American Avocet - What are you doing?

I am a big fan of American Avocets! (They are a big, easily distinguished shorebird with cool coloring, what's not to like?) So when I heard that dozens of them had been seen along with a Great Egret in Broomfield yesterday I decided to head over after work. The Avocets didn't disappoint, although the weather did, and the Great Egret was nowhere to be found.


When I arrived there were 15 or so of the birds spread between the three ponds. They were generally paired off, but seemed to still be sorting those associations out among one another. There was plenty of noise and commotion when six or more birds would get close to one another.


These shots had me wondering about this Avocet. American Avocets are ground nesters, and build their nest by first scraping and then lining a nest area on a clear area of shoreline. Or so Birds of North America Online tells me.


This bird seemed a bit early in the process though, and hopefully will give a bit more though to location. I would think that the multitude of predators in the area would make quick work of any eggs left on that bit of shoreline. My reading also indicated that males will do more nest searching early on, and that some of it is ritualized as a part of courtship. He, (if he is a 'he') seemed to be the only one showing off any digging skills. Hopefully his lady was impressed by his bravado, and will let him know that his poorly executed effort was appreciated!


I enjoyed watching these colorful birds, and hope a few of them do find good nesting spots in the area. The American Avocets were great to observe, but they had competition for my attention...

Gray Day Pics - Part 1

Colorado Weather: Can't decide if it is winter or spring! Today featured a few inches of snow, more inches of rain, and some dark clouds that weren't dumping (much) after I left work this evening. The lakes, creeks and fields...roads and parking lots are all over full, and at one Broomfield pond I stopped to see the waterfowl enjoying it.


The Blue-winged Teal let me get close, but the overcast light favored the American Avocets.

They were just doing what Avocets do.

Cruising the shoreline for tasty goodies!

Sometimes getting the right angle is a bit of a trick!

More pics to come.

Some Spring Migrants Arriving

The American Avocet is a bird I really enjoy. Maybe it is because it returns to the area at the front end of migration and is a sign of things to come. Or perhaps it is the great coloring, not that this picture captures it, but blue legs, a white and black body, and that burnt orange head are a great combination. More than likely it is because this shorebird is absolutely distinctive. Unlike the endless comparisons between sandpipers, plovers or determining if a yellowlegs is greater or lesser these birds are a slam dunk. I spotted this one from the road and looped back through a parking lot to get a good look. Unfortunately the whites were a bit washed out, but I hope to have many more opportunities to work on this subject.

Another Great Evening

After my lunchtime reptilian adventure I was ready for another round, so I made the stopoff at Stearn's Lake on my way home last evening. Of course Redwings were everywhere, and at times I can't resist the urge for yet another picture of their gleaming colors.

As a relatively new birder I am just loving this springtime migration season. I guess that starting in October is the way to go, as you get used to dry barren landscapes and 15 species checklists. Now I am able to filter out more of the common residents, and focus on the visitors and new arrivals showing up. I know if I was just starting out I would be in over my head trying to sort out Robins and female Red-Winged Blackbirds from everything else, (yes the female RWBBs still get me occasionally, but I am starting to put size and streaky breasts together more quickly in the field now).

Anyway, one thing that I have noticed a few times is the recurrence of a recently identified species. For instance yesterday afternoon I identified my first Spotted Sandpiper. Last evening I saw a number of additional individuals of the same species and got some much better pictures. It makes me wonder if these occasions are a coincidence of arrivals, or a heightened awareness of the presence of the species - and therefore a trigger in the consciousness to alert on the now recognized shape and pattern. Probably a bit of both, but an interesting phenomena nonetheless.

They are welcome to click with my mind whenever I can get this close!

I also had this Brewer's Sparrow stop on this clear branch with a bit of back lighting. Another lifer, a new species each time out is just fine with me! Will I now have Brewer's showing up each time I head out? Have they been there all along, and this is just the first time one has been gleaming in the sun to catch my attention?

The pair of American Avocets, (summer residents?), were at the same location, the first marshy part of the lake the trail passes. I hope that they remain, as I get a rush each time I see their cool rusty heads.

Back off for more today at lunch, hopefully I will have some new species that I can start seeing around every corner!

2009 Count: 127

Lifetime: 142

Pre-trip Catchup

Before I head out for feathered adventure this afternoon I wanted to catch up some pictures from a week ago. Last Thursday I stopped by the Stearn's Lake area on my way home from work. It was overcast and drizzly as the storm that would eventually hammer the Denver metro area with heavy wet snow was just arriving. Sure enough as soon as I got out of my car the rain really started coming down. The wind was enough to make sure that my umbrella had little effect. Still the shorebirds and ducks didn't mind and were out doing their thing on the banks. The American Avocet (above) was fairly close to my side of the larger Stearn's lake proper.

Just across the road I peeked at a small irrigation or farmer's pond which happens to fall in Broomfield county. I was fortunate to get a closer look at the Solitary Sandpiper I had seen previously.

I also had this Wilson's Snipe nearly at my feet. Unfortunately for the exposure we were both positioned below a large cottonwood, capturing a bit more of the feel of the weather than I would have hoped. Then again it was a new species for my list so I'll take it in any conditions.

So now my submissions to Ebird are up to date, all of my camera memory cards have been uploaded and reformatted and I have a couple of fresh pics posted to tide the blog over until Friday at the earliest.

My car is loaded and ready and in a few short hours I will be on the road. The only bit of bad news so far is that I could not get a blind reservation at the Valentine Wildlife Refuge for Saturday morning, but I will be camping the next two nights and have an alarm set for 4:00, so maybe I will get extremely lucky.

Even if I don't I know the next few days are going to be a whirlwind, and hopefully my notes and pics will give me a bunch of ID challenges for the days and weeks to come.

Not only will the birding be great, but the Lyrid Meteor shower peaked this morning and will continue in the early hours tomorrow, and I should get some good history exposure as well, (I have a degree in American History).

Take care everyone, and as always please feel free to make any appropriate corrections on my species identifications. Seriously, shorebirds are a whole new world for me. I will always do my best, but would rather learn from my mistakes than continue on in ignorance.

2009 Count: 84

Lifetime: 108

An even nicer evening at Stearn's Lake

The shorebird above is an American Avocet, just one of the 6 new life birds I saw on Tuesday evening. It was so nice on Tuesday that I decided to stop at Stearn's on the way home for a bit of a walk and some more pictures. While I was there I saw 3 shorebirds, including the Avocet above, two new Grebes, and an American White Pelican which I knew would be coming any day now. For the record I did peek at the Farmer's Pond across from the parking lot. That is where I spotted the Avocet, a Solitary Sandpiper, and the standard assortment of ducks, Red-wings and Killdeer.

Here is a Greater Yellowlegs walking along the beach. I am going to do my best with shorebirds, but will very likely be wrong at some point along the way. Feel free to email or add corrections in the comments.

I saw a lone American White Pelican on the lake and apparently the fishing was better towards the middle than it was for the humans on the bank. It was quite a battle for the Pelican to get it lined up for swallowing.

A quick note on Pelicans. Back a few years I spotted one on the lake at a local golf course. I was shocked that Pelicans showed up in Colorado. In Minnesota where I grew up there is a town called Pelican Rapids where White Pelicans nested, but they were fairly isolated, from what I knew, and I really thought that the additional 4000 feet of elevation would be prohibitive. At any rate - I started noticing Pelicans, even thought at that time I was far from doing any actual birdwatching. Since I started keeping a list last October I have known that at some point the Pelicans would return and I would get see them officially. What a cool way to get to see my first of the year, catching a monster fish.

I also had three species of Grebe on the lake, two of which were lifers. The Horned Grebes above were a long way out, but their distinct buff "horns" and bill shapes made the ID clear.

Also present were two similar species of Grebe, the Western above which is fairly common...

and this Clark's Grebe which is less so. I actually got several shots with multiple Westerns and the Clark's in frame, but they were far enough apart that the formatting would have made them indistinguishable blobs.

The above pictures still aren't great, but they show the major differences for making an ID. On the Western the black on the head drops down below the eye, and the body is mostly dark. The Clark's has a whiter face, including the area around the eye and the mottled light sides. Also of note is the difference in bill color. The Western's bill is a greenish-yellow and the Clark's is bright yellow to orange.

This Killdeer was in great light with a group as I walked past it in a field. Check out that great red eye.

I saw this Great Blue Heron way up in a Cottonwood that was somewhat removed from a small pond on the way to the Cradleboard trail. Interesting to see something that large, on those skinny legs, standing 40 ft up in a tree.

What a day!

Between my earlier walk along coal creek and the evening spent at Stearn's I really saw some of nature's best. I added six new life species on the day. They were, American Avocet, Solitary Sandpiper, Greater Yellowlegs, American White Pelican, Horned Grebe, and Clark's Grebe.

2009 Count: 78

Lifetime: 102