Fifteen of us, including Oscar, an enthusiastic eight-year-old, enjoyed the great weather at Chatfield State Park yesterday, and were able to get great looks at over twenty species (see list below).

One of our first sightings yesterday was of a female Great Horned Owl sitting in her nest.  In Colorado, Great Horned Owls are already engaged in courtship in November, and are laying eggs, on average, in the first part of February.  The female does all the incubation, with the male bringing her food, and the eggs hatch after about 33 days.  So, this female that we saw yesterday could have either been on eggs still, or perhaps she could have even had young fledglings in the nest with her.  Much depends on the weather.  If the eggs freeze, then a new clutch will be laid, and the emergence of fledglings be delayed a few weeks.  Once hatched, the young owls remain in the nest, or the vicinity of the nest, for ten to twelve weeks venturing out on to surrounding branches after about six weeks, and they will be dependent on their parents for food throughout the summer.  So, there can be ample opportunity for watching them grow from little white fluff balls to awkward adolescents.  Watching owl nests in the early spring can provide much needed entertainment for birders while we wait for the migrants to start arriving.

If you have any owl comments, or, for that matter, comments on any birds, please send them to me.  Also, I’d love to see your photos.

A few of the other species we saw yesterday, Mallard, Common Goldeneye, Hooded Merganser, and Downy Woodpecker have already formed pairs, so they’ll be getting ready to commence their nesting in the near future.

Up here at my house in Evergreen there’s been a lot of singing going on over the last couple of days from Gray-headed Juncos, Townsend’s Solitaires, and Cassin’s Finches, and while their nesting season is still a ways off, the males are getting tuned up to begin setting up territories.

Good birding to you all!!!!

Chuck

Canada Goose (Branta canadensis)  30
Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos)  7
Northern Shoveler (Anas clypeata)  16
Northern Pintail (Anas acuta)  10
Common Goldeneye (Bucephala clangula)  20
Hooded Merganser (Lophodytes cucullatus)  2
Common Merganser (Mergus merganser)  12
Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis)  5
American Coot (Fulica americana)  20
Ring-billed Gull (Larus delawarensis)  4
Great Horned Owl (Bubo virginianus)  1
Downy Woodpecker (Picoides pubescens)  3
Northern Flicker (Colaptes auratus)  4
Black-billed Magpie (Pica hudsonia)  7
American Crow (Corvus brachyrhynchos)  4
Black-capped Chickadee (Poecile atricapillus)  10
White-breasted Nuthatch (Sitta carolinensis)  1
Brown Creeper (Certhia americana)  1
American Robin (Turdus migratorius)  3
Song Sparrow (Melospiza melodia)  2
House Finch (Haemorhous mexicanus)  1