Rich Stevens' Bird Trips
July 2003
A Great Sunday of Birding 7/27
My great week of birding continued Sunday (or a new week started?).
Bryan Ehlmann and I drove up to Reynolds Park before first light Sunday.
We relocated the Northern Pygmy-Owl heard by Henry Detwiler on Thursday.
The owl was heard and then spotted West of the closest parking area
to Highway 285. It responded to a tape after about 5 minutes!
We were searching for Blue Grouse and Three-toed Woodpeckers;
without success, when we received a phone call from Loch Kilpatrick.
Loch reported three juvenile Yellow-crowned Night-Herons at the
west side of Jumbo Reservoir (Logan County). Wood had reported
two the day before.
We returned to Denver; I dropped Bryan off and I picked up Gary Weston;
and headed for Jumbo. When we arrived at Jumbo around 2:30pm, two birders
said we had missed one of the Yellow-crowned Night-Herons by 20 minutes or
so. We decided to bird further East and return in the late afternoon.
At Julesburg Wayside Rest Stop (Sedgwick County) we found a male
Baltimore Oriole. Two Chimney Swifts flew overhead. The area
contained way too many mosquitoes and thorny weeds.
After a late lunch we drove around the town of Julesburg.
Two Eurasian Collared-Doves were observed near the
elementary school at Plum and 7th streets.
At the Sedgwick Cemetery (North of Sedgwick), we found
a male Merlin. Not much else moved about in the heat.
At Ovid Woods (North of Highway 138) we observed two additional
Eurasian Collared-Doves. While driving the road just North of the high school,
we came across 4 Grasshopper Sparrows. At the East end of the road,
we spotted a male Red-bellied Woodpecker (this was on high school property).
A drive around the streets and alleys of Ovid did not produce a sighting
of a Northern Cardinal. Julesburg Wildlife Area was quiet also.
Back at Jumbo Reservoir, our luck continued. The three Yellow-crowned
Night-Herons were catching crawdads along the west side of the reservoir.
Among them were an adult and three Raccoons also trying their luck.
The adult was enjoying much better success than the young ones.
Three Great Egrets, four Willets, and a mix of other shorebirds were
here also. All together we had 16 shorebird species (around the west
and south sides of Jumbo). This included 28 Whimbrels that flew from
the eastern shore and over our car toward Little Jumbo Reservoir.
As we drove highway 138 between Red Lion Wildlife Area and Crook,
we counted 57 Burrowing Owls. More interesting, we found three
Upland Sandpipers. One of them was 20 feet East of mile marker 29
and North of highway 138 in a dried up pond area. The mile marker
is not along the road, but back at the fence line.
Rocky Mountain National Park 7/26
Arizona Bird Guide Henry Detwiler & I traveled back to Rocky
Mountain National Park this morning. While sunny in the morning,
a strong thunderstorm hit around 2:00pm.
A male Three-toed Woodpecker was spotted at the Endovalley Picnic area.
He flew into the tree line at the northeastern end of the dried up pond
(found west of the west end parking area; please do not block gate).
He later flew to the east, 50 yards above trail that runs along the creek.
Other birds were scarce (many, many people were not). While hiking
0.5 miles west of same pond, we did find a pair of Hairy Woodpeckers,
male Downy Woodpecker, and male and juvenile Red-naped Sapsucker.
Two adult and 5 young Trumpeter Swans are still at Tantra Lake in Boulder.
We searched for the previous reported Northern Goshawk at Teller Lakes
area; without success. Last report was several weeks ago.
The feeders at Fawnbrook Inn in Allenspark was visited by Pine Siskin,
many Broad-tailed Hummingbirds, and Mountain Chickadees.
A Cordilleran Flycatcher called from a nearby Aspen tree.
A visit to the Wild Basin Area of RMNP did not turn up any Black Swifts.
Five Common Nighthawks, Tree Swallows, and Violet-green Swallows
flew over Copeland Lake (just inside entrance to Wild Basin).
Birding the Colorado State Forest 7/22-7/25
I enjoyed a great week of birding, which included photographing
the Scissor-tailed Flycatcher in Limon, many hummingbirds,
and the Mountain Plovers in Weld County. Temperatures were
a good 20 degrees cooler than those recorded for Denver.
Bryan Ehlmann and I headed up to the Colorado State Forest in search
of owls. We located two Flammulated Owls and two Boreal Owls in the
next four days. Eight other birders joined us over those days.
Hummingbirds were many at the KOA campground at the entrance to the
Colorado State Forest. At least four Rufous Hummingbirds and a
female Calliope Hummingbird were among several hundred Broad-tailed
Hummingbirds! This was the best location this trip for the hummingbirds.
Wednesday afternoon we took a break from birding and traveled to the ghost
town of Teller City. While this location is only 8 miles from highway 14,
a 4-wheel drive high clearance vehicle is a must.
At halfway through the self-guiding tour of this ghost town that once
was home to over a thousand people, we took a wrong turn. We ended up
150 yards north of the most northern point of the oval tour. Here we
heard and later located a female Three-toed Woodpecker.
Few hummingbirds visited the feeders at the Colorado State Forest Visitor
Center and just a few more visited the feeders at the Store in Gould.
One of the Boreal Owls was watched by three of us on Friday morning at 4:30am.
It was only heard on Thursday night. This owl was along Ruby Jewel Road,
0.6 miles east of Michigan Creek Road (the main road into the state forest).
Five of us on Friday morning observed a male Three-toed Woodpecker 200 yards
south of Ruby Jewel Road and 0.2 miles East of Michigan Creek Road.
In the first 0.5 miles east of the main road, we observed 9 Hairy Woodpeckers
and a pair of Red-naped Sapsuckers.
A two mile hike along the Michigan Ditch Road (at summit of Cameron Pass)
did not add many birds to our trip list. However it offered a fantastic
view of Mount Richthofen and many varieties of wild flowers.
A male Pine Grosbeak was feeding on the willows at Highway 14 and the
Ditch Road! Several Lincoln and many White-crowned Sparrows were here also.
On the return trip to Denver on Friday afternoon, we stopped below Cameron Pass.
Nick Komar's male and juvenile Three-toed Woodpeckers were found near a lake
and campgrounds (ask Nick for location).
We also stopped at the intersections of Highway 14 and Weld County Road 82.
At least three Mountain Plover were still here (at one time 68 birds were
reported). Burrowing Owls were found at Highway 14 & CR 51.
Limon 7/21
I used one of the three days I had scheduled in July to stay home and
drove to Limon this morning. Gary and DiAnne Weston and Rebecca Kosten
and I drove to the farmhouse 6.0 miles south of town (Highway 71 and
Lincoln CR 2Z). The Scissor-tailed Flycatcher was in the dead tree
at the southwest corner of the property.
The Winkelmans were quite happy to show us their bird book.
They were elated to make the STFL their 111 yard bird!
Question of nesting? The Winkelmans are bird watchers at home in
Colorado and visits to Texas. If the bird was nesting, we think they
would have noticed the bird more than three days ago. I was allowed
to watch the bird from the front and back of their property.
While it did catch insects, I never observed it going into any trees
during my three hour stay. Sometimes it would land on the short weeds
in the field to the west of the old, dark brown, broken down building.
One Eurasian Collared-Dove was near the telephone pole by the golf
course office. Limon resident, L. Sallee has been reporting ECDOs
to CoBus since 4/16/2001.
Eastern Plains 7/19
Bryan Ehlmann and I drove out to Elbert County this afternoon.
A few interesting birds were found along the way. Temperatures
were cooler today (if you consider 91 cool). We did run into
thunderstorms in the late afternoon. Winds were mild.
A male Black-chinned Hummingbird continues east of the ranger's
office/visitor's center at Cherry Creek Reservoir (Arapahoe County).
At least one male Bobolink continues 0.2 miles south of the Winkler Ranch
entrance, 2.0 miles south of Castlewood Canyon State Park (Douglas County).
Look to hillside several hundred yards east of Castlewood Canyon Road.
The bluebird boxes are still being used by bluebirds (Mountain and Western).
Have not seen the Eastern Bluebird in several weeks.
We found 2 Dickcissels in the Alfalfa Field along Elbert Road 4.2 miles
south of Highway 83 (Elbert County). In seven or so trips this year, no
Bobolinks have been found.
We stopped at Aurora Reservoir and scoped the shoreline and water from
several locations. Nothing interesting was found. However, not all
the shoreline and inlets can be seen from the various parking areas.
Burrowing Owls continue North of DIA (Adams County) and along the eastern
side of the Rocky Mountain Arsenal (Buckley Road between 56th and 88th
avenues).
Birding the Mt Evans Area 7/15-7/18
I lead the CoBus trip to Mt Evans Tuesday. Six birders searched for
the possible Costa's Hummingbird. Over four days many hours were
put in unsuccessfully in the search. We did see Broad-tailed,
Rufous, and a couple of Calliope Hummingbirds however.
Tuesday 7/15
Taking a break from the hummingbird search, we drove up Mt Evans Road.
No White-tailed Ptarmigan or Rosy Finches were encountered along the way.
We hiked to the west side of Summit Lake; however no Rosy Finches were seen.
Quite a few American Pipits and several Mountain Bluebirds were spotted
on the drive to the top. A Red-tailed Hawk was our only raptor encountered.
Bryan Ehlmann and I stayed at the campgrounds overnight. During the
night we hiked around searching unsuccessfully for owls.
Wednesday 7/16
Again no Costa's Hummingbird was found. We did locate a Three-toed Woodpecker
on the northeastern side of the campgrounds. Two Red-naped Sapsuckers were
watched on the western side of Echo Lake. Lincoln's Sparrows were numerous.
Two Hermit and several Swainson's called at dusk.
After dark we searched for owls from Echo Lake to the Chicago Creek Road.
We did hear the high wheezy sound that a juvenile Great Horned Owl makes
when he is begging for food. It is quite an eerie sound and travels long
distances. No smaller owls made a sound.
Thursday 7/17
Wilson's Warblers and MacGillivray's Warblers were spotted along
Chicago Creek. There were several Lincoln's and Song Sparrows around also.
We hiked up past Lake Edith. Bryan almost stepped on a female
White-tailed Ptarmigan. Later we found her reluctance to move
was due to four young birds hiding underneath her.
Again no small owls were heard. It appeared they were not going to
cooperate for us and we headed back to the campground.
Friday 7/18
We hiked the Squaw Pass area today. Bryan thought he saw two Black Swifts
fly overhead. They did not stay around long and I was not able to put
my binoculars on them.
One last attempt was given to the Costa's Hummingbird search and again
only the three more common hummingbird species were observed.
Weekend in the Foothills 7/12-7/13
Taking advantage of a friend's offer, Rebecca Kosten, Gary & DiAnne Weston,
and I headed up to the Bailey Area (Jefferson County) for the weekend.
Temperatures were much cooler than Denver, which reached a record high
100 degrees on Sunday.
My friend's home overlooks Denver to the East. Wilson has over twenty
hummingbird feeders, which hundreds of birds took advantage. He has
had visits from two Magnificent Hummingbirds over the past 10 years.
The last being 7/10-7/12/2002.
None showed up this weekend, but we watched many Broad-tailed
and Rufous Hummingbirds. Three male and at least one female
Calliope Hummingbird made appearances also!
Band-tailed Pigeons, Red Crossbills, Cassin's Finches, and
Evening Grosbeaks delighted us with visits to his seed feeders.
We continued our 2003 search of owls after dark. A loop was made
of FR 550 to Buffalo Creek Road to Pine Valley Road. In all we
enjoyed success in 4 Great Horned Owls, 2 Northern Pygmy-Owls,
and a Flammulated Owl being heard. We missed our target bird
of Northern Saw-whet Owl. Pine Valley Ranch Park was quiet.
Sunday we enjoyed a great barbecue while again watching hundreds
of hummingbirds. It was a most relaxing afternoon!
After dark, a loop of Wellington Lake Road was made. We heard a
Flammulated Owl on the way up to the lake. Again Northern Saw-whet
Owls were missed. I have never driven this road in daylight and
someday would like to see what the area actually looks like.
Wellington Lake is below Buffalo Peak (11,590 feet).
Metro Denver In the Afternoon 7/11
The possibility that there is a female Baltimore Oriole at Barr Lake (Adams
County) interested Bryan Ehlmann and I so we spent the last hours of light
Friday searching for it; without success. We did see the male Baltimore
Oriole twice during our stay. Both times, he was north of the banding area
(picnic table near mile marker 8.7). We were hoping to see the female on
a nest and confirm nesting. Maybe this weekend will prove more eventful.
We did find many Western and Eastern Kingbirds, Bullock's Orioles,
and House Wrens. Warblers were scarce this afternoon.
Eleven Burrowing Owls were found along my favorite DIA Owl Loop when
we departed from Barr Lake. Several Lark Buntings were along Powhaton Road.
Around 1:00pm today four of us visited Cherry Creek Reservoir.
The Black-chinned Hummingbird is still east of the southeast corner of
the fence around the ranger's station/visitor's center. He sometimes
flew north 80 yards to a tree east of the northeast corner of same fence.
A Caspian Tern stood on the sandbar in the southeast corner of the
reservoir proper. This is south of the jet ski rental area.
Bullock's Orioles, Western and Eastern Kingbirds were numerous.
Three Common Yellowthroats sang from the willows at the Shop Ponds.
Birding Rocky Mountain National Park 7/8-7/10
Tuesday 7/8
Eight of us went on the CoBus trip to Rocky Mountain National Park and
Estes Park. Temperatures were cooler than the plains, but it still felt warm.
Rebecca Kosten and I went up a day early and arrived in the late afternoon.
We watched Calliope, Rufous, and Broad-tailed Hummingbirds come to
a feeder at a local campground. After dark, we searched unsuccessfully
for owls to the south and west of the YMCA of the Rockies.
Wednesday 7/9
Joined by Bryan Ehlmann, Sue Dorsey, Gary & DiAnne Weston, Paul and
Wilma Johnson, we looked for White-tailed Ptarmigan at Medicine Bow Curve.
It took about an hour, but we located three birds. One below the trail
(200 yards from our car) and two above the trail (400 yards from our car).
The rest of the day we wandered around the park. We found nesting
Red-naped Sapsuckers, Hairy Woodpeckers, Williamson's Sapsuckers,
and Three-toed Woodpeckers. Three-toed Woodpeckers were west of
the Endovalley Picnic Area. The one target bird missed was Black Swifts.
The park was full of interesting birds including swallows, Red Crossbills,
Wilson's Warblers, 3 species of hummingbirds (hummers at Endovalley PA).
Band-tailed Pigeons and Cordilleran Flycatchers were observed in the
group of homes south of Fish Creek Road.
At dusk we headed outside the park to Cow Creek. We hoped to find
a Northern Pygmy-Owl (or any owl), but did not enjoy success.
It was interesting hiking around in the dark in the middle of
Mountain Lion (and possibly Bear) country.
At around 12:00am, we found our first Northern Pygmy-Owl
(heard, never observed). The owl was across (East) from the
YMCA of the Rockies. A second owl was heard and seen
flying in the same subdivision of private homes and cabins.
Thursday 7/10
We hiked the Cub Lake Trail in hopes of finding a Blue Grouse.
None were found, but we did see several empidonax species
(Cordilleran, Hammond's, and possible Dusky).
In the afternoon we headed over to the Wild Basin area of the
park (outside RMNP proper). We found several Williamson's Sapsucker,
Hairy Woodpecker, Downy Woodpecker, and Wilson's Snipes.
No Black Swifts or Three-toed Woodpecker could be located.
We returned to the main park and relocated the Three-toed Woodpecker
at Endovalley Picnic Area. No Black Swifts showed up around the
Alluvial Fan area this evening.
After dark, we again heard one of the two Northern Pygmy-Owls across
from the YMCA of the Rockies. Again, we did not get good looks at the bird.
We enjoyed our two-day trip and headed back to warm/hot Denver in
the early morning hours. Rebecca & I returned by way of highway 34,
which runs along the Thompson River. We stopped many times along
the route in search of owls; unfortunately none were heard.
Another Scissor-tailed Flycatcher Search 7/7
Rebecca Kosten and I searched this morning for the Scissor-tailed
Flycatcher reported yesterday at Chatfield Reservoir. We did not
find it. We searched the meadow to south of southeast parking area
at Kingfisher Bridge and then drove the roads south of the state park.
We did find a male American Redstart just south of the paved path
on the western side of the Platte and south of Kingfisher Bridge.
Many Lark Sparrows were about. Several male Bullock's Orioles
and one male Black-headed Grosbeak were around also.
On the way to Chatfield Reservoir, we had made a quick stop at
Cherry Creek Reservoir where the Black-chinned Hummingbird
continues to perch in the small tree directly East of the
southeast corner of the ranger's station/visitor's center.
We returned North by way of Castlewood Canyon Road (Douglas County).
One male Bobolink is still in the meadow 0.2 miles south of the
entrance of the Winkler Ranch (1.5 miles south of the state park).
Mountain and Western Bluebirds flew around the bluebird boxes.
We did not see the previously reported Eastern Bluebird.
Birding Around Denver 7/6
I relocated the Black-chinned Hummingbird at Cherry Creek Reservoir
(Arapahoe County) this morning. The bird was in his favorite tree
(or the one I have seen it in the past three visits). This small
12 foot tree is directly east of the southeast corner of the fence
around the ranger's station/visitor's center.
Rebecca Kosten and I searched for the Scissor-tailed Flycatcher
reported at Chatfield Reservoir (Jefferson/Douglas Counties) at
9:00am this morning. Our late afternoon search did not locate
the bird at the reported location. A drive around the roads
South of the State Park was unsuccessful also.
Return to Cherry Creek Reservoir 7/3
Rebecca Kosten and I returned to Cherry Creek Reservoir (Arapahoe County)
this afternoon. Yesterday we were 10 yards from the Black-chinned
Hummingbird, but had no camera. Today we had our cameras but
expected the bird to not show up. He did however! The male hummer
was in the same small tree as yesterday. Southeast from the corner
southeast corner of the fence around the rangers office/visitor's center.
He visited the feeder to the south of the circle formed by Chenango Drive.
A male Broad-tailed Hummingbird preferred the trees 100 yards
north and visited the feeder north of the above circle.
We did not find the Caspian Tern reported earlier in the week.
Two California and nine Ring-billed Gulls were the total count
of gulls at the reservoir.
The Green Heron was feeding at the Cottonwoods Wetlands Pond.
Two Black-crowned Night-Herons and a Great Blue Heron were here also.
More Bird Trips
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