Rich Stevens' Bird Trips
October 2005
Birding Around Denver 10/24
I hiked around Aurora Reservoir (Arapahoe County) this morning.
Winds were mild; temperatures in the high 50s.
Highlight birds included 2 Surf Scoters and a Common Loon.
Both were seen from the southeast corner.
Gulls included 5 Franklin's, 8 Herring, 24+ California.
No jaegers.
This afternoon, I rode my bike along the east side of Rocky
Mountain Arsenal (Buckley Road). Inside the arsenal is Adams
County; Denver County is to the right of Buckley. The ride or
hike is 4.0 miles from 56th avenue to 88th avenue.
Most of the year, Burrowing Owls were observed about 2.5 miles
north of 56th avenue. No Burrowing Owls were found today.
My late date for Rocky Mountain Arsenal is 10/22.
No Burrowing Owls were again found while driving the DIA Owl Loop.
Last sightings were 10/16. My late date for this loop is 10/20.
Rocky Mountain Arsenal 10/23
My scheduled birding partner did not show (I hope he is okay and
just changed his mind about driving 2000+ miles in 48 hours).
I managed to hook up with the Tram Tour at Rocky Mountain Arsenal.
I went on this 2 hour ride about 2 or 3 years ago. It is geared
more for sighting deer, than birds. I did get the tour guide to
stop twice for as long as she figured the other people would not
get bored at Lower Derby Lake.
Both times, I could see one Surf Scoter in the middle of the lake.
It was diving often and perhaps I was not seeing the same bird
each time?
Other birds observed during the ride were an adult Bald Eagle,
5+ Red-tailed Hawks, 2 Lark Sparrows, and a Great Horned Owl.
As stated by others, this tour and public access is only on
Saturday and Sunday.
Barr Lake 10/22
In the late afternoon, Rebecca Kosten & I hiked Barr Lake
for about 3 hours. Winds were 10-15 mph on the reservoir;
it was not that windy in the trees.
I only observed one bird (other than Northern Flickers) while
walking the lake side perimeter of the banding area. That was
a Hermit Thrush near the northeast corner. Rebecca found
little while along the main trail.
While looking for shorebirds (none found today) I noticed
a sparrow besides the weeds out of the point of land going
toward the water, north of the banding area.
I called Rebecca and we relocated the sparrow twice more.
In total, we saw the bird about 50 seconds. It looked like
a Baird's Sparrow. It was last observed in the weeds south
of the Sprite bottle (standing on its head). I am super
tired and have to get up in 2 hours; will supply further
details Sunday night.
We also observed a White-winged Scoter in the 1/3 of lake closer
to dam. It was fairly close when we first found it, however it
swam across to the other side. While watching the scoter we
counted flocks of Sandhill Cranes overhead (50, 43, 61, 29).
Earlier we could not find any Burrowing Owls along the DIA Owl
Loop. I hope to check the east side of the Arsenal Monday.
They may have started their southern migration?
Arapahoe County 10/21
This afternoon I stopped by Cherry Creek Reservoir
(Arapahoe County). Two Pomarine Jaegers are still around.
No usual gulls were found.
I ended my birding day with a quick 8 mile hike around
Aurora Reservoir. No uncommon birds found there.
Winds were about 10 mph; temperature below 50.
It felt cold.
Eastern Plains 10/18-10/20
I enjoyed an interesting few days of birding in southeast
Colorado this week.
After getting a telephone call about the Baird's Sparrow near
the Campo Lesser Prairie-Chicken Lek, I headed down on
Tuesday afternoon.
I managed to arrive at Kinney Reservoir (Lincoln County) with
a few hours of daylight left. I did not locate the Sedge Wren
reported on Sunday by Mark Peterson. Then continued south
to Springfield for the night.
Wednesday morning, I met up with Bryan & Sue Ehlmann, Lisa Novin,
and another cobirder at the Campo Lek. We did not relocate the
Baird's Sparrow in a four hour search. We did see Vesper Sparrows,
1 Lincoln's Sparrow, Clay-colored Sparrows, Brewer's Sparrows,
and 2 Cassin's Sparrows.
At Cottonwood Canyon, they showed me an Eastern Fox Sparrow
they had first discovered on Tuesday. The bird was behind the old
broken down cabin in the south draw across from the camping area.
Three Rufous-crowned Sparrows were found in the rocks north
of CR 7 at the cattle guard 1.4 miles east of the camping area.
At dusk, we found 2 Western Screech-Owls.
Wednesday night we searched for owls on a private ranch south
of Kim (Las Animas County).
Thursday we ventured down to Lake Dorothey Wildlife Area
(Las Animas). The last Acorn Woodpecker reports were in 1994;
we thought we would look anyway. A late Western Wood-pewee
was our most interesting bird.
Lisa Novin and I headed back to Denver and decided to search
for Spotted Owls in Phantom Canyon (Fremont); without success.
We searched for owls at Mueller State Park, the forest north of
Divide, and Missouri Gulch. A Great Horned Owl at Missouri Gulch
was the only owl found.
Barr Lake 10/16
Rebecca & I enjoyed the fantastic Colorado afternoon at Barr Lake
(Arapahoe County). Temperatures must have reached the middle 70s.
Between 4:00-6:30pm there was not even a hint of wind. It was so
quiet that we could hear the birds fluttering about the leaves.
We missed finding either the previously reported Golden-winged
Warbler or Philadelphia Vireo. As it turned out, we did not care.
Following the premise that the birds follow the insects and the
last direct sunlight, we walked the north and west side of the
trees along the main trail from mile marker 9.0 (nature center
bridge) to mm 7.6 (boat ramp).
Our first flock of birds was encountered at the west-northwest
edge of the banding area. We found and watched for about 20
minutes a 1st year Cape May Warbler. It is only the 9th
fall/winter sighting that we have on record since the publication
of Andrews & Righter 1992, "Colorado Birds".
We were watching a late House Wren when the CMWA was spotted.
In the same area were 17 Ruby-crowned Kinglets, and
2 Golden-crowned Kinglets. A pair of Spotted Towhees
kicked up the leaves below the willows.
Near banding net #21 we ran into another flock which included
an Orange-crowned Warbler, 2 Yellow-rumped Warblers,
9 Ruby-crowned Kinglets, and a Black-capped Chickadee.
The third flock of birds was encountered at the north-northwest
edge of the banding area. Rebecca found a female
Black-throated Blue Warbler, another Orange-crowned Warbler,
7 Ruby-crowned Kinglets, and a large flock of Dark-eyed Juncos.
From this point to the boat ramp, only 2 additional Yellow-rumped
Warblers were found. There were no birds around mm 7.8 (location
of Saturday's Philadelphia Vireo).
Sparrows found included 1 Lincoln's, 3 Song, and 2 Chipping Sparrows.
We ran out of daylight before the area below the dam could be checked.
Foothills Birding 10/15
Andre Lewark & I arrived at Reynolds Park about 60 minutes before
sunrise. We heard a Northern Pygmy-Owl approximately 150 yards
east of the main parking area. Unfortunately, it flew before it
was light enough to see the bird clearly. We did see the shadow
as it left.
Instead of climbing up to the top of Oxen Draw Trail, we decided
to travel over to Pine Valley Ranch Park (Jefferson). A nice flat
walk provided the opportunity for see an American Three-toed
Woodpecker with less effort. I was able to draw a male down
with a tape from the hill on the south side of Pine Lake.
Rumors had it that Guanella Pass was closed, so we did not attempt
to approach it from the Grant side (hwy 285). Instead we drove
back to Denver and checked out Chatfield Reservoir
(Jefferson/Douglas Counties). Few birds were found.
After eating lunch and driving Andre to the airport, I checked
Cherry Creek Reservoir (Arapahoe). Winds had picked up quite
a bit (15-20 mph). The birds on the water were difficult to id.
Gull numbers seem to be 1/2 those of Friday. A juvenile Sabine's
Gull stood on the telephone poles bordering the southwest marina.
I observed both Pomarine Jaegers. One harassed gulls flying below
the dam. The other one flew over my head as I was standing along
the row of picnic tables on the north side of the reservoir.
No Lesser Black-backed Gulls were picked out. As stated, half
the 2400+ gulls observed Friday were missing at 6:00pm today.
Cherry Creek Reservoir 10/14
After an early dinner, we ended our birding day at
Cherry Creek Reservoir (Arapahoe County).
Winds were calm; temperature was still in the middle 60s.
We did find six Burrowing Owls on the DIA Owl Loop on
the trip over (at 3.4 miles east of Tower Road & 96th avenue).
From the Bird Platform at the Cottonwood Creek Loop
(formerly the Prairie Loop) we relocated 2 Pomarine Jaegers,
a juvenile Sabine's Gull, 1 Bonaparte's Gull, and at least
2 Lesser Black-backed Gulls (adult, 2nd year).
At 6:00pm, the reservoir looked like a carpet of gulls.
We conservatively counted 2,400+ gulls. Amazing spectacle,
the reservoir looked like a gull covered mirror in the calm
winds and below the almost full moon.
It was such a spectacular evening that we hiked many areas
(Cottonwood Loop to Lake Loop, 12 mile picnic area, both sides
of creek, campgrounds and north) in search of owls. In total
we found (or heard) 5 Great Horned Owls.
A Long-eared Owl briefly answered our tape when played about
150 yards east-northeast of the bridge at the Cottonwood Creek Loop.
We even saw a group of 14 Sandhill Cranes flying across
the moon (just after sunset). Listening to the various
sounds including migrating birds was quite a treat.
Birding In the Northeast 10/8-10/11
Inserted by Lisa Novin: Report by Bryan Ehlmann
"Five to six of us have been birding up in the northeast corner of
Colorado since Saturday. We have spent many hours driving
every back road searching for Sprague's Pipits, Smith's Longspurs,
and Eastern Meadowlarks. Our highlights and failures will follow.
Saturday
We stopped at Prewitt Reservoir, Washington County on the trip up
to Julesburg. More interesting birds included Pectoral Sandpiper
(2), Short-billed Dowitcher (at least 1), Black-bellied Plover
(7+), and American Golden-Plover (1). Most birds were either
east or west of the boat ramp.
Fortune shined on us, we found a Sprague's Pipit in less than 20
minutes at CR 61 and CR 26. This was after an hour of driving
back and forth along CR 30, west of CR 59.
A hike around Sand Draw WLA, Sedgwick County found a Field
Sparrow and 9 Red Crossbills. Red Crossbills have been reported
before in this area, but we considered them an uncommon find.
We received the message about the Smith's Longspur, but not
until it was too late for a proper search.
Sunday
Winds were 10-20 mph with gusts to 30 mph.
Of course we returned to search for the Smith's Longspur.
There was no sign of it. However if it did not fly up off
the fields there was no way we were going to spot it.
Hours were spent scoping the numerous fields.
Many, as in dozens, of McCown's Longspurs with a few
Chestnut-collared Longspurs were identified throughout the day.
A second Sprague's Pipit was seen along CR 30, west of CR 59.
Steve Spencer joined us on his way back to Denver and we were
able to relocate the Sprague's Pipits on Roger Danka's ranch.
Several have been seen there since the 1st.
We stopped by Jumbo Reservoir on the way to Sedgwick Draw where
we planned to end our birding day looking for Short-eared Owls.
Steve found a Tennessee Warbler for us and then departed for
Denver. Other birds at Jumbo included an American Golden Plover
and several Black-bellied Plovers.
Little Jumbo Reservoir had an interesting sparrow with much
buffy color on its head. We spent an hour and a half trying to get
better views, which never happened. No Short-eared Owls flew
around Sedgwick Draw this evening.
Monday
We ran into rain, drizzle to downpour, most of the day. Winds
were not bad, but the rain kept the birds from flying around.
A search for the Carolina Wren reported yesterday at Tamarack
Ranch WLA by Larson, was not successful. We all have missed
this bird more than 3 times since it was first reported in the spring.
A bonus of our search was a male Cardinal seen near the old pond.
Sparrows were plentiful and included Grasshopper, Savannah, Song,
Chipping, Lincoln's, Brewer's, a Clay-colored, a Field, Vesper
White-crowned, a White-throated, and 2 Cassin's Sparrows.
An American Golden-Plover and Black-bellied Plovers continue at
Jumbo Reservoir. Larson's Laughing Gull could not be found.
We missed in an attempt to find Larson's Golden-crowned Sparrow,
Sedgwick CR 61 and CR 21 and the buffy faced sparrow seen
yesterday at Red Lion WLA.
We returned to our search for Smith's Longspurs. Again having
no luck. We did find another Sprague's Pipit on our third pass
through CR 12 and CR 57. American Pipits and Horned Larks
were easy to find even in the rain. McCown's Longspurs and
a few Chestnut-collared Longspurs continued to be seen.
Back at Roger's Ranch, his wife had an eastern Fox Sparrow staked
out for us. After dark, we heard 2 Eastern Screech-Owls calling
while we ate dinner.
Tuesday
We took a rest from driving the back roads around Colorado today
and headed into Nebraska. Winds were calm, but rain continued.
We're back to searching in Colorado tomorrow.
Highlight of the day was at least one (or two) Smith's Longspurs.
We were several miles north and east of Chappell, NE.
Our plan was to drive to Crescent Lake National Wildlife Refuge
and return by way of Lake McConaughy. The rainy weather changed
our minds and we birded mostly along and north of Highway 30
from Chappell to Sidney.
The lake south of Chappell and several others were checked for
Eastern Meadowlarks. Our book said they migrated through and
preferred wet grasslands; but we never found any. A couple of
possible Sprague's Pipits were seen but not positively identified."
Return to Cherry Creek Reservoir 10/7
A quick stop at Cherry Creek Reservoir (Arapahoe County) around
5:30pm today found a few interesting birds. A Pomarine Jaeger was
chasing gulls below the dam. An adult Lesser Black-backed Gull
stood on the SW marina.
The 3rd/4th year Lesser Black-backed Gull stood on the sand at
the inlet at the Bird Platform of the Cottonwood Creek Loop.
A juvenile Sabine's Gull was not far off shore. No Common Tern
today. In 45 minutes, I could only find one Pomarine Jaeger today.
Yesterday I counted between 600-650 Ruddy Ducks, which made
finding other birds difficult. Tonight I could not find one Ruddy
Duck. Grebes included many Western, Horned, Eared, and 1 Clark's Grebe.
Note: added Saturday; A Long-eared Owl was found along the path
running parallel to the shoreline. The owl was 50 yards west of
the path that goes down to the Bird Platform. I wanted to wait
and see if the owl could be found Saturday morning. Terry Michaels
called to say that he could not relocate the bird.
Boulder County in the Morning 10/6
I happened to be in Boulder when I was sent a message about the
Sage Sparrow. Went right over and found the bird, got 2 witness shots.
In the first 5 minutes there, 6 dogs passed by, quite frustrating.
After lunch I went back to try and get better photo. I could not
find the bird 1:30 to 2:00pm.
Many sparrows up trail included 2 Clay-colored, 1 Brewer's,
5 White-crowned and 1 Sage Sparrow!
From parking area by picnic area, hike up trail, over ditch to
first trash cans (intersection of Mt Sanitas and Sanitas Valley
Trails. Continue up Sanitas Valley Trail to next trash cans with
trail coming from west. Forgot its name already. Continue north
to just before next trail junction. Sage Sparrow was first seen
under trees just south of junction. Later it went under two or
three trees west of pine tree, perhaps 30 yards south of junction.
Thanks much to Maggie Boswell for reporting the sparrow!
Cherry Creek Reservoir in the Late Afternoon 10/6
After leaving Mt Sanitas trail and the Sage Sparrow in Boulder
I headed to Cherry Creek Reservoir (Arapahoe County).
At 6:00pm, one Pomarine Jaeger (I believe the first reported one)
was chasing gulls in the extreme southeast corner of the reservoir.
The 2nd Pomarine Jaeger was swimming not far off shore at
the Bird Platform at the Cottonwood Creek Loop. I could see
both at the same time.
One Common Tern stood on one of the logs sticking out in the
southeast corner. No Sabine's Gulls or Long-billed Dowitchers
today. The 3rd/4th year Lesser Black-backed Gull stood on the
telephone poles that border the southwest marina.
With little daylight left, I rushed over to Aurora Reservoir.
No uncommon gulls or jaegers that I could see from the western
end of the dam or the marina.
Search for Ptarmigan 10/5
Bryan Ehlmann and birded Aurora Reservoir at first light this
morning. We did not relocate yesterday's Pomarine Jaeger.
No uncommon gulls or other birds were found.
We then headed up to Loveland Pass. For three years now,
I have wanted to hike the ridge going west from Loveland Pass
and then south down into Loveland Ski Basin.
In the past I have missed the opportunity because of the avalanche
danger produced by too much snow. Last year it snowed 10+ inches
the day before our scheduled trip. While it snowed last night,
the quantity was not enough to prevent our trek.
From the parking area, we found 2 Mountain Bluebirds adding
their bright blue color to the white landscape. Along the hike,
we found two groups of White-tailed Ptarmigan (total of 5 birds).
We were well into our hike (at least 2 miles) before finding
any Ptarmigan. They were about half summer, half winter plumaged.
Once down in the Loveland Ski Basin, we found a pair of Pine
Grosbeaks searching for food on the parking area. Not much else was
found on our 4 mile hike up the road back to Loveland Pass' Summit.
We figured the hike was approximately 10.5 miles. Weather conditions
were not great. It was quite windy; however fortunately temperatures
had to be in the high 40s.
Arapahoe County Reservoirs 10/4
I led the CoBus trip (5 participants) around Arapahoe County
reservoirs today. At first light we picked the Pomarine Jaeger
and one Sabine's Gull near the dam area of Cherry Creek Reservoir.
A Great Egret and Green Heron were at the inlet canal near
the Bird Platform at the Cottonwood Creek Loop. We also found
2 Long-billed Dowitchers and a lingering Western Kingbird.
No warblers flying about the swim beach area today.
Our next stop was Quincy Reservoir. We scoped from outside;
seeing few birds we did not go inside the fee area.
We hiked the 8.7 miles around Aurora Reservoir next. No unusual
gulls or waterfowl were found. We did count 2 Savannah Sparrows
(mm 8.4), Song Sparrows, Chipping Sparrows, and a Lincoln's Sparrow.
After lunch we returned to check private properties around
the reservoir to see if Burrowing Owls showed up this year.
Our sources could not point us to any sightings. The parts
of Aurora Reservoir that can be scoped from public lands
did not appear to have Burrowing Owl either.
Next we drove and birded remote roads in the southeast section
of the county. Another Western Kingbird and a Blue Grosbeak
were found. No Lark Buntings were seen. I did not think it
was too late yet?
The weather was turning toward the worse and we headed back
toward Denver and planned to stop at Castlewood Canyon State Park.
However, Terry Michaels who had stayed to get better looks at
a Savannah Sparrow called to report a Pomarine Jaeger had
showed up at Aurora Reservoir.
So we turned north and returned to Aurora Reservoir. Sure enough,
a Pomarine Jaeger was harassing gulls along the east side of the
reservoir. It sure appeared to be the jaeger that has been
“hanging around” Cherry Creek Reservoir.
It started to rain and we gave up on hiking the 3 miles to the
east side of the reservoir. Also the Castlewood Canyon State Park
trip was abandoned.
Our plan was to hike Loveland Pass Wednesday. With the prediction
of snow, we may return to Aurora Reservoir instead.
Northern Colorado 10/3
Bryan Ehlmann & I in spite of a late start drove up to
Lindies Lake in search of the possible Scarlet Tanager reported
Sunday by Gary Lefko. We had no success.
Crow Valley Campground was slow. Few birds moved were spotted.
Highlights were a Plumbeous Vireo and 1st year Western Tanager.
Search for Sprague's Pipits 10/1-10/2
Roger Danka & I searched for Sprague's Pipits in Sedgwick County
the last two days.
Saturday we found 2 Sprague's Pipits on a private ranch southeast
of Julesburg. Near dusk we heard the two Eastern Screech-Owls
that have been on his ranch for several years now. We looked over
most Meadowlarks hoping for an Eastern; none were found. If any
Dickcissels are still around, we could not find them.
Sunday morning we found a Nashville Warbler, Philadelphia Vireo,
and White-throated Sparrow on his ranch. We checked several
other ranches and found an additional two birds on a second
private ranch. Returning to the Saturday's ranch we relocated
at least one of Saturday's birds. A check of the traditional
locations of past reports (accessed from public roads) did not
turn up any additional Sprague's Pipits.
On my return to Denver, I stopped at Cherry Creek Reservoir
(Arapahoe County). From the Bird Platform at Cottonwood Creek
Loop, I could see one Pomarine Jaeger and one Sabine's Gull
flying in the middle of the lake. Unfortunately a fisherperson
in a boat was parked just off the inlet and the other neat birds
that Terry Michaels saw Saturday were not around tonight.
A lone Common Nighthawk circled low overhead during my visit.
A few American White Pelicans were in the eastern corner.
Thirty-seven Double-crested Cormorants stood on the telephone
poles outlining the southwest marina.
I ran out of daylight before I could check on warblers near
the swim beach.
More Bird Trips
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