Corner of Colorado

My trip to Baca County in Colorado over a week ago was a great chance to go exploring and, see what I could see. As the following post will show - it wasn't all about the birds. Frankly, having camped in a canyon trailhead I missed much of the good early morning light for photos. As I explored the back roads of Comanche National Grassland I did get to watch this perched Loggerhead Shrike from a distance. I also added one lifer for the trip - the Chihuahuan Raven. I didn't get a great shot of the white feathers on its neck - or even close enough for a nasal bristle comparison, but their voices were very distinctive as they flew about.


The Ravens were paired up for the most part - and I rarely had to wait long for a twosome to come overhead. I also saw good numbers of Ferruginous Hawks. This one allowed me a passable shot - but broken clouds, constantly changing light and wind - not to mention lack of practice kept any shots from being spectacular.


After hitting many of the Canyons along the Colorado Oklahoma border I decided to do some adventuring and check out a corner of Colorado - that is only accessible from other states. I dropped into Oklahoma, and quickly found that the maps I had loaded on my iPad didn't differentiate between the private and public roads. So after many failed attempts I decided to drop back out to the highway, and attempt my invasion of extreme SE Colorado from Kansas. That did work, and I am able to confirm for you readers that the couple of roads in that corner of the state do not get anywhere close to the Cimarron River (which is what cuts off this chunk of the state from the roads in the rest of Colorado). I can, however, say I have been to a place that most others will not visit.


The area was short on birds, people, and any indication of when a road stopped being a road. But for all that it was beautiful in a desolate solitude kind of way.


Rolled hay and some of the power lines were the few indications that this area had changed since the dust bowl. That, in a way, is just what drives me to get to new places. I have a connection to a place that few, other than those who live there, get to make. I can't say when I will make it back - but feel blessed to have so many unique opportunities to explore different worlds, all in my backyard!


I watched the Sun drop below the horizon in that tiny forgotten corner of Colorado, it had been a full day - and I opted for a drive to Lamar - and a hotel, for my second night before some more birding and a drive back home on Sunday.

"I'm Leavin' on a Jet Plane..."

As teased in a previous post back in August, this birder and as a direct result this blog are going international! For the first time in over five years I am getting back to England, the birthplace of my Dad and home to all of his side of my family. I am under 12 hours from catching my flight, and am very much looking forward to being on my way. On a relevant side note, I want to wish my Mom a very happy birthday! She and my Dad will be leaving Minnesota in a few days, and we will all get to meet up over in England and make a whirlwind trip through the country together. More on that in a moment, but first a few shots from a frosty stop before work yesterday.


Since having seen the Krider's Hawk a few days back while on my way to Denver I had been thinking of light Red-tailed Hawks. Then, while rushing from work to complete a couple of errands last week I passed the resident leucistic Red-tail on a power pole, and didn't have time to stop. So, yesterday morning I stopped off on my way to the office and attempted to find the bird in the reliable spot along the Middle Hyland Creek Open Space. Before really getting down to look through the trees I had to stop for yet another shot of Long's Peak at sunrise. One silver lining of these shortening days is the accessibility of sunrises!


As the sun cleared the horizon behind me my target became immediately obvious. I had been scanning through those trees fairly carefully earlier, and had either missed him in plain sight prior to the light hitting, or he had popped up to greet the rising sun and warm up a bit from the coldest night of the season so far. Such a cool bird to see. I had taken an angled line across the field to get a better direction with the light, and as I approached the cattails at the bottom of the draw I got another creature moving as well.


Unfortunately, my camera had been set for the hawk in the treetop, and the lighting was far from ideal. Still, it is always fun to be mere feet from a coyote, when it is moving the other way.


So here is my impression of a three year old mapping my upcoming route through England. I will spend two days in Windsor, with plans to visit Windsor Castle, Eton College, and do some dedicated walking and birding in the Great Park. My folks will arrive Friday, and we will head north, up the middle of the country, stopping at Rugby, then Maltby where we will join my extended family to celebrate my Aunt and Uncle's 50th wedding anniversary. Then it is off to the Lake District via a stop at Ripon. The return will feature stops in Ludlow and Chippenham. While this is not a dedicated 'birding' trip, (what of my trips are?), I do hope to have some new species to share on the blog in the days and weeks to come. I am so glad that Ebird has been rolled out globally - it will definitely help in identifying and recording what species I find over there.


All credit being due, I grabbed this map from a Google image search that led me to this nice site, and then scribbled all over it. Thanks and sorry, PicturesofEngland.com.

Sunrise from the Coalton Trail

My post from late last Tuesday about my visit to the Coalton Trail west of Superior, Colorado had me thinking of the area. So, when I was woken up by a page well before sunrise on Wednesday morning I decided to roll with it and go see if I could have any more luck finding birds in the A.M. than I had in the P.M. Just as I hit the trail I was greeted by beautiful colors and silhouettes. The morning was cool, and I moved quickly down the slope of the highland towards the sunrise. I wanted to get as far along as I could before the the sun broke the horizon, I would then have it at my back as I returned, offering great lighting for all the birds I was sure to see.


I reached roughly the halfway point, where the trail turns hard to the east, and slopes more dramatically downhill into one of the draws before reaching the western edge of residential Superior. I had met the halfway point of my available time as well, and just like the fence-line I had a destination back in the civilized world. Fortunately for me, my route took me back towards the mountains, and I was given a spectacular view of the entrance to Eldorado Canyon, the same canyon that had looked so different in the evening on my previous visit.


This whole area is one that I really enjoy, and I will definitely be back to visit through the seasons. I have a feeling as the weather deteriorates in the coming weeks I will have even more opportunity to enjoy the high plains in their full isolation.


This last Black-eyed Susan bloom was standing sentinel over the passing fall weather. It was well colored in the early light - the birds on the other hand were largely non-existent. There were the usual Western Meadowlarks, who were making up for the lack of diversity by belting out a chorus to welcome the day - but even they kept their distance and didn't appear in pictures as much more than noisy blobs. So instead...more sky.