Don't Leave Home Without It!

Your Wingscapes Birdcam that is. Specifically if you are heading to the mountains during a spring snow, and have a Nephew and Niece to entertain. Stopping off at the Wild Bird Center of Boulder for a hummingbird feeder didn't hurt either.

I continue to be amazed at the versatility of this little camera. I had no control over the position of the feeder in relation to the camera. In fact, I was lucky that the one hook I found was in a spot where I could set it up next to a pole for the camera mount. I was a bit concerned at first, the feeder was only a foot or so from the camera lens and the focusing guide only dials down to 18 inches, but after my first download I found plenty of good shots. A few rocks wedged in behind the camera helped the angle, and presto - Broad-tailed Hummingbird shots to look at every night!

I have to think that the little guys and gal, (female immediately above - note the spotted white throat and tan sides), were happy to find a feeder as the snow took wild nectar off the menu for a few days.

The birdcam captured a couple of shots that really made a nice motion effect out of the wing beats.

Some parts blur softly...while others disappear - very cool.

I even had a chance to dive into the settings a bit deeper and got one result from activating the automated flash!

That forager was too early for breakfast. Area bear activity has the YMCA request that guests who do put out feeders remove them nightly to avoid attracting the less welcome visitors. Fortunately for other early scavenging hummers I didn't find that regulation until after the snowiest mornings, so by that time they may have had a few hardy flowers or a better chance of finding insects.

The feeder was so popular that even this House Finch decided to check it out. It may have just found the perch convenient for checking out the camera, they will try to build their nests on or around anything in my experience.

**For clarity, I am not receiving any compensation for endorsing either of the retailers referenced in this post. I own and use some of their products, but the links above do not represent any affiliation with them beyond my being a satisfied customer.**

Gregory Canyon - Round 2

I set the alarm for 4:30 this morning, and let the Robin ruckus outside my window drag me out of bed. Just so I could have another shot at seeing the Scarlet Tanager that many have reported along the Gregory Canyon trail in Boulder. So far, the reported sightings have been in the early morning hours, and since my previous attempt had been in the evening I have been looking for an opportunity.
Somehow what I missed in the forecasts of improving weather for today was that the morning was going to remain socked in under a heavy fog cloud layer. It made for poor photography, but birding in an "Endor" like canyon with few others around was still so worth it.
The first bird I put bins to was a Rose-Breasted Grosbeak. A bird I have seen in the past, but another lifer since I began building my list. That made the rest of my climb to the area of the Tanager sightings easy! Unfortunately no pictures due to the low light.


Later I did try a few frames of a Broad-tailed Hummingbird at my feet. The gloom was just a bit to much. Unfortunately round two was just as unsuccessful in tracking down the Scarlet Tanager as Round 1 had been. I was standing there when a hiker came by. He said, "have you seen it?" "Not yet", was my reply. "Well it's here" he continued, "I just saw it on my last hike". I confirmed with him that it was not either further up or down the trail, but right were I was watching, but still no sightings. So even the non-birders are getting good looks at this eye popping out-of-towner, but I will have to persevere. At the very least I am getting good exercise and beautiful walks in a place I enjoy.

I also noted on this walk just how much our recent rainy weather has pushed the vegetation along. The bottom of the trail has been seriously encroached upon by grasses, overhanging limbs, and a good section of poison ivy. I hope all those trail runners are watching where they place their feet. Perhaps the clouds made the S.T. sleep in, and the three or four birders I saw headed up the trail as I returned had better luck than I.

2009 Count: 153

Lifetime: 166

Gregory Canyon - Round 1

Peek-


A-Boo!

I went back to a Boulder favorite last evening, Gregory Canyon, in search of a reported rare resident the Scarlet Tanager. Unfortunately for me I missed it, but then I will be more likely to make special trips back to that great area if I have a carrot on a stick in front of me. Especially a brilliant red carrot with black trim.

Even missing the Scarlet couldn't keep this goldmine from producing though. I had three life birds, one of which posed for a respectable picture, and two will be hunted again in the future.

The good:

A Gray Flycatcher.


The potentially oh-so-good:

Western Tanager.


And the - through no fault of its own - ugly:

Virgina's Warbler. Note: Ugly applies to the photographic rendering, the bird itself is fantastic.

The sad part on that one is; that I have an even less focused shot that shows the yellow undertail coverts which helped me make the ID. My next frame had the perching branch in focus as the bird had just dove down the length of the tree and behind a larger clump of branches. I guess I'll just have to get faster on the focusing draw.

To finish on a cleaner note here are two better picks of more common species, a Turkey Vulture circling in the sunlight (there were 8 in the kettle), and a Spotted Towhee on what I believe is a Raspberry branch. Should be good bear and bird food later this summer!

Fortunately on this trip there were no snakes visible whatsoever. Really, it is much nicer that way.

2009 Count: 150

Lifetime:163

Doudy Draw - How Have I Missed This Place?

Here's an old friend from my Nebraska trip, now seen in Colorado

Back in the mid-Nineties, when I was an undergrad and a new arrival in Colorado, one of my favorite drives was south on Highway 93 along the foothills in the late afternoon or evening.

It still is - for all the same reasons. As you drive along, hogbacks and mesas break the view eastward towards the cities of the Front Range. The setting sun will peak between the rock outcroppings of the Flatirons and foothills, and make a natural splendor of light and shadow. In addition, for stretches of that fantastic hilly and curvy ribbon of asphalt you can lose sight of all development, and picture just for an instant how the untouched splendor of the Rockies must have appeared 200 years ago.

You could say I like the scenery a "bit". Knowing all that it is amazing to me that until last night I had never had the inclination or desire to visit the Doudy Draw trailhead. I have hiked, biked, and driven all around the area, but had never jumped on one of the trails heading along or towards the foothills west of 93. Now I know - insane!

Hummingbirds look like they never quite bought into the idea of feathers over scales.

Finally the idea of migrants and a known Boulder hotspot made me pull into the lot on the left side of the street rather than the right, and BLAMMO, there I was. A nice trail runs along the South Boulder Creek valley, and eventually climbs along the ridge to offer occasional peaks through at the Flatirons and foothills to the north and west. With just a bit of haze it was spectacular.

A House Wren and its mate appeared to be busy carrying nesting materials to the back of a nearby tree.

Word on some of the Colorado Birding email lists is that the changes to the trail configuration at Doudy Draw have made it less appealing, and frankly I can see why. More of the trail has been shifted up the hillside and away from some great riparian habitat. However, even seeing that the older trail which is now blocked off looked much more favorable I am willing to accept the area as is. I look at the hilly trail before reaching the ideal habitat as a buffer between the dedicated and those looking for an immediate reward. After all, part of what has attracted me to doing this so often is the chance to find peace and calm, and an active relationship with Nature that had been missing from my life. Walking ten paces from a parking lot to a overlook, or worse, shooting frames from my car window is a necessary compromise at times, but it really can't compete with a good walk on a beautiful summer afternoon.
But, then again I have only been birding a few months, and had never been to the site before, so what do I know?

This Rock Wren knew that its place was on a rock.

Even with a more distanced trail the birding was still fantastic. I had new species for my lifetime list, the House and Rock Wrens pictured above, a Catbird, Western Bluebird, Yellow-Breasted Chat and Clay-Colored Sparrow all pictured, just not well enough for here! That was not all though, oh no. There was a whole family of species that I had been waiting to see all winter, Orioles. I don't recall ever having noticed an Oriole in Colorado, and only once as a kid in Minnesota. Last fall though I learned that the little hanging balls of fishing line or fiber you see on trees can be Oriole nests. As I have walked and observed through many habitats this winter I have seen the nests everywhere, an known that at some point I must find one of those colorful birds at the back of the guide.

Yesterday was that day:

May I present, the Bullock's Oriole!

All of the color of a finch or warbler, none of the tiny size issues. It was great fun to find and watch these colorful individuals, there were two that I saw. They act quite shy and elusive, but their brilliant yellow-orange plumage isn't very conducive to hiding in the thin spring growth. A bit frustrating when taking pictures to not often see the face, but more bearable when the comic value of bits of orange poking beyond both sides of the same thin branch is realized.

Great color, great location, great afternoon.

It was a bit of a milestone day on the counting side of things. I broke through 150 on my global lifelist, reached 130 in Colorado, and broke 100 in my first county, Boulder. I have learned so much through these early months, and can't wait to see where I am when I reach the one year anniversary. That will hopefully be many productive months from now, after the end of spring migration, a whole summer, and then a fall migration to boot. Good times and continued improving photographs ahead!

2009 Count: 136

Lifetime: 151

Eldorado Canyon State Park

I stopped at Eldorado Canyon State Park for lunch today for the easy lifer, Broad-tailed Hummingbird. They are common sites at higher elevations, and even going the couple of hundred feet up into the canyon made them likely targets.

In addition to seeing them at the Visitor Center feeder I also had them perching up above on the telephone wires headed up the canyon. They are so small and active that getting sharp shots of them in natural perches will be challenging. What I am going to need is a mountain cabin with shaded deck, a comfy chair and some cool beverages, I think I may enjoy that challenge sometime this summer.

It was so nice to be up in the canyon today. The sun was shining and the rocks and dirt had that; hot day, summery smell. It is the smell of hiking out of the forest and onto a dusty meadow trail up close to treeline, bliss.

**Update: Golden-mantled Ground Squirrel**

It took all of my self control to return to the office, but I did, and will enjoy my weekend so much more for still being employed.

On an unrelated note the two species above are thwarting my efforts to identify them online, if you can ID one or the other - specifically - please let me know.

2009 Count: 129

Lifetime: 144