Spring Fever

It is way too nice for the 12th of January. I spent my lunch in a short sleeved button down shirt, and was warm, standing still in the shade on a snowy trail. Snow will fall again soon enough, but today was so worth it.

There is a very mild bit of rodent steak visible at the end of this post - so little I hesitate to add a warning - but some are grossed out by the realities of nature - you have been over warned!


I headed to the South Boulder Creek Trail today and didn't ever make it far from the Bobolink trailhead. A male Belted Kingfisher posed for me above the bit of open water emerging from the overpass. Most of the creek is solid, but won't be for long if these temps remain mild.

After a few hundred yards of mostly quiet going I found the birds. It was springlike. I was in the midst of a group of finches, both House and Goldfinches, with a number of Juncos and the lone Downy Woodpecker (above) joining in for good measure.

All of the species were singing, and with the mild temps it was nice to just stop and watch them all busy moving about the underbrush. It truly was one of those days when playing hooky would have been all to welcome, but responsibility does tend to win out, and I left group to its own devices.

As I neared the parking lot on my return I was looking up to id a poorly lit flicker, when movement caught my eye from the next tree along. I found something enjoying a big old lunch!

This American Kestrel was more distant and naturally posed than the one that was so cooperative on Saturday. Fortunately, the feeding shots more than made up for the lack of clarity and harsh light. Kestrels are fairly common, and seeing them hunt and consume critters like grasshoppers and crickets is something I have been able to do in the past. I know that they also add small rodents such as mice and voles to their diet, but seeing this little guy consume a prey item that appears to be half its size was impressive.

Beware, in nature the colorful face that you note for its beauty one day may be the hunter, noted for its ferocity, the next.

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

Big Birds

This morning I had a couple of hours before friends were coming over to my house, so I decided to head east and see what I could track down in Adams County. I ended up at the Adams County Regional Park, and walked through a portion of the Nature Preserve they have along the South Platte. Even before I had looped back to the parking area I had located the juvenile Red-tail Hawk in a tree just next to the road.

It waited while I parked, and let me approach on foot before it took off across another clear blue sky. Later, I spotted the intermediate Red-tail below. In all I counted 5 individual red-tails, all calling to one another in my short 2 mile hike.

If my first visit was any indication this is going to be a phenomenal place to visit. My birds of prey seen included Red-tails, a Kestrel, and a Northern Harrier - the Kestrel and first Red-tail before I had even approached the actual Nature Preserve. Just as I entered the preserve section a couple gave me the common tip that there was a Bald Eagle in the area this morning.

I found two sharing a branch, but they weren't in a mood for posing.

Bald Eagles are always a fun sight. While common in Colorado in the winter, people who see me with camera will usually tell me all about their last eagle sighting. I am glad that their symbolism and positive recovery story, coupled with their immediately recognizable appearance make them a species that can be appreciated by anyone, birder or not. I can't help but wonder if the couple would have recognized this youngster as a juvenile Bald Eagle as well.

I'm not too familiar with aging eagles, but this one would seem to fall into the sub-adult I category. The dark head and tail combo, extended secondary feathers, and light belly all seem about right. What I am not sure of is whether that puts this bird in its first or second winter. My guess would be first, but if anyone knows for sure please feel free to comment or shoot me an email.

I can't wait to get back and check this area out again. It is definitely a place for late afternoon and evening, as the river was choked with waterfowl, but they were all directly in line with the sun at that time of the morning. Although, with so many eagles, hawks and other great species around I don't believe there could be an uneventful visit, regardless of the time of day.

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!

Improving Temps and Targets

Today's lunch excursion was met with high hopes, a cleaned lens, cleared memory card, and many fewer layers. Of course after cleaning the sensor my camera was once again left in 'artsy' mode - aka black and white. Oh well, appreciate the contrast and highlights of the White-breasted Nuthatch!

I got my gear sorted out, and started getting a few captures of Chickadees against the clear blue sky, when I spotted something moving up high in the tree. Could you see it in the picture above?

Here is a tighter crop, a Brown Creeper! One of my better shots of these well camouflaged and always moving acrobats. While this one taught me something about looking for these trunk dwellers at the treetop level I was not surprised to see it hang inverted several times as it spiraled the branch it was on barber pole style. It was also so good as to give me one solid call to reinforce its distinct style as I watched it. All the better as I had heard several on the CBC, but had not gotten more than a passing look that time.

Of course Chickadees were everywhere, and this one happened to catch the light as well as any.

On the way back I followed some old Nordic ski tracks and was rewarded with a good flock of Juncos, most that I saw were Pink-sided, and some House Finches. They were returning to the trees I passed in the open space between visits to a local house with well stocked feeders.

Fruitless Blog Fodder

Despite the lack of recent posts I have been making every attempt to get some birdable blog content over the past week. Tuesday was miserable, but mild, with a dark overcast on the front of an advancing storm front. I had thought I would find a lot of foraging behavior, but the birds were eerily quiet, adding to the gloom. Wednesday brought dropping temps, steady winds and a snow storm that continued throughout the daylight hours. That one kept me in the office and out of the weather at lunch, so I could head home early and beat the nightmare traffic.
So yesterday found me bundled up, and enjoying the cold sunshine over a brilliant white background. I went back to the Singletree trail, the one I located for my entry two back. I was hoping that the sun direction would lead to even better shots of the Juncos I had seen previously.
A Coyote was present to welcome me again. This time I spotted the silhouette above the skyline as I was parking and relocated for the shot above heading uphill and into the sun. Unfortunately that meant no assistance in flushing anything from deep in the brush on the 'down-sun' side of the trail.


The birds were once again strangely quiet and hard to find. I did get a small flock of Black-capped Chickadees, who were also hanging around on the side of the trail facing directly into the sun. The picture above was the best bird shot I could pull from two walks over three days.

That is not to say that it has been a birdless week. My attention keeps returning to the large, mixed flocks of Canada and Cackling Geese who have descended on the fields surrounding my office. Repeated scans have not produced any oddballs, but I feel like they should be in there. Yesterday as I was talking on the cell and looking out a large window that faces west. As I took in the view a Merlin flew low across the view, and made a banking turn no more than 25 feet in front of me. Of course there was no chance for a shot, but a great moment. I had not previously seen a Merlin around my office, much less in Boulder County, so I will have to keep my eyes open on the surrounding area to see if I can relocate it and hopefully get some shots.

As I returned to the car I had a bit better angle to capture a Coyote as it climbed through a more gentle section of the bluff. My feeling was that this was a different individual. The one seen when I first arrived would have had to descend in the opposite direction from which it was headed and then be climbing back in the same direction. They sure do suffer a loss of their camouflage when the snow is covering a majority of the vegetation, but then they can probably track down a good bit of winter kill to snack on at these times as well.

Another Red-tail, If You Please?

After a non-birdy start to 2010, (my weekend consisted of laundry, cleaning, year end paperwork filing, groceries, and a horrible end to the Denver Broncos NFL season), I finally made it out quickly yesterday at lunch. I spotted a this Red-tail Hawk as I pulled into a parking spot, and aside from a group of Canada Geese it was the only bird I saw.

All the same getting a few poorly angled liftoff shots is better than nothing, right?

I followed its flight path and was surprised that it continued down on a low angle rather the lifting above the landscaping trees and bushes.

Quickly I rushed around a bend in the trail to get a look into the depression where the hawk had landed. Just as I scanned and refound the bird it took to the air, and my quick shot confirmed that the hunt had been unsuccessful.

Undeterred the hawk rose to a new perch atop a light pole and started to scan the ground again for its next potential meal.