Big Dry Creek - DFO Field Trip

Because who wants to waste a beautiful Saturday sitting on their butt?



OK, for that guy sitting on his butt is probably well earned. In a world where hawks, snakes, and coyotes all want to eat you getting a few minutes of relaxed sun time must be a rarity. For me it was not OK, and I joined up with my first DFO field trip group.
This was the first time that I had been a part of a large group session to seek out the birds, and it was a good experience.
I intentionally chose a trip in an area where I frequently visit to see just how much I have been missing along the way. It was reassuring after the fact to know that I really haven't been missing too much. There was one fun exception though, a Yellow-Rumped Warbler, aka "Butter-butt". It was moving around fairly high in a cottonwood, and the bin views were much better than the resolution I could get from the camera. So everyone will just have to take my word that it was there.
Instead check out this nice view of a Great-Horned Owl.

I knew these were in the stretch of habitat, but my previous visits hadn't generated one for a sighting. Fortunately one of the benefits of a large group is the "fortuitous flushing". In this case a group that had split off to another side of a wooded area happened to flush the Great Horned, and he perched in a tree just ahead of my position. He stayed for a bit, long enough to pose from all angles and then flew back to his original perch.

From that perch it was easy to see why these large birds are so difficult to pick out, even when there general location is known:

Other highlights in the area were a pair of Sharp-shinned hawks who met in mid-air and made a few passes with one another in a shared thermal. and this pair of Red-tails who were sharing a branch together and occasionally seen engaged in nest building activities.

This was the second of three paired up Red-tails I have seen since last Friday. Until last fall I had never really been looking, but seeing the birds pairing up is neat. In this picture the female is on the right. Raptor species feature larger females and smaller males. This shared perch is a good place to compare the size difference between the two.

We also had two good views of Kingfishers along the trail. This background was a bit busy, but in the blog the view I had of one perched in the foreground of the Rockies would have looked like a sharp-edged speck.

Sometimes there is nothing better than scratching an itch you just can't reach.

Three new species on the day, Yellow-Rumped Warbler, Greater Scaup (I have probably been seeing these, but did not know for certain until more experienced trip members helped to show the difference), and Cinnamon Teal.

No great pictures of any of the three, but I'll keep looking.

2009 Count: 69

Lifetime: 96

Discovering the Cradleboard Trail

I headed back to the Stearn's Lake area yesterday, but rather than going to the lake itself I headed south through the trail system towards Josh's Pond in Broomfield. The last time I visited in mid-February it was overcast, windy and generally poor conditions. This time couldn't have been more different. It was still cool, but there wasn't a cloud in the sky, and the wind had finally relented. Just a beautiful afternoon and evening.

I didn't get to see a Red-tail snacking like last time, but I did have this juvenile keep an eye on me from across a pond.

As I walked I decided to take a trail I had not tried previously, called the Cradleboard Trail. It took me head on into the setting sun, so for a time I really had no idea where I was headed, but could look back at a small creek and quiet a few Prairie Dogs.

Signs warn walkers to stay on the trails to avoid damaging the Critical Wildlife Habitat, and the pamphlet I picked up at the far end mentioned Burrowing Owls using Prairie Dog burrows for nesting. That perked up my interest, but I didn't see any on this visit. There were several nice march sections, and both Prairie Dogs and Cottontail Rabbits were plentiful.

The trail ended at a low usage back road, and I followed that for a bit to loop the wildlife area and cross back into the Broomfield trail system at the east side. The loop I made was just under 3.5 miles, but as the days get longer it could grow to include Josh's Pond and a dip back to pick up Stearn's lake as well.

I just love exploring unknown trails in my own backyard. Walking along a road and wondering if what is hopefully a loop will work out, or if you are in for finishing a hike in the dark on a much longer than expected out and back. Takes me back to my high-school cross-country days, and I must say that I am happy to have traded speed for the extra weight of a camera and bins.

2009 Count: 65

Lifetime: 93

Big Dry Creek

The Big Dry Creek open space is a great resource that runs through Westminster and cuts across 120th Ave minutes from my home. Yesterday I took advantage of the later sunset to get in a good walk and see what birds were about. To start it was all Prairie Dogs and European Starlings.



The Prairie Dog is essential to good wildlife watching here in the high plains habitat. Their place on the menus of Coyotes, Hawks and Eagles make their communities great places to stake out predators. In addition their alert calls can give an early heads up if a raptor is soaring overhead and up-sun from a current position. I have read that their warning barks are threat specific, so in theory they could let you know what they are watching while you are in their area, but I have yet to see that applied by anyone.

While I was walking south towards the 120th underpass I got buzzed by this Sharpie (Sharp-shinned Hawk). He was on me so fast that I didn't get a well focused image, but this and the few others I got worked for identification. As usual with raptors I double checked my own impressions against Jerry Ligouri's, Hawks from Every Angle: How to Identify Raptors In Flight. Sharpies are a tough ID in the field for a relative novice like myself because they are very similar to the slightly larger Cooper's Hawk. Key identification points to look for are the squared off tail and smaller head. The Sharpie is generally more stout in appearance due to wing shape and a relatively short tail length. Also the Sharp-shinned Hawk has a body shape that starts broad at the shoulder and narrows towards the tail. The Cooper's Hawk tends to be more uniformly broad.

I half expected this guy to start dancing to "I'm Alright" as I walked past.

Shortly after the Sharpie I was treated to a very cool sight. There are two Northern Flickers in the picture above, see them both?

Here is another frame that shows the trailing bird more clearly. Not only was the lead bird a Yellow-shafted Northern Flicker, (my first sighting), but the two chased one another from tree to tree for the full ten minutes I was watching them. Their under-wing colors would flash in the sun on each upbeat and as they banked and dove around branches. Suh-weeet!

A handful of Cottontails are mixed in among the Prairie Dogs, although I think I see them in greater numbers in my neighborhood each morning.

As with my previous visit to the Big Dry Creek area the Robins were prolific. They still seem to be plotting, but don't seem to be taking any action yet......

...unless rerouting air traffic from Germany is a part of their plan. Muhhhhaaaaahhhhaaaa! It was a randomly low circling transatlantic jet for this area, but it did immediately precede the change in weather, that brought a cold strong wind from the northeast for the rest of my walk and snow overnight.

I'll leave off with this shot of one of the Prairie Dog predators. The Coyote and I surprised one another as I walked along a roadside to get a better view of a potential owl nest, and it was cruising into the Prairie Dog town from some cattail growth. I backed away to avoid unintentionally driving the hunter towards a busy road, and as I left the Coyote had withdrawn beneath some scrub. I was a bit disappointed to have not gotten a clear view of the nest from a higher angle, but was treated to three Red-tails circling and lightly hunting above me. Of course that was just as my one gb card filled up and just as I realised that I did not have the partially full four gb card that I had believed was in my pocket. Take my word they were great looking birds! I saw a total of six Red-tails, and believe that the three may have been a part of the beginning of migration.

2009 Count: 65

Lifetime: 93