parking lot are ideal for Blue-gray Gnatcatchers, which we heard, but didn’t see. These small blue-gray (hence the name) birds are slightly smaller than a Bushtit with longer legs and bill and a tail they tend to hold up like a wren. They have a conspicuous white eye-ring and make a distinctive scratchy squeak call.

One of the houses along Old Saint Vrain Road has bird feeders up all year long and, in late summer, can play host to all four species of hummingbirds likely to be seen in Colorado. Along with the usual Broad-tailed and Black-chinned Hummingbirds, which breed along the Front Range, we saw one female Rufous Hummingbird.

Adult male Blue Grosbeak. Photo by Jamie Simo.

Along with the usual cohort of Wild Turkeys, including some young of the year, the highlights of the morning were probably the Blue Grosbeaks and Lazuli Buntings. We had a spectacularly deep blue Blue Grosbeak male singing his heart out as well as what I mistakenly labeled an adult male molting into duller winter plumage. I’ve since discovered that, upon reaching adulthood, male Blue Grosbeaks retain their blue feathers all year. Therefore, the reddish-brown bird we saw was either a first year male not yet in adult plumage or a female. Grosbeaks are named for their big, conical beaks (gros=large), which they use to crack seeds.

Immature male or adult female Lazuli Bunting. Photo by Jamie Simo.

Like their relative the Blue Grosbeak, Lazuli Buntings can also be found in shrubby open areas. The males remind me of sherbet with their orange, white, and electric blue coloring. We had a quick glimpse of an adult male along with better views of a either a young male or a female, which was more cinnamon-hued with hints of blue.

Old Saint Vrain Road never disappoints, even during the dog days of summer! In all we had 32 species.

Old Saint Vrain Rd

32 species (+1 other taxa)

Wild Turkey 8
Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon) 6
Eurasian Collared-Dove 2
Mourning Dove 2
Black-chinned Hummingbird 2
Rufous Hummingbird 1
Broad-tailed Hummingbird 10
Red-tailed Hawk 1
Downy Woodpecker 1
Northern Flicker 1
Northern Flicker (Yellow-shafted x Red-shafted) 1
Western Wood-Pewee 3
Cordilleran Flycatcher 1
Say’s Phoebe 1
Blue Jay 5
Black-capped Chickadee 4
Barn Swallow 2
White-breasted Nuthatch 1
Pygmy Nuthatch 1
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 1
House Wren 2
European Starling 1
Gray Catbird 4
American Robin 1
Cedar Waxwing 12
House Finch 9
Lesser Goldfinch 7
American Goldfinch 4
Spotted Towhee 1
Yellow-breasted Chat 1
Western Tanager 1
Blue Grosbeak 2
Lazuli Bunting 3

Beaver Ranch, August 6 – with Chuck Aid

Posted on August 8, 2022 by frbcadmin - Bird Walks, Blog

Beaver Ranch is a multi-use, 450-acre park operated and managed by a local non-profit, Beaver Ranch Community, in agreement with Jeffco Open Space. The Front Range Birding Company has been leading bird walks there now for three years, and when birding seems slow elsewhere it continues to deliver a good variety of birds. This is despite all the falderol that can go on there on a Saturday morning – cabin rentals, horseback riding, a disc golf course, multiple ziplines, and occasional weddings.

As usual this past Saturday it was hard for us to leave the parking lot because of the slew of initial birds that we had to take note of and try to identify, which is a particularly challenging task this time of year with so many doofy looking youngsters adding their variety of calls to the mix. To begin with we had three species of swallows: Tree, Violet-green, and Barn. Trees and Violet-greens can generally be separated from the other swallows by their bright, white breasts (though immature Violet-greens can be a bit dull looking). The main features to look for in separating Trees and Violet-greens from each other are that the dark hood on Trees comes below the eye while on Violet-greens it ends above the eye, and the Violet-greens have notable white sides to their rumps. One additional attribute to become aware of is that Violet-greens are shorter-tailed, and when looking at perched birds their wingtips project well beyond the tail. Barn Swallow adults can be easily identified because of their deeply forked tail. However, juveniles, though-long-tailed, lack the obvious longer forked tail. Other features to look for are the rusty forehead and throat.

Also, while still in the parking lot, we were treated to a juvenile Red-naped Sapsucker which, though it lacked having any red, did show the characteristic sapsucker white wing patch which on a perched bird appears as a long vertical white bar. Then, there was a family of Red-tailed Hawks – an adult with two shrill begging juveniles. We noted that while the adult had the characteristic “red” tail and the tails of the juvies were paler and more obviously multi-banded, they all three had the diagnostic dark patagium – the leading edge of the wing. And then, there was a beautiful female Western Tanager and a bunch of other cool birds, but we finally got ourselves out of the parking lot and checked out a Yellow Warbler and some Lincoln’s Sparrows in the willows along Casto Creek. A bull moose had been reported in that area, but we regretfully didn’t become acquainted.

The real highlight of the day came in the form of a slew of Virginia’s Warblers. Virginia’s are one of our six regularly occurring breeding warblers found in the foothills west of Denver. The other five are MacGillivray’s, Yellow, Yellow-rumped, Wilson’s, and Common Yellowthroat. Virginia’s spend their winters in southwest Mexico and then migrate north to breed on the mesas and in the canyons of the semi-arid Southwest. Locally, they prefer the dry oak scrub and mountain mahogany of our foothills where they nest on the ground raising on average 3-5 fledglings. However, once these juveniles exhibit enough self-reliance, then it is time for what is known as post-breeding dispersal to find new foraging resources, which can then be a preliminary step towards fall migration. This is what we witnessed on Saturday. I believe that we only saw 2-3 adult Virginia’s and that the rest were youngsters, and it was interesting to see them utilizing willow-alder riparian habitat that was thick with cow parsnips, which in turn were presumably thick with little insects – just what insectivores need. Much fun!

Good birding! Chuck

Beaver Ranch, Aug 6, 2022
30 species

Broad-tailed Hummingbird 9
Turkey Vulture 5
Red-tailed Hawk 3
Red-naped Sapsucker 1
Downy Woodpecker 1
Hairy Woodpecker (Rocky Mts.) 1
Northern Flicker (Red-shafted) 4
Western Wood-Pewee 4
Cordilleran Flycatcher 1
Steller’s Jay 2
Mountain Chickadee 19
Tree Swallow 11
Violet-green Swallow 5
Barn Swallow 4
Ruby-crowned Kinglet 3
Red-breasted Nuthatch 2
White-breasted Nuthatch 4
Pygmy Nuthatch 3
House Wren 2
Mountain Bluebird 1
American Robin 2
Red Crossbill 2
Pine Siskin 9
Chipping Sparrow 1
Lincoln’s Sparrow 5
Red-winged Blackbird 4
Virginia’s Warbler 7
Yellow Warbler 1
Western Tanager 2
Black-headed Grosbeak 1

Heil Valley Ranch, July 9, 2022–with Stephen Chang

Posted on July 9, 2022 by frbcadmin - Bird Walks, Blog

Our Saturday walk at Heil Valley Ranch consisted of a good crew of seven. The Cal Wood fire torched the area 2 years ago, killing much of the Ponderosa canopy in the area. Because of this, the vegetation that is coming back is quite weedy, consisting mostly of common mullein and musk thistle. This has led to an explosive growth of some grasshopper and butterfly groups in the valley.

As for the birds, we either heard or saw a total of twenty-seven species, the most abundant of which were Mourning Doves, Lesser Goldfinches, and Lazuli Buntings. Views towards the canyon walls to the east were initially difficult due to the lighting in the morning, but we were able to identify many birds by call or song. We talked about the Western Tanager’s song being like “a robin with a sore throat.” Additionally, after hearing Rock Wrens sing for almost an hour up the hill without good looks, we were finally rewarded when one flew in close and perched on a nearby rock (fittingly).

Because of the heat forecasted for the day, we did a short loop around the Lichen Loop trail and called it a little bit early. It was both eerie and hard to see the destruction caused by such a high-intensity fire, but there are still some birds who have taken advantage of the situation and are thriving at Heil Ranch.

Thanks to all those who came!

27 Species observed

3 Wild Turkey

8 Mourning Dove

3 Broad-tailed Hummingbird

2 Northern Flicker

3 Western Wood-Pewee

1 Cordilleran Flycatcher

1 Western Kingbird

1 Warbling Vireo

1 Blue Jay

1 Black-billed Magpie

1 Common Raven

1 Violet-green Swallow

1 White-breasted Nuthatch

5 Rock Wren

1 House Wren

1 American Robin

3 Red Crossbill

3 Pine Siskin

10 Lesser Goldfinch

6 American Goldfinch

3 Spotted Towhee

1 Yellow-breasted Chat

2 Western Meadowlark

1 Western/Eastern Meadowlark

1 Western Tanager

1 Black-headed Grosbeak

4 Blue Grosbeak

10 Lazuli Bunting

Chatfield State Park, July 2, 2022 – with Chuck Aid

Posted on July 8, 2022 by frbcadmin - Bird Walks, Blog, Uncategorized

The area we visited Saturday morning near the Denver Audubon Nature Center is a popular birding destination; so much so that it is here that Denver Audubon regularly offers their Bird the Wetlands programs and the Bird Conservancy of the Rockies has its annual spring migration banding station (mid-April through May). As with much of Chatfield SP there is a wonderful mix of habitats and we consequently saw some great birds.

Here we are now in early July which means spring migration has pretty much been over for at least a month and the advent of breeding season with so much singing and territorial establishment has begun shifting into a time of numerous fledglings looking doofy and seeking to be fed. In fact, some parents are starting to turn a cold, feathered shoulder to their offspring and saying, “You’re on your own now.” On our walk we noticed that the nesting Say’s Phoebes were no longer active at their nest on the side of the Nature Center, so hopefully they successfully raised their brood; and out by the banding station the nesting Broad-tailed Hummer was no longer on her nest which was so exposed it could easily have been subject to some sort of depredation. Raising avian young is not an easy endeavor – only about 75% of nestlings end up fledging, and only about 10-20% make it through the first year of life.

One family that seemed to have managed everything well was a group of four American Kestrels, apparently mom and dad with two vociferous fledglings. American Kestrels (formerly known as Sparrow Hawks) are secondary cavity nesters – that is they nest in old cavities previously excavated by woodpeckers, the primary cavity nesters. Many species are reliant on the primary cavity nesters to provide these nest sites, including some ducks, small owls, kestrels, chickadees, nuthatches, wrens, swallows, bluebirds, and starlings. Some big old dead trees can through time become avian condominiums with several species nesting in the same snag.

Vocalization highlights on Saturday were provided by Yellow-breasted Chats and Gray Catbirds. Chats were for some time considered to be part of the warbler family but have recently been assigned to their own family. Despite their bright yellow breast, they can be difficult to see as they are great skulkers. On the other hand, the extensive array of loud catcalls, whistles, rattles, and grunts by the male can at least make them easy to hear. The Gray Catbird is a member of the Mimidae family, which includes thrashers and mockingbirds, all of which are notable for their great vocalizations, and some of which mimic not only other birds but other sounds in the area in which they live, e.g. chainsaws and car alarms. While Gray Catbirds show no evidence of being mimics, there is good evidence that the male song results in large part from improvisation and invention. Both species can definitely put a smile on your face.

Good birding! Chuck

Chatfield SP – Audubon Nature Center, July 2, 2022
30 species

Mourning Dove 2
Broad-tailed Hummingbird 5
Double-crested Cormorant 6
Great Blue Heron 2
Turkey Vulture 1
Northern Flicker 1
American Kestrel 4
Western Wood-Pewee 2
Cordilleran Flycatcher 1
Say’s Phoebe 1
Warbling Vireo 1
Blue Jay 1
Black-capped Chickadee 2
Tree Swallow 6
Cliff Swallow 2
White-breasted Nuthatch 1
House Wren 10
Gray Catbird 2
American Robin 2
Cedar Waxwing 7
House Finch 1
Lesser Goldfinch 5
Spotted Towhee 8
Yellow-breasted Chat 6
Western Meadowlark 1
Red-winged Blackbird 18
Brown-headed Cowbird 2
Common Grackle 1
Common Yellowthroat 1
Yellow Warbler 12

Feeders By Type

Feeders By Food

Baths

Parts & Supplies

Birding With FRBC

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