At the Rookery - Part One - Black-crowned Night-Heron

Monday evening was the last meeting of the D.F.O. (Denver Field Ornithologists)for the season. So after work I headed to Denver and got a chance to do a bit of birding in City Park before it was time to head inside.


It wasn't so much birding, as watching the activity at the rookery. Of the two rookeries in the area the one I spent my time at on Monday was the smaller and more diverse. It features nests of Black-crowned Night-Herons, Snowy Egrets and a few Double-crested Cormorants. The other, larger, rookery is almost exclusively filled with the nests of hundreds of Double-crested Cormorants. Last year my visits must have preceded any of the nesting activity of the Herons and Egrets, because I had not seen those species at the park in the past.


Getting a chance to watch so many of each was fun. A couple of Night-Herons were grabbing twigs for nest maintenance from the tree above my head. They would move precariously through the limbs and select the perfect stick before returning to their island. After a few minutes of sitting the entire colony seemed to forget my presence and were much more intent on displaying and squabbling, and keeping out of the way of the Canada Geese, and their efforts to establish pairs.


There were well over a hundred Black-crowneds in the nesting colony, but this lone bird in juvenile plumage was a bit of a wonder for me. I presumed, and it seems to be backed up by online reading, that this would be a year old bird. Dates for birds showing their "Formative Plumage" (Birds of North America Online) extend into September of the year following their hatching. I found it odd that there was just a single bird hanging out that was shoeing that plumage. Is it a 'momma's bird' afraid to break out on its own and hang with the others? An overachiever - the Doogie Howser of birds, trying to hang with the adults ahead of time? Or as I had initially thought, but now seems to be unlikely, that it was a lone bird that was late to molt into adult plumage.


Very cool to have so many nesting birds in such an approachable, urban location. If you are in the area I recommend stopping by to check out the activity.

St. Vrain Variety

Saturday afternoon ended for me at St. Vrain State Park. After wrapping up the DFO trip I decided to check the park to see if the owl nest from last year was still active. I didn't find it, and many of the large trees in the area were down or cleared. However, I'll take a Common Loon as a great replacement. Unfortunately I took these shots from a busy campground, and didn't have much time to try for a large variety of shots.


There was enough time to catch a passing Belted Kingfisher, which just happened to have its catch as it flew.


I moved from the camping grounds, and a walk around one of the lakes yielded all four Teal species, and these Lesser Yellowlegs.


This Song Sparrow was living up to its name.


One of the highlights of the afternoon portion of the field trip was this Loggerhead Shrike. I had mentioned to some of the group earlier in the day that I had been trying to make distant Meadowlarks into Shrike, and then just as we were getting ready to wrap up I found this one down the road on a pasture fence.

Colorado Weather - Ready for Anything

Saturday morning I headed out early. A DFO trip in the Longmont area was the plan for most of the day, but I stopped off in Boulder to see if I could add a reported Yellow-throated Warbler to my list. I didn't find it, but a Downy Woodpecker tried its best to make up for the missing birds.


45 minutes later, and a dramatic change. The weather actually complimented the birds, Yellow-headed Blackbirds shone in the snowy cattails.


Without strong winds our group was finding birds at every turn. Ruddy Ducks remained distant, but are always a hit.


This season seems to be the one for White-faced Ibis. Our group saw many during the day, and with the groups I had already seen this season I can't believe I haven't noticed them more in the past. I'll welcome all the looks I can get.


At one point I had to backtrack for my scope, and found this Pied-bill Grebe just offshore.


The snow only lasted for our first stop at Jim Hamm Nature Area, but we enjoyed it while it lasted.

A full day with lots of lists completed brought my year list up to 109, and there are a few more pictures to share in future posts.

Happy Easter!

I hope everyone had a great day!

Lunchtime Looks

Lunchtime yesterday was beautiful, mild and sunny, without too much wind. The area Bald Eagle was out to prove that you can keep the people away from the Eagles, but you can't keep the Eagles away from the people.


The Bald gave me a close look as it made a lazy circle in the sky. It was checking me out as it flew straight overhead. I am sure in my white button down shirt I was quite a sight standing in the middle of a brown grassy field. Just goes to show that you don't have to have special equipment or gear to have random interactions with cool birds. Sometimes sticking out like a sore thumb helps.


It didn't help when a fleeting glance I had at a bird that may have been a Green-tailed Towhee was the only one I got. Shy birds were headed for deep cover when I headed their way.


It wasn't all bad though, I headed to the edge of the dam, and while scanning for shorebirds found a nice group of Vesper Sparrows instead. They were the first I have seen of that species this year. A FOY (first of year) bird on a casual lunch break, not too shabby.


An eye level flyby from a Great Blue Heron is cool, even if it is taken while facing into the sun. A less focused shot had it hanging its tongue out of its mouth a la Michael Jordan, but I'll stick with what I got.

As of yesterday's lunch my counts were:

2011 Count: 91
Lifetime: 252

but there will be more to add after I update my list from last evening...

Happy Earth Day!

or solemn Good Friday, whichever you are feeling....


A quick walk past the owl nest today showed some growth on the nestlings. Everybody was trying to keep down out of the strong gusty winds though, so my quick look was enough.


They still look to have a while before fledging.

Still hundreds of pictures from yesterday to get through... so stay tuned.

Backside of a Storm

Tuesday I headed down to Cherry Creek Reservoir. A Neotropic Cormorant has been around, along with all kinds of migrants, and I thought I would pay a visit to see what I could find. Initially I thought I was on the young Neotropic Corm, but it turned out to just be a juvenile Double-crested Cormorant instead.


That was not to say that I regretted the trip. I had several good year birds, including this Black-crowned Night Heron among others. This was an early shot, as the storm was brewing overhead. I wandered around the marina to the edge of the dam, when the sun finally dropped below the clouds and stared reflecting. I hustled back to the fishing pier, and was treated to a great sight as the storm moved west.


A full double rainbow was huge before me, and the lower bow was repeated on itself at least three times. It was so perfectly aligned that it seemed as if I was looking through a tunnel into the distance. Of course a telephoto isn't a tool for that job, so the gull flyby will have to do.


Cherry Creek was full of Western Grebes. I guessed two hundred, but that may have been low. They were everywhere, and even with all that variety I couldn't find a single Clark's among them.


I headed back down last night, similar weather, and still no Neotropic. Lots more pictures to get through, and aspirations fro the weekend, so we'll see what happens and when they get posted.

2011 Count: 90
Lifetime: 252