Cool Down

After an early morning that featured two, three mile, down then up hikes I was ready for an afternoon cool down, somewhere that offered flat terrain. I decided to spend a couple of hours at the Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge.



This was a limited intensity birding hike for me. Doing anything on a windy expanse of plains at mid-day is a challenge. Even so, the refuge offers so much to see that even at during admittedly quiet birding hours I still knocked together a 27 species list. The gulls had descended on Lake Ladora, but a contingent were always airborne, riding the gusts and keeping the usually quiet plains fairly noisy.
My effort was rewarded by a few personal first-of-season sightings, including the Horned Lark below.


Against a windswept, grassy, background the horns of a lark can be difficult to pick out. For this bird my ID started in the field and was confirmed before I had zoomed in or cropped this image. Look for the three colors in the tail. The Horned Lark features a tail that has narrow white edges, and a brown central stripe, on otherwise black feathers. It is a good sign, and one that once recognised can be used at highway speeds as these flocks take flight from the roadside.

The Refuge always seems to have a group of Mule Deer somewhere in sight. On this visit I had to make a detour to avoid coming between a lone male and two youngsters who had left the shade of a copse where the rest of the herd was resting. Taking the roads that led the longer way around showed me this deer who did a couple of cuts between mom and the rest of the herd as I tried to remain as far away as possible.


Good thing they carry around their own pair of sun visors!

One positive from strong sunlight is that it can make some markings stand out.


The roufus and white patches on the male Gadwall are much more visible in this light than at dawn or dusk.

Finally, with the least quality is a Franklin's Gull in breeding plumage. This gull is similar in appearance to the Laughing Gull (non-breeding plumage), that I saw in Baltimore last fall. The easiest way to tell these two apart is that the Laughing Gull localizes to the Eastern U.S. seaboard, while the Franklin's Gull migrates north through the plains to Canada in the spring, and back south to Peru in the fall.


Hopefully I get a few more shots to improve the quality this spring.

2010 Count: 97
Lifetime: 210

A Few More Count Day Images

Just a few more shots taken on the Boulder Christmas Bird Count last Sunday.

There were White-winged form Dark-eyed Juncos, one that I don't know that I have previously photographed.


Nuthatches were all about, and for whatever reason Sunday was the day that the Red-breasteds were the most photogenic.


I really enjoyed the chance to spend hours learning and then practicing identifying the dramatically different calls of the various Nuthatches. Hopefully I will have a chance to hear a few in Minnesota over the next few days.


A Townsend's Solitaire is no stranger to a perch atop a juniper, but this one stopped close as we were gathered next to, and just upslope of his perch. It was the spot from which we had been observing the Northern Pygmy Owl, and ended up being well lit for the Solitaire as well.

To any and all, may your Holiday be filled with family and friends, food and fun, fur and feathers, and if your location favors it at least a bit of frost!

Cooperation

I had a fun opportunity to join several other birders on a morning walk at a few locations in the area of the Denver Botanical Gardens Arboretum near Chatfield Reservoir. More on the birding in a future post.


One of the memorable experiences from this trip was seeing this pair from the vehicles as we traveled between two sites. Both species were content to remain as we observed the symbiotic behavior, despite a vehicle first backing up to get the above shot, and then pulling around the corner to watch them head on.

In the above shot, the Black-billed Magpie is seen working through the Mule Deer's coat. It is clearly enjoying a protein rich meal of mites or ticks. The deer gets a nice clean coat out of the deal, and seemed to be showing about as much "bliss" as any deer could. Deer don't seem to wag tails, or get a foot twitch going when a bird is working on just the right spot, but the look on his face at times was very similar to a certain Golden Retriever I know.

I am sure that this type of behavior isn't at all uncommon, but it was the first time I had a chance to observe it up close. Seeing it for a first time was a really fun experience. Oddest in my mind are how unsuited these two species seem for such behavior. Magpies, typically calling loudly, seem just too confrontational - and Mule Deer, while less jumpy than White-tails in my observations, still don't seem the type to just abide a good sized bird landing on their backs, no matter how itchy. Nonetheless, these two were very "chill". We observed them for long minutes, while neither seemed in any rush to break the partnership. After enjoying the view we pulled away, leaving this odd couple to help one another cope with the winter chill that has descended.

Walker Ranch Afternoon Visit

On Tuesday afternoon I drove up to the Walker Ranch trailhead which has access to Eldorado Canyon State Park. I didn't have enough time for a long hike, but got to spend some time in the burn area between that trailhead and the Meyer's Homestead area. There was a good species mix, the most colorful of which was this Rufous Hummingbird.

It later showed off its balance and flexibility skills as it presumably scratched an itch or stretched out a stiff leg.

Do you think little creatures can't appreciate a view? With that seat the meadows and burned forest open up before him for some nice background during a snack.

Unfortunately Tuesday afternoon was tough for pictures, there were mixed amounts of cloud coming out of the west, and everything interesting seemed to stay up sun from me. That, and the bluebirds are all looking a bit drab in their worn plumage. **I just now learned a cool new fact. Mountain bluebirds molt in feathers with brown edges, which are gradually worn away. This leaves the males looking bright and fresh at the beginning of breeding season. Taken from BNA online:

"The feathers of both sexes have brownish-gray edgings that are worn away by the next breeding season, giving the appearance of the colors becoming brighter (Bent 1949)."

How smart and cool is that? What an adaptation! It makes sense to me though, bluebirds on returning to their breeding grounds are already in their fancy duds, without having to follow up an energy depleting migration with another taxing molt. All that just from normal wear and tear.

Another species whose pictures weren't worth posting here was a group of Violet-green Swallows. An add for my life list, but one that I will have to keep watching for to get some keeper pictures of.

Finally as I was driving back down Flagstaff Mountain I just had to stop for this roadside deer. I was shooting out my passenger window and it was literally three feet from my car!

2009 Count: 175

Lifetime: 183 **Corrected Count**

While reviewing my ebird data I found that I had reported a Black-throated Sparrow from my home in Broomfield, Colorado on December 16th of last year. There are so many reasons why that was incorrect, that I really don't need to check back to my photos to confirm that I was confused by a House Sparrow. Black-throated sparrows have never been reported in Broomfield, and while their breeding grounds do encompass western Colorado, any Black-throated Sparrow trying to breed in December would have been in big trouble.

I also noted that I had somehow not entered Pygmy Nuthatch from my June 8th sighting.

Goshawk Ridge, beyond the birds

The Eldorado Mountain Open Space is located in southern Boulder County, and encompasses the range of environments that are covered by the generalization, Front Range. Each time I am up there I find my self wondering just how I spent the better part of fifteen years in the area, and am just now beginning to make my visits there a priority. As I have documented in many previous posts the area is one that really resonates with something deep inside me, from the grassy hills around Doudy Draw and Marshall Mesa, to the jagged ridgeline of the hogbacks, and the steep meadows hidden behind outcroppings where deer and elk can be seen grazing from across a canyon.
This particular area has a mining history that is at times hidden away and waiting to be discovered beneath the forest canopy, and at others is plainly obvious to anyone in the area. To access the Goshawk Ridge loop trail on Monday I climbed the initial rise, and then turned right, to head north along the ridge to a road cut. I walked slowly admiring the sharp angles of the steep cut walls. A functionality first road, made in a bygone era - here evidence of the blasting holes wasn't worth the bother of cleaning up. I wasn't alone as the history soaked in. The furry guy below accompanied me through the cut, chatting all the while.

The road swung back to the south as it ran back along the western side of the ridge. On the downhill side a micro-environment of lush vegetation and on my left a much drier rocky slope with some evidence of the fire that had charred the eastern side of the ridge. This was the area where I had located the Black-headed Grosbeaks. In addition I found what I believe to have been some form of apple, growing from below up to the roadside. It was so much bushier than the apple tree from my childhood backyard that I had to take another look. As autumn nears I'll have to check back on that.

On the uphill side I had this butterfly pause. In the field I thought Mourning Cloak, but I now see that it is something different. One more item to put on the lookup list.

In the previous post about this hike I mentioned that at the point where the loop trail crosses over the ridge and begins it descent through the ponderosas that I had stopped to observe a lone mule deer as it munched on some grasses. The wind was in my face, so despite this pause to look at me the deer was content to continue snacking. It was only when the turkeys went past that the deer decided to move on.

Those giant ears are a good indication that this is a muley, but the best indicator for all ages and genders is the tail. On a Mule Deer the tail is narrow with a black tip. It looks a bit like a rope that has just barely been dipped in black paint. On a White-tailed Deer the outside of the tail is black with a white fringe, it shows white when the tail is raised to vertical as this more shy species senses trouble.

The coolest way to tell these species apart is when a mature buck is visible. Look at the rack of antlers, on a White-tail there will be a single forward curved prong with smaller individual prongs growing up and back. Mule Deer have antlers that bifurcate, or split, for each new prong. If you see antlers that split, and then split again you are looking at a Mule deer. This works well if you find yourself in a cabin, lodge, or ski chalet and want to impress your friends while warming the belly, or your feet by a fire.

There were several poppy patches in the meadows, and more individual flowers scattered around the area. The poppies completely dominate the other wildflowers in the area with their large blooms and blaze orange color.

As I approached the car Monday evening my pattern of seeing interesting mammal activity continued. This time it was a fox that crossed the road just below the parking area. He was toting something and being mobbed by two angry magpies. While the pictures I got were two blurry to post I believe he had caught a juvenile. The fact that the fox's load didn't seem to have much life left was lost on the magpies, and did nothing to reduce their rage. One of the more sobering views of the natural world around us, but one that make me appreciate a place like Eldorado Mountain Open Space all the more.

Recovery at the Refuge

After my very enjoyable first day skiing this winter I had some lactic acid that was screaming to get out of my calves. So I headed over to the Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge to do some walking. I love the drive in almost as much as anything about the Refuge. I head north from I70, through some light industrial area with warehouses and train-tracks. The four-lane road hits a "T" intersection at the gatehouse, and after pulling through the road is transformed into a two lane road in the prairie. Granted there is still a mountain of rubble left from the old Stapleton Airport runways, but even that is shrinking. The best part about the road is that generally you can take your time driving down it, and you never know what you are going to see before you even reach the visitor center. In the past I have seen Bald Eagles, herds of Deer, and Coyotes just as a kind of appetizer for what awaits in the refuge proper. Today I was looking left as I drove along slowly, and spotted a nest with what may have been a lump in it. I dug out my bins and sure enough there was a Great Horned Owl nesting within sight of the road. I grabbed my camera and got a few quick shots, but the nest was to far to be more than a large blob in a tree.
Being in my car I decided to try something that I haven't done much in the past. I pulled my 2X extension tube out and attached it to my lens. I was able to use my door frame as a solid rest for my arm and got a much more satisfactory image.





After getting a few frames I headed on to begin my actual walking part of my recovery effort. I started off in the same general direction that I normally follow, heading out across a floating bridge on Lake Mary, and then popping up to the road that overlooks Lake Ladora to see what there is in the way of waterfowl. Being mid-day it was not the bird paradise I have seen in the early mornings, but I did see large numbers of both Common Goldeneye and Canvasbacks, with a handful of Common Mergansers thrown in for good measure.





While watching the Lake I enjoyed a Northern Harrier hunting on the far side, out of camera range, but a fun show through the bins. I walked South and East away from the lakes and through open fields and low shrubby growth. There was not much bird activity, but I did see two Bald Eagles ascending a thermal, and two Red-tailed Hawks perched at the top of a large tree. As always I was surrounded by deer, near the lake I had six Mule Deer casually walk behind me through an open field, and later I passed another group lounging under trees.






I crossed back to the East and returned to my car via the Prairie Trail. Unfortunately the clouds were filling in, and aside from the Prairie Dog town there wasn't much activity to be seen. It was a beautiful day for a hike though. I love that in Colorado you can be carving turns in fresh snow one day, and be warm on an easy hike the next. Spring is close at hand in our urban prairie refuge.





Finally as I drove back out I caught site of a Kestrel with prey. I made a quick stop to soak in another great moment at the Rocky Mountain Arsenal.


2009 Count: 61
Lifetime: 91

Walker Ranch at Dusk (Monday 1/19)

Our unseasonably warm weather continues through today, Wednesday the 21st, but I had a chance to enjoy the evening hours on Monday. As previously stated my workday ends at 3:00 on Mondays, so I have a bit of time in the afternoon to get out if I have no other pressing concerns. This past Monday I headed up to a renowned part of the Boulder County Open Space property, Walker Ranch.
I have known of Walker Ranch for years, but not really had a chance to explore it. I believe I had the first of many visits there Monday night. I parked and began walking up the Meyer's Homestead Trail. It is an approximate 2.4 mile out and back trail. I made it roughly a mile and a half up the trail before fading light made me turn back.
In the meantime I had a great evening walk. One of the first birds I saw was soaring well overhead. Squinting against the low light I took a few frames of it before it rose out of photographic range. After zooming in on him after the fact I confirmed a Turkey Vulture, Lifetime list #85.






I also realized that I had left my camera in black and white mode. I made adjustments and headed on down the trail.
While I was looking for birds I had the greatest success seeing deer.

These white-tails were crossing the into the eastern area of the 2000 Walker Ranch fire.

Further down the trail I was able to pass this Townsend's Solitaire and catch him enjoying the view from his perch at the end of a beautiful day, and a White-breasted Nuthatch, (not pictured here) doing the same.

I love Colorado for its diversity of scenery, and my trip to Walker Ranch was a welcome one-hour escape to the higher elevations. The barn ruins (above) and trail markers provide an insight to the history of the area over the past 100 years. I can't wait until the days get longer and I am able to make it all the way to the trail's end.

2009 Count: 51

Lifetime: 85