Recovering from Perma-grin!

Birders know that waking up early has its advantages, so do skiers in Colorado. This morning started well before six, and the payoff was a Saturday powder day for me while most of the front range traffic was stuck on the highway! Anyone who has taken face shots off the T-bar at Breckenridge knows that the hours of driving and tired legs are worth it.
As a side bonus I finally have a chance to use the power of the Internet to take us back to last weekend. It was a happy time...Coloradoans hadn't felt double digit negative temps along the Front Range in seasons, and commute times were measured in minutes, not hours. I had celebrated the warm temps and great Cooper's Hawks of my surprising Friday afternoon walk by heading to Arapahoe Basin for a good day of sunny skiing on Saturday. By Sunday I was feeling the itch, and a bit of lactic acid in my legs, so I headed off for a midday walk along the South Platte River in Adams county to work the legs and enjoy the mild temps.


A Long-tailed Duck had been reported in the area earlier in January, and I thought maybe I would get a chance to track it down. Before I came upon many ducks, I had a group of seven small peeps on a rock bar to try to identify. I didn't have an ID in the field, but after looking at the pictures I recognised American Pipits.


No Long-tailed Duck on this trip, but Barrow's Goldeneye are a good consolation prize, (male shown above - left).

One of my real highlight birds was a Northern Shrike. Shrikes aren't uncommon, but this was the most cooperative bird I have had the chance to observe. It was hunting a field from its perch in the trail side tree, and let me walk past below it, shooting all the way.


Of course I also enjoy seeing Northern Pintails, they are just a classy looking bird. There were lots of Pintail on this stretch of the Platte, and I managed to catch this one in flight.


Next up, a species I hadn't found in a few months, Yellow-rumped Warblers. In summer these small birds are like Juncos in winter, absolutely everywhere. However, these days only a hardy (or foolish) few remain. Last Sunday they seemed an omen of more springlike weather, yeah right. At least it was a nice thought while it lasted.


After a great walk I headed for home, and on my way gave a close look at a Great Horned Owl nest near my home. As I drove past I spotted ear tufts! Traffic and my direction only allowed me to get a passing glimpse, but I was consoled a few moments later by this look at a well fed American Kestrel.


Little did I know that in a few short hours the bottom would fall out of the area thermometers, clearing the skies nicely, but making for nasty roads and bringing a good chunk of the regional infrastructure to a standstill. Tuesday evening I was bundled up, and off to watch a basketball game at the University of Colorado. On the way I made a detour to check on the owl nest, and managed a couple of passable shots before cold drove me back to the warmth of my truck.



Great birds, wild weather, and chances to go catch powder days in the Rockies, all wonderful reasons that I love Colorado.

Leftovers

On a great birding day like yesterday I usually return with a mind-boggling number of pictures. Some species get special attention, and the best of whatever I have taken of those get posted to help share what I have seen in the field. Then there are a great number that are simply saved away, either because they are poor even by my standards, or because they are of common species which have been getting a lot of play in recent posts. However, there was too much yesterday to just be represented by the Rusty Blackbird and American Dipper posts, so here is the best of the rest:

A well started, but incomplete, beaver tree.


If anyone has an idea why that cut pattern would appear I would appreciate an explanation. Those incomprehensible, yet always intriguing beavers - I didn't see them at all, but was amazed that there is an active pond and dam in such a developed area.

A Gadwall - subtle but deep patterns make this a duck whose colors you could lose yourself in for hours.

A Common Goldeneye was engaged in a courtship display. Sure to us it looks like the gargling mouthwash position, but to a female Common Goldeneye that is one 'wild and crazy guy"!

Here is another uncommon species in Colorado, but as shown in this space, one that can be found with some regularity. This is the more typical setting for seeing a Barrow's Goldeneye in Colorado - at a distance on a lake. The one hanging out on the South Platte in Denver over the winter spoiled me, and many others, with the continuous close-up views it offered.

Finally, as I was returning in the fading light I had a pair of Brown Creepers fly into the tree immediately ahead of me. I had to bump the ISO way up on my camera to deal with the low light, but at least that slowed this blur of a bird down a bit.

This last trip has me jumping for spring migration to heat up. As it will be my second, I am looking forward to seeing some familiar birds return, and hopefully being more prepared to spot new visitors as they move through out area. Good birding!

A Whole Mess of Mergansers

On my two recent visits to the South Platte river's course through Denver I have made an effort not to be sucked in for looks at the Barrow's Goldeneye, that is the locale's star attraction at the moment. Sure I have sought him out, and have successfully located him each time. It wasn't until I read another birders report from the area that I realized I might be missing something while I was there. Unfortunately I can't relocate the email or I would give due credit, but someone reported seeing all three Merganser species on their visit. I have seen two fairly regularly, both Common and Hooded Mergansers. Hooded Mergansers (female above and male below), were documented in my Collateral Duckage post from last month. Last weekend they were still present and I recaptured both, with the male showing a relaxed view of his hood this time.

Common Mergansers were there as well, and present in the most numbers. The female below shows the white neck and cheek that help to confirm her identity. Also of note on this individual is the mismatched length of her bill, which seems to have been due either to some past accident to her upper, or an abnormal growth on her lower mandible.

Here, two male Common Mergansers were shooting the rapids near the Florida Ave bridge. Mergansers are long and low slung anyway, so when they get in the rougher sections they practically disappear between the wave crests. For these guys note the plain white lower body, which runs unmarked from neck to tail. From a distance they can seem a bit like a Goldeneye, except for the long orange bill. That mistake is one that I have gotten well past, but what I learned yesterday is that I had been making a different oversight and not even realizing it.

Here was a picture that I snapped of the celebrity Barrow's on Saturday, swimming along with his Common Goldeneye girlfriend. What I overlooked at the time, and even on my first review of the shots, was that the Merganser swimming behind them was not Common at all.

It is a Red-breasted Merganser! I did notice the brilliant red eye, but thought it was just catching more glare in the midday sunlight. As I looked closer another difference became evident. Look closely below the neck!

The dark coloring dips forward, giving this merganser its name worthy reddish breast. I am now left to wonder if I have been overlooking these guys for a year, or if this was one that I can chalk up to hiding in plain sight, behind an even greater rarity. Either way, my first life bird of 2010 is in the books, the Red-breasted Merganser.

2010 Count: 34

Lifetime: 202

South Platte Saturday

I returned to the stretch of the South Platte river this morning to see if I could relocate the Barrow's Goldeneye that has remained in the area. Nature often has a way of presenting its own agenda, and today was no exception. Today the star of the show was this American Kestrel, who was waiting in the parking lot when I returned and was willing to pose, unconcerned, as I approached and got a fun series of shots.

Urban adjusted birds are just fantastic! Why worry about a guy with a camera when trains, trucks, and heavy recreational use are a part of the everyday environment? I was able to approach quite close as the bird focused on joggers, and other activity in the area.

The Barrow's Goldeneye was still around, and seemed to be enjoying the warmer temps with his special Common Goldeneye lady friend. There were a number of birders along the river, and I hope they were able to track him down as well. I finally found him back where I started, just north of the Florida Avenue bridge.

All of the usual waterfowl were present, and in some cases seemed to be around in even greater numbers than the last time I had visited. The Killdeer above was calling its name loudly, letting me know that there were more species to be seen than just waterfowl.

One more shot of the Kestrel, poised for takeoff! Enjoy the weekend everyone!

Goldeneyes

My target bird while checking out the South Platte on Saturday was a reported Barrow's Goldeneye. It had been seen and refound by a number of Denver area birders, at both the Evans and Florida Avenue bridges.



My previous sighting of this species was through bins out in the middle of Baseline Reservoir. It was a chance to see the bird, but nothing like this close range exposure where I was at times no more then 10 yards away from this male as it fished in the rapids.


I mentioned in the previous post that I had started off in the wrong direction from where I parked, and as a result saw a great variety of ducks, geese, and mergansers along the river. Among the many species were a handful of the much more numerous Common Goldeneye. The male above gives an opportunity to see the differences in their field marks. Note the solid upper boarder of the white on the wing, the more smooth transition between the bill and angle of the forehead, and of course the obvious oval shape of the white cheek patch.

Here is a female Common Goldeneye, she has a tell-tale yellow tip to her bill. Should I ever track down a female Barrow's her bill should show yellow from base to tip.

Check this picture for the field marks on the Male Barrow's; it has the distinctive white spots along the back, a noticeable angle between the bill and head, and of course when visible the teardrop shape cheek patch.

Our fine Barrow's fellow wasn't going solo just because he was the only representative of his clan - he just found a Common Goldeneye female, and the two seemed to enjoy some cross species company. I watched as they preened near one another and did a bit of diving in the rapidly moving water below the bridge. Perhaps next year there will be a hybrid or two to sort out!

A great looking bird, and a great opportunity to see it up close!