Silver Lining

Huh. Last time I posted I was planning on heading off for birds, photos and adventure within 24 hours. One poor lunch or dinner decision, (not really sure which), and I found myself spending hours contemplating the decor of my bathroom, if you catch my drift. After shifting a planned Friday off to a Wednesday of recovery and spending a Thanksgiving giving thanks for noodle soup and ginger ale I was ready for some good local birding on Saturday. My guess was that being forced to abandon travel plans was a push towards staying local and going back for closer shots of the national A-list bird, the Ross's Gull which had remained at Cherry Creek Reservoir. Unfortunately, I and many others were unable to relocate the bird today, it has apparently moved on. But, starting a beautiful Saturday in a state park surrounded by nature is never a wasted effort.


I spotted this juvenile Red-Tailed Hawk perched just off one of the roads. I was a ways off, but was able to shoot from my truck and get great looks at those pale irides - which will turn dark as this bird reaches adulthood.


The bird continued to scan the field below it, rather than spending much time looking at me or the other traffic, so I waited hoping to catch a flight shot. It dove, rose back to a perch as I followed the road which looped back below the original perch. Just as I drew near it dove again and caught its meal in some thick grass, just beyond where I had stopped.


The bird definitely knew I was close this time, but it was in deep cover and was not going to do anything other than eat. I stayed put and was thrilled to see the bird so close.


Just goes to show that nature can always provide a silver lining, even when plans and target birds fall through.

Plans and Packing

While running errands at lunch this afternoon a juvenile Red-tailed Hawk was perched on a light post. I had to stop for a minute just to get a couple of shots.

In other news planning and preparation is well underway for my holiday weekend adventure. I am expanding a trip that I did two years ago, just after I had started birding. I'll be hitting four or five states and depending on weather and whims the trip will target a National Wildlife Refuge, a National Monument, multiple National Grasslands and State Wildlife Areas and Parks.

Hopefully I will catch a variety of habitats and species, and little to no precipitation. My previous version of this trip predated the blog by a few months, so I look forward to sharing some stories, checklists and photos when I return.



Take care readers, and if you are heading on a Thanksgiving adventure of your own this weekend go safely and have fun!

Ross's Gull

No pictures yet from this weekend, it was fairly busy. Friday afternoon as I was checking out the Snow Goose, reports were circulating about a Ross's Gull that had been seen and photographed at Cherry Creek Reservoir. There was no daylight to check by on Friday evening, and Saturday was the last home game for the Colorado Buffaloes, a game for which I was meeting fellow alumni at 7:00 am, no time for birding there.

I was left to hope that this bird would hang around until Sunday so I would have a chance to go looking for it. I headed out well before dawn Sunday morning, and was one of the first on the swim beach side of the lake. I did a lot of scanning with my scope, but was not having much luck.....there are hundreds of gulls, and picking out one on a large lake is always a challenge. Just as some of the out-of-state'ers began to arrive we found the bird. It was flying along the dam, and occasionally dipping down to the water surface. From that distance I was just scanning with the scope; no camera. Just trying to keep the bird in scope was a challenge enough. Still, at the distance we were able to watch it for some time, banking back and forth and occasionally flashing its wedge shaped tail. When it was close to others you could pick up a hint of pink, but it was far from a dominate feature at our distance. Camera or no, the scope seems to have earned its stripes as far as attracting rarities!

Later I worked around to the Lake Loop on the west side and got looks again with another group of birders. More great scope views, but distant. As a cold front blew through the weather fell apart, whitecaps kicked up and scoping to the far side of the lake became impossible. Counting my good fortune I headed home, only to read later that others had gotten to watch the bird resting on a sandbank yards from their position near the marina.

I am really happy just to have seen the bird. While a photo for the blog would have been nice, getting to see a bird that rarely leaves the Arctic is memorable in and of itself. From what I have gathered Colorado had two other accepted records of Ross's Gulls - and historical records in the lower 48 have been counted in the dozens. So having gotten to see this one definitively was worth it, as 15 or so years seems a safe bet before the next one comes around.

2010 Count: 208
Lifetime: 249

Digiscoped Snow Goose

Driving home this evening I caught a glimpse of white among some feeding Canada Geese in the Broomfield "field". After wondering while waiting at the next light whether I had seen a plastic bag or a bird I decided to take the chance and head back for another look. I pulled into the conveniently located historical farmhouse parking lot and had a great look at a smallish white goose.


Fortunately today was the first day I was ready with a new bit of technology. A spotting scope and adapter now allow me to join the ranks of digiscopers - hopefully giving me an opportunity to get more detail on distant birds, and as a result some more tricky ids in the future.


In the field this evening I was leaning to calling this bird a Ross's Goose. It was smaller than the surrounding Canadas, and appeared to have a small bill. Glad I had pictures! Note the forehead of this bird. A Snow Goose's head continues up from the bill along roughly the same angle as the bill itself. For a Ross's Goose the forehead rises more sharply from the top of the bill and shows a bit more angle. The other solid field mark for a Snow Goose is a grin patch on the bill. The grin patch is a dark area on the bill itself that gives an impression of an opening. The low light of the evening didn't really allow the feature to show, but I believe close zooms reveal it to be there. From all this I come away with the feeling that this is a Lesser Snow Goose.


As my first white goose in my home county I am glad to have seen it. Had I not been ready with scope and camera I would have likely walked away with an incorrect id, or at least doubts about the details I had missed.

Not everything had been quite as smooth on my scope rig's inaugural day. I woke early this morning and was in position on Baseline Reservoir at sunrise. After a 3/4 mile walk with tripod, scope, camera and bins I was ready for some great shots - but realized that I had left my memory card back in the truck. Fittingly, as I stood trying to bask in the beautiful morning, just binocular birding and not worried about getting shots I had three loons approach. Two were Common Loons, and the third was a ...Pacific Loon. All three came right up to shore at the point where I was watching. So, I regret being unable to share pictures of the best loon looks I have gotten; but trust me they were a great way to start the day.

The scope rig requires a more manual photographic approach, so there will probably be some additional growing pains along the way. Hopefully there will be more looks to share soon though, so check back in the days and weeks to come.

Louisville Arboretum

Little ol' Louisville has an arboretum. It isn't as fancy as say Denver's Arboretum, but is a nice little area in an open space near my work. I had a few minutes to waste after a haircut, so I stopped by on the off chance that something was hanging out in the now bare trees. I had heard the Blue Jays in the pines as I arrived, but I looped wide to get them on my return with the sun at my back.

At first the only birds in the open were House Finches.


This little lady has her cherry red lipstick on. They were really working on the leftovers of some decorative cherry tree's crop. They look like maraschinos to me.

As I worked back towards the lot a lone brave Blue Jay tolerated my presence as it flipped through the wood chips on the ground.


I'm not sure it was finding much, but it was working hard, swinging its bill from side to side and flipping a chip on each pass.


I realized that the bird had several companions in the pines, one of which I captured in the lead photo. Blue Jays, along with the other corvids, have a reputation for intelligence, and did not remain perched on an open branch of a tree when a long lens is aimed in their direction. I was trying to catch one exposed, when a bird exploded from a closer pine and passed within inches of me a knee level. I instantly thought it was another jay, but it buzzed an American Robin on the ground and then perched atop a barren sapling. A glance at the perched bird was all I needed, an American Kestrel.
I was amazed that it would perch in a pine just feet off the ground, that it would even bother to buzz a Robin, and that it seemingly used me for cover. Always something new out there to be seen. For a small suburban arboretum this sure packed a big punch.

Song Sparrow

I was unable to find either a reported Golden-crowned Sparrow or a flock of Evening Grosbeaks yesterday at North Teller Lake in Boulder County. This Song Sparrow tried hard to make up for the lack of more scarce species.

Sights from Sunday Morning

While looking for loons at Chatfield State Park.


I found no loons, but this Townsend's Solitare was posing nicely.


As was this Downy Woodpecker.


A Black-capped Chickadee just looked cold, although those little birds move so much I don't think the cold would ever get a chance to catch them.


This juvenile Bald Eagle was just curious enough to let me approach along the shore. I think the hundreds of Coots just below him were happy to have me there.