Rich Stevens' Bird Trips
June, 2006
Cherry Creek Reservoir 6/24
We ran out to do chores late in the day. A thunderstorm rolled
in from the west about 6:00pm.
Few birds were moving around in the heat at Cherry Creek
Reservoir (Arapahoe County).
We did find the male Black-chinned Hummingbird on the north
side of the Ranger's Office.
The only shorebird was a Greater Yellowlegs on the southeast
shore. It was accompanied by 2 Killdeer.
Boulder County 6/19
Jerry Petrosky:
"I experienced a full day of birding Monday. Tired and day
dreaming of birding made it difficult to work today.
Rich Stevens and I made for Boulder County at 3:30 A.M. I needed
a couple of shots of coffee to open my eyes. We did not find any
owls in Shadow Canyon but did see a small flock of Bushtits.
A couple of Western Tanagers and an unidentified "Empidonax
Flycatcher" were at the South Mesa parking lot.
A quick jaunt to the picnic area at Doudy Draw found a singing
Black-headed Grosbeak, Broad-tailed Hummingbird and
a Grasshopper Sparrow. A Prairie Falcon flew down the valley.
At the East Teller Farm trail we were rewarded with sightings of
Dickcissels, Bobolinks, and a Great-tailed Grackle. A Sage
Thrasher perched on a fence along the road to Boulder Ranch Open
Space. Male Mountain Bluebirds were catching food for their mates.
After lunch we looked for the Northern Parula reported along old
St Vrain Road in Lyons. It was not to be, but we did find Red-
breasted, White-breasted, and Pygmy Nuthatches, Yellow-rumped
Warblers and a Cordilleran Flycatcher.
I was a little disappointed that no Lewis's Woodpeckers were
around. We searched in vain for Pine Grosbeaks and Evening
Grosbeaks at Allenspark. The feeders at Fawnbrook Inn did attract
some Mountain Chickadees, Pine Siskins, and a Downy Woodpecker.
We drove many of the forest roads without finding a Northern
Goshawk. No luck with grosbeaks at Ward as we found few feeders.
Finally we found a Northern Goshawk at one of our stops along the
road to Long Lake.
Our quest was to look for Boreal Owls above Long Lake after dark.
It was not to be this night. The winds were tremendous and as
I understand it, conditions were not conducive to a successful
search. A Three-toed Woodpecker was found along the
JC Lunning trail before sunset, so the trip was still rewarding.
Returned to Denver around 1:00 A.M. just in time for a few
winks before work.
Tired but satisfied!
Jerry Petrosky Denver"
Short Birding Trip Around Denver 6/18
While doing chores to replace household supplies, we briefly
stopped at Cherry Creek Reservoir (Arapahoe County) on Sunday.
(Had to get home for the US Open).
Birding was slow. We did find the male Black-chinned Hummingbird
southeast of the fenced in area at the Ranger's Office. There is
a lone tree off the southeast corner that he seems to favor. When
not there, he flew to the hummingbird feeders both to the east and
to the south. (This was same location as Saturday. Sometimes he
flies to the north side of the office).
Only shorebirds were Killdeer. Few gulls were around.
Photographing Pelicans was our highlight. Guess we missed
the brush fire that made the news around 4:00pm.
On the way over, we drove the DIA Owl Loop. Except for Burrowing
Owls, only a few Horned Larks, Western Meadowlarks and Red-winged
Blackbirds were found. No Lark Buntings are around this summer?
Burrowing Owls were found at:
7 at 3.4 miles East of Tower Road and 96th avenue.
4 at Powhaton Road & 128th avenue.
2 at field west of the Wildhorse Condos (just north of 56th & Tower).
In the late afternoon, we rode our bikes along the East side of
the Rocky Mountain Arsenal (Buckley Road, North of 56th avenue).
Not the best of ideas, we were caught in rain. A few Burrowing
Owls, Song Sparrows, Western Meadowlarks, Western Kingbirds,
Red-tailed Hawk, Swainson's Hawk, and Horned Larks were observed.
Barr Lake 6/11
Six birders went over to Barr Lake this morning. Winds were
less than yesterday; temperatures heated up quickly.
The usual summer birds were around. We found few uncommon birds.
The highlight was a Tennessee Warbler in the willows west of the
banding station.
The cooler woods here provided cover for many other birds
including a Hermit's Thrush, Black-capped Chickadees, a dozen
Yellow Warblers, several Warbling Vireos, many Bullock's Orioles,
Robins, Flickers, and many House Wrens.
Denver & Adams Counties 6/10
Insert: Bryan Ehlmann:
"This morning four of us walked the east side of the Rocky
Mountain Arsenal, Buckley Road, Denver and Adams Counties.
It was pretty windy.
We counted 11 Burrowing Owls, 2 Lincoln's Sparrows,
5 Song Sparrows, 19 Western Kingbirds, 2 Red-tailed Hawks,
1 Ferruginous Hawk, 1 Turkey Vulture, 13 Western Meadowlarks,
and 1 Great Horned Owl."
Richard Stevens:
"In the afternoon Rebecca Kosten & I parked our car at the
Pena Blvd Park and Ride (Pena Blvd & 40th Avenue).
Then we rode our bikes back to Rocky Mountain Arsenal to check
on a Baltimore Oriole that we had found this morning. The Oriole
was seen in the cottonwoods around the old "mobile home court".
It is not there anymore, but was just east of where the creek
crosses Buckley Road (about 0.5 mile North of 56th Avenue).
We saw it briefly in the morning, but lost it when it flew
deeper into the woods. The Oriole was not found in the afternoon.
Next we decided to continue and rode over to Bluff Lake Nature Area.
Birding was slow here (it was 5:00pm, over 90 degrees and 20 mph winds.
We decided to see how many nesting birds could be found.
The List included (29 confirmed nesters):
Ring-necked Pheasant
Double-crested Cormorant - (flyover)
Snowy Egret - 2, may or may not be nesting in the area
Black-crowned Night-Heron - (not positive of nesting)
Sharp-shinned Hawk
Swainson's Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
Ring-billed Gull - (flyover)
Rock Pigeon
Mourning Dove
Great Horned Owl
Common Nighthawk - (flyover)
Broad-tailed Hummingbird
Belted Kingfisher - (couldn't confirm nesting)
Downy Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Western Wood-Pewee
Blue Jay
Black-billed Magpie
American Crow - (no confirmed nesting)
Tree Swallow
Cliff Swallow
White-breasted Nuthatch - (no confirmed nesting)
House Wren
American Robin
European Starling
Yellow Warbler
Common Yellowthroat
Song Sparrow
Red-winged Blackbird
Western Meadowlark
Common Grackle
Brown-headed Cowbird
Bullock's Oriole
House Finch
American Goldfinch
House Sparrow"
Jefferson County 6/9
Insert: Bryan Ehlmann:
"I led the CoBus trip to Pine Valley Ranch Park and Reynolds Park,
both Jefferson County on Friday. Seven participants, 7 birding
hours. We didn't?t find any Pygmy Owls, but did have a couple of
good sightings.
Two Common Poorwills called from the hill north of the parking
lot. We climbed to the top of Eagle’s View. On the way, we found
a Three-toed Woodpecker just north of the Oxen Draw & Eagle View
trails. We found a Blue Grouse near the end of Eagle’s View
trail. Others seen were Swainson's Thrush, Cordilleran
Flycatcher, Olive-sided Flycatcher, Pine Siskin, Mountain
Bluebird, Spotted Towhee, Lincoln's Sparrow, and Song Sparrows.
At Pine Valley Ranch Park we found two Three-toed Woodpeckers.
One was on the hill south of Pine Lake; the other 200 yards east
of the Buck Gulch and Strawberry Jack trails.
We also saw White-breasted, Red-breasted, and Pygmy Nuthatches;
Mountain Bluebird, Western Bluebird, Hairy Woodpecker, Downy
Woodpecker, Cordilleran Flycatcher, and a Hammond's Flycatcher.
We saw a Nashville Warbler at the west end of the Narrow Gauge
Railroad trail."
Cherry Creek Reservoir 6/8
While doing chores I stopped by Cherry Creek Reservoir.
It was almost 90 degrees by 10:00am and few birds were moving about.
The male Black-chinned Hummingbird was back at the southeast corner
of the fence around the Ranger's Office. Several times it flew to
hummingbird feeders to the southeast. Once it flew to the feeder
directly east (about 100 yards over bordering fence.
Few birds were on the lake. Few gulls were around. Western Kingbirds
and a couple of Bullock's Orioles were just about all I observed.
The Great Horned Owl definite abandoned her nest in the woods where
the Cherry Creek goes under the main road. Perhaps she attempted
another try at nesting at another location; we can only hope!
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