A Few More Count Day Images

Just a few more shots taken on the Boulder Christmas Bird Count last Sunday.

There were White-winged form Dark-eyed Juncos, one that I don't know that I have previously photographed.


Nuthatches were all about, and for whatever reason Sunday was the day that the Red-breasteds were the most photogenic.


I really enjoyed the chance to spend hours learning and then practicing identifying the dramatically different calls of the various Nuthatches. Hopefully I will have a chance to hear a few in Minnesota over the next few days.


A Townsend's Solitaire is no stranger to a perch atop a juniper, but this one stopped close as we were gathered next to, and just upslope of his perch. It was the spot from which we had been observing the Northern Pygmy Owl, and ended up being well lit for the Solitaire as well.

To any and all, may your Holiday be filled with family and friends, food and fun, fur and feathers, and if your location favors it at least a bit of frost!

Sometimes, You Just Get Lucky

I knew that the Christmas Bird Count in Boulder would be good, they always seem to be. This year was no exception, but there was one highlight that I didn't even consider prior to the count.
Note the size of the bird in the picture below, it is roughly twice the size of a Ponderosa Pine cone.


We never would have seen it, if I hadn't followed a likely Townsend's Solitaire toward the top of the same tree. We moved around for a closer view, and I was quickly tipped by the count leader to a trait that made it definitely not a Solitaire - it has a relatively fat head! The count leader, being far more experienced than I, already had a good idea what it may be, and was trying to disqualify it. I picked up on the spotting, before I moved around to the side for a better view. It was from there, and approaching behind a tree, that I got all of these shots.

The bird, was an unexpected site, a Northern Pygmy Owl! These tiny owls are incredibly difficult to spot. This one was silent, but apparently they can be heard fairly readily, but usually hang out deep inside evergreens, not on low hanging bare limbs.

This one was content to sit for some time, giving us good views as it rotated through multiple angles. It was unfazed as we stood and exclaimed our good fortune to one another.

I can't express just how tiny this owl is when seen in the wild. It seemed almost like an over-sized, puffy junco. The last treat that this great bird had in store was when it took off to pursue a junco as it flew by. They really appeared to be close to the same size, before they were gone in an instant, lost amongst the trees.

I am sure that in time I will lose the memories of some the species that I saw today, some of the lessons I learned about identifying bird calls will have to be revisited, but once again a Christmas Bird Count has given me at least one memory that I know will take years to erase at the earliest. Betasso Preserve, this fun little slice of nature just outside Boulder, seems to have that characteristic for me. My first visit was my first CBC, my first sighting of Pygmy Nuthatch parents returning to feed there young were here, my unforgettable first wild American Black Bear sighting, a handful of species added to my life list, and now most recently a new and most unexpected Owl. I look forward to many more visits and surprises.

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!