Birding Betasso Preserve

King of the mountain - Pine Siskin style.


Before I had any idea that my afternoon would forever be remembered for seeing my first wild American Black Bear, I did a pretty darn good bit of birding. As I arrived it was still unclear which way the clouds were moving, and I decided to hang around the picnic shelter for a bit. Not that it was much of a sacrifice, there were good birds everywhere. The siskins above were in a group of twenty-plus, and they were happy to do their things all around me giving lots of photo opportunities. There were Western Bluebirds and Broad-tailed Hummingbirds as well, and before I had even left I had a new species to add, a Rufous Hummingbird. Unfortunately the one picture I took was blurred and moving behind in-focus grass, but the colors were distinctive.

This Gray-Headed, Dark-Eyed Junco had a beakfull of goodies ready for dinner. He sat as the trail circled the tree he was perched in, I wonder if he needed a minute before returning to his demanding brood.

I also had a chance to watch a pair of Pygmy Nuthatches cycle food into their cavity nest. These were the first I have photographed, as my previous sighting was on the Boulder Christmas Bird Count at Betasso. Maybe we saw the same residents six months earlier under much different circumstances? I did notice that one of the pair carried away the avian version of a dirty diaper as it left the nest. I would never have known about the behavior or the importance if I had not seen this recent post by AstheMindWanders, check the comment from Nate that explains the behavior.

Western Bluebirds were a constant on my walk. I think he looks great even in the softer light.

Finally this Western Tanager's colors were really set off against the green of the trees across the beginnings of the valley. The best looks I have had so far at this colorful species.

All in all I had three lifer birds on Monday, the Rufous Hummingbird, a Dusky Flycatcher, and two Plumbeous Vireos sadly none were as photogenic as the bear, but there is always next time!

2009 Count: 158

Lifetime: 170

So, So Cool!

For all my life there has been a species I have watched for in the wild. I think it began with a giant, over-sized, stuffed one that I had in my room as a kid. It is still there, at my folks' house and now my Nephew and Niece get to play with it when they come to visit.

I remember early childhood stories of a trip my parents and older sister took to Colorado before I was old enough to tag along. Reportedly my sister, then 5 or 6, was afraid to get out of the car in the mountains because these furry friends were going to eat her. I didn't make it out west until I was much older, so I avoided any early age Ursus related trauma - real or imagined.

I remember my Mom telling stories of her early childhood car trips to Florida - from Minnesota - when my Grandparents kept my Uncle occupied by telling him to "count the bears" along the way. They did it to keep him occupied, knowing there was little to no chance of ever seeing a bear from the interstate, and I knew that when the story was retold to me. Even so I always thought how cool it would have been to spot one, and ever since I have kept a secret eye on the treeline during car rides.

Now, in my life I have been blessed to have traveled fairly wide and far. I have seen most of the states, and handful of countries, and two continents. Along the way I have sought out the wild places, the sublime beauty of the unexpected vistas, and of course the critters that live there.

While doing so I have seen a fair number of the large and in some cases unusual animals that those of us in Colorado and the mountain west get to take for granted. Moose, bison, elk, bighorn sheep, mountain goats, more deer than you can imagine, and of course the singing coyotes of the plains. Of all those that I have seen or sought, there are two that I have not seen in the wild that stand out, and one of those would be an unexpected sight indeed. The one that I don't count on seeing is the Mountain Lion. It is naturally elusive and shy, and unless staking out a known site, or finding oneself in a bad situation there is little chance of spotting one.

Bears on the other hand are supposedly everywhere. Campgrounds and picnic areas have bear proof trashcans - even in places where it seems a bit ridiculous. Signs warn of bears, and when camping we all take precautions to make sure we don't have an unwelcome visitor in camp. But, after 15 years in Colorado, heeding the warnings and enjoying the wild spaces I was beginning to think it was all just a lark put on by the tourism bureau or something. I could just see an intern driving a pickup through the woods, dropping a pile of bear "sign" here or there, scratching up a tree and possibly using cartoon-like feet to make bear tracks cross public trails at likely crossings.

Okay, maybe I wasn't that sceptical, but I had certainly resigned myself to the fact that bears were secretive and unlikely to be spotted unless they came visiting your camp or wandered into a housing development to upset some trashcans.

So on my visit to Betasso Preserve in Boulder yesterday afternoon I didn't have bears on my mind at all. That is to say, I wasn't thinking hmmm, lets look for a bear. In Colorado or any country where potentially dangerous animals reside it serves the hiker well to always keep the threats in mind. Birding helps this as watching and listening to the sounds of the forest will give advanced notice of what species may be active in the area.




To that end when I saw a lone fawn in feeding in the trees just above me I immediately began scanning for the doe. I didn't find her, but even a creature as docile and timid as a deer can become a threat if a hiker wanders into a position between she and her young.

That little fawn was a highlight in a fairly good birding day. I was supposed to hike with a buddy who is taking a couple of classes at CU this summer and was going to have a free Monday afternoon. Apparently not everyone totes full rain gear in their car and he had left town before I got out of work that afternoon. Of course afternoon rain in Boulder is isolated, and I headed uphill to Betasso Preserve. I didn't pop into clear sunshine, but despite a couple of thunder rumbles when I first arrived, and hanging near the car until I was sure the clouds were not gathering over my head, I was able to leave the rain gear in my pack all afternoon.

It was a good walk, and as any visitor to Betasso knows, either direction on the Canyon Loop trail involves a second half uphill climb. Note: if you do visit on a day other than Wednesday or Saturday please travel in the opposite direction of the posted bike traffic. Technically hikers have the right of way over bikers, but hearing a biker coming along the trail towards you before a blind corner will help everyone enjoy their time more.

After my climb back to the parking lot I was trading my shirt scented with bug repellent and sweat for a clean dry T-shirt. I caught movement out of the corner of my eye and looked to see an American Black Bear literally bounding across the clearing 100 yards beyond the trailhead.

It was fantastic! I thought about calling to the people in the picnic shelter 100 yards in the opposite direction, but didn't want to run the bear off any faster than his enjoyable looking gait. I reached back into the car and grabbed my camera, in time to get a series of low light decreasing focus pictures as the bear continued into the trees and disappeared over the ridge.

In the end I decided not to alert the couple at the shelter. The bear was moving away, and I was so excited I didn't trust myself to speak coherently in front of people who were just as likely to be area residents, and view a bear sighting as being as common as the late spring thunderstorms we have this time of year.

So here it is, my first wild bear sighting:

So nice of the bear to let me get a few pictures before it disappeared!

Bobolink at the Bobolink Trailhead

My failed lunch attempt to find a Bobolink on my drive was followed up with a more successful walk this evening. As I walked along Baseline to the edge of the field where they had been reported back in May I hoped that this would be a bird that made an appearance rather than one that was invisible in June when the grass is high. Much to my satisfaction as soon as I lifted my bins I found one perched on some sparse bushes in the middle of the field.
I walked until I was about even with him, got five pictures, and then he took off and settled into a more dense bush. I waited another five minutes, but he did not reemerge. The fast approaching thunderstorm may have had something to do with that though. Many thanks to the members of CObirds who posted their sightings when it first arrived with a specific location. I guess they had a reason for naming that trailhead.

Of course I had decided to outsmart the Boulderites and park at the rec center off of South Boulder and walk up the trail. I know how busy the above-mentioned trailhead can be at lunch, and parking can be tough and my choice always has lots of parking. Unfortunately while the trail offered lots of activity on the way up my Deepwoods Off is on my kitchen table, and the many bites kept me moving fast. On the way back I went for trees over open fields in a thunderstorm's path, and didn't even try for pictures. I made it pack to the car, unstruck, and mostly dry.

2009 Count: 154

Lifetime: 167

Aww..... Mom!

"All the other Prairie Dog pups are calling me, and I think that guy by the car just took my picture," whined the pup.

"Well if you would learn to drink your milk nicely then maybe I wouldn't have to clean your face after lunch." Responded Mom between licks.

I had no idea that Prairie Dog pups fed standing on their hind legs. I noticed the behavior from a distance while scanning for Burrowing Owls atop Marshall Mesa. By the time I had the camera up and focused it was on to cleanup time.

I also didn't realise just how clearly the rufous wing patches could stand out on Vesper Sparrows.

That is a good looking brown bird, much harder to see when they are not perched on fence posts.

There really wasn't much in the way of photo opportunities on this day's lunch, but I found a cool road where I could swear I am a million miles from nowhere, not five minutes from work. Good stuff.

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

Boulder Valley Ranch

I spent a long afternoon in Boulder County yesterday. The first bird I saw as I began to walk was this Yellow-Breasted Chat on a dead limb. He was happy and singing, and I was happy because even before I had gotten to the parking lot I had picked up an unintended, and unmistakable life bird....

A Blue Grosbeak! I got the shot above later. I ended up seeing five individuals on the afternoon, four males and one female. It seems that perhaps they are somewhat common in the area, which is nice. Now that I can recognise such a colorful bird for what it is and know that it has an okay chance of being in the area I will be sure to stop back. The Blue Grosbeaks and Chats weren't going to be the only splashes of color in the area though.

Brilliant Bullock's Orioles were common, and their orange, yellow, black and white shapes were easy to spot chasing Western Kingbirds in the tops of the cottonwood trees. The open space area has a trail encircling a preserved working ranch. I walked a two mile out and back course along an irrigation canal lined with mature cottonwoods, willows and Russian olives. The trail did continue across a large open area, dipping down to a reed lined pond before circling back to the trailhead. I decided not to complete the loop through the open area with threatening storms skirting overhead, but I know that had I done so my counts would have been even higher. A great location that I will plan to get back to. Locations where, as you are about to pack up and drive off, you can stand feet from Barn Swallows and shoot pictures for minutes at eye level are certainly worth another look.

2009 Count: 152

Lifetime: 165

Coot Lake and a bit of Boulder Reservoir

Friday evening I headed north through Boulder, thinking that I may stop by the Walden Ponds - Sawhill Ponds Complex to see what all was in the area. Due to being on a different road than I realized I was actually further east than I had planned and missed my turn. So instead of fighting traffic and guessing on backroads I continued on up to Coot Lake, just north of Boulder Reservoir.
In addition to many dozens of Red-winged Blackbirds, a few Western Meadowlarks, and six colorful spinning parachutists I got to see an photograph 8 Eastern Kingbirds. Since I wasn't looking for this species I got to try to categorise it based on observations while I was taking pictures. They were actively hunting insects, and let me get very close while they did so. I could watch as they waited, launched, and then made an aerobatic attack before returning to their preferred perch. I had a "duh" moment when I compared my pictures to the guides, and the pictures I had of two Western Kingbirds that were in the same area, behaving in a similar manner.

The colors of the Western are eye catching, but the contrast of black and white on the Eastern, along with that brilliant white tip of the tail make it equally pleasing to watch in the field. These two are definitely favorites.

The picture above was a great surprise. It is a Cliff Swallow that was hunting over the mudflats at the outlet of Boulder Res. I was getting ID shots of some Spotted Sandpipers and Killdeer on the far side, and took a few frames of the swallows as well. I had basically dismissed them in my fascination with the bee in the previous post, (I saw it minutes later). So when I was flipping through this morning and saw this swallow in flight, with it's eye frozen, looking at me as if to say, "Whats the big deal?" I was just blown away. Sometimes it is better to be lucky than good!

Just after the random Cliff Swallow, and the European Honeybee, I saw these two Tree Swallows. Their impending activities were a fitting site for someone photographing both birds and bees on this day. I left the happy couple to themselves and finished my walk in time to head for home and catch the end of the Nuggets playoff chase. One less distraction now from the wonderful world of nature and summertime pursuits.

To close, here is a Goldfinch that was in the grass just off the trail. It sat while I took shots as a woman approached walking her dog. I anticipated that it would take off, giving me a chance for a flight shot, but it never did as she approached, only later as we talked did it head for a more distant treetop perch.

2009 Count: 151

Lifetime: 164