Was I seeing things?

I had an interesting trip to the Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge yesterday afternoon. I'll have a photo report up later, but there were some birds along the way that had me head scratching and possibly seeing more than was really there.

Shortly after I arrived I scanned a large group of swallows on some hanging wires, it didn't take long to pick the one that was not like the others....


That is one white swallow...technically it is leucistic...a true albino would have the pink eye indicating a total lack of pigment.

The first notably leucistic bird I have found in the wild, and I did it all by myself! Ok, not that major of a feat when there are hundreds of birds all hanging out together and all in plain sight. What became more interesting was what I saw later....

Am I right, is this a partially leucistic Bullock's Oriole? I only have my Peterson Guide to Western Birds with me this morning, but I do not see anything else to match what I am seeing here.

Then to make a strange coincidence even more unlikely, I saw this bird at the far end of the lake.

I can't say for certain if they were or were not the same individual - although the first one appears to have more white where the Bullock's should have the black eye-band - but differences in time and light angle make it impossible to tell.

Once again nature throws so many questions my way...

Do Bullock's Orioles go through a light molt? This young Oriole seems to suggest otherwise, but that one may have been further along....

If it (they) is (are) leucistic how uncommon would it be to have two in the same area? Are multiple leucistic individuals in the same brood possible? Common? Rare?

I don't think it likely, but can environmental factors increase the emergence of recessive genes?

Finally, am I just seeing these species because this is the season for hatches? Since I have really only been doing this since last October it is entirely possible that each summer hundreds of pale individuals are born, and then due to natural selection are weeded back out of the flocks by the time fall migration rolls around.

As always, if anyone has insight please feel free to comment or email me at daveabirding@gmail.com.

Begin the Day with Birds!

What better way to motivate for a workday than at a lake, at sunrise, surrounded by the textures and colors of birds?


Mourning Doves are common, but the low sun shadows make the spots on this one's back merge into the layers of texture. Even the mundane can provide beauty.

A Song Sparrow's song is just right to clear the mind and rejuvenate the soul.

This young Bullock's Oriole explores all the ways a barbed wire fence is like a jungle gym. Even prickly situations can be fun.

The subdued colors and contemplative nature of this Double-Crested Cormorant offer a reminder, that reflection and patience have their places in daily life.

Then an American Goldfinch finds a perch under cool green leaves and before a crystal clear blue sky. Make the most of conditions that favor your best qualities!

Finally, never be content with the way things are. The familiar may not be the best, be open to change if it brings an improvement! (Check out the new and improved Great Blue Heron header!)

A beautiful morning - birds

What a sight to start the day! All those warm colors against a crisp blue sky. Not to mention a juicy green bug for breakfast - Mmmmm Good!

A pair of Mourning Doves were out enjoying the sunshine, they are fledglings I believe - having a more scaly appearance and less distinct eye-ring.

The hatch isn't over though, this momma appeared to be incubating while dad came back periodically with some patching supplies for the nest.

It is certainly a beautiful morning when a Coot can eat a glowing breakfast while swimming on a surface of light.

This jay even managed to make blue on blue look good this morning as he checked me out while flying by. Such a great way to start the day. I hope to get another chance this evening.

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

A "Swift" trip to the South Mesa Trailhead

After my sunny lunch trip to Boulder I went back up after work, this time to the South Mesa Trailhead. It was a bit different, as the seasonal "black cloud over Boulder" had made its afternoon appearance. I took shelter downwind from some heavy brush as the front blew through, and was able to watch a group of White-Throated Swifts soaring on the strong breeze.

After the rain cleared I was able to locate this Yellow Warbler singing as it inspected the new growth for insects.

Within minutes the sky was back to eggshell blue, which brought out this Bullock's Oriole to sing in the treetop.

It also brought out this Bullsnake, who was not singing. It did a lot of hissing and I did some yelling when we found one another well inside our comfort zones after I came around a bush in the trail. Fortunately my heart did not explode in my chest despite a good shot of adrenalin, I wonder if snakes use adrenalin, and if so did it have a story to tell its friends later that night like I did?

Neither of use were any worse for the wear, and I watched - from a few additional feet away - as he worked his way into some rocks that offered more cover. Oddly enough the picture above was the first I took after I had scrambled out of his way. The later attempts failed to get his head in nearly as tight focus.

2009 Count: 147

Lifetime 160

Sparrows and Change

For my lunch break today I decided to head over to a little trailhead on the way to Marshall Mesa where I had some luck finding bluebirds earlier in the spring. This time I was more interested in the two marshy ponds that are full of cattails and were places I considered good possible locations for shorebirds or waterfowl.
I was immediately successful locating Yellow-Headed Blackbirds which were present in the best numbers I have seen yet. They were vocalizing with a click that sounds exactly like a modern driver making good contact with a golf ball. I wonder if they have always done that, or if it gets mimicked from being heard on all the golf courses with marshy wetlands?

There wasn't much variety in the ponds, but as I was watching I saw and photographed one individual in each of the three following Sparrow species. The Vesper Sparrow is above. I noticed the breast spot, but that the bird's colors seemed more faded than a Song Sparrow and started my searching from there. The white eyering really helped to dial this ID in.

This next Sparrow is a Brewer's, the field marks are visible even though the colors were a bit washed out by the direct sun. Here I noted the pale, light-gray underside with no streaking. The white eyering, coupled with the thin moustache and eyelines were good clues as well. Finally I matched the description of mixed black and tan feathering on the top of the head, and confirmed that this was a Brewers.

The last of the Sparrows I had a chance to ID was the Savannah Sparrow above. I had almost dismissed it on an initial look as a female Red-Winged Black Bird, but even through the elements and habitat were right, I knew that was not correct. The breast and flanks of the RWBB are heavily streaked, making the overall color of the bird much darker. Also, the RWBB has dark legs and feet, and just seems larger and thicker than the Savannah. The other possibility here that I checked was the White-Throated Sparrow. I looked there because it also has the yellow forehead markings. The White-Throated was dismissed before I even checked it because of its crisp white and black lines on the head. However, checking the birds that I know share some common field marks is a good first step. It helped me to know why I was eliminating those species, and by checking the similar species listed for the ones I knew I was able to get to a starting place and eventually eliminate all but the Savannah Sparrow.

If you are still reading, sorry for the rambling description. I am working on getting some of these IDs more firmly wired in my brain, and working back through the steps I followed may help for next time.

Finally, while I was looking out across the field to see if there were any visible Burrowing Owls in the area, I had a nice view of an American Kestrel overhead. The translucent bits of the wings really show up well, yet again Kestrels stepping up for a new fun way to be photographed.

Doudy Draw - How Have I Missed This Place?

Here's an old friend from my Nebraska trip, now seen in Colorado

Back in the mid-Nineties, when I was an undergrad and a new arrival in Colorado, one of my favorite drives was south on Highway 93 along the foothills in the late afternoon or evening.

It still is - for all the same reasons. As you drive along, hogbacks and mesas break the view eastward towards the cities of the Front Range. The setting sun will peak between the rock outcroppings of the Flatirons and foothills, and make a natural splendor of light and shadow. In addition, for stretches of that fantastic hilly and curvy ribbon of asphalt you can lose sight of all development, and picture just for an instant how the untouched splendor of the Rockies must have appeared 200 years ago.

You could say I like the scenery a "bit". Knowing all that it is amazing to me that until last night I had never had the inclination or desire to visit the Doudy Draw trailhead. I have hiked, biked, and driven all around the area, but had never jumped on one of the trails heading along or towards the foothills west of 93. Now I know - insane!

Hummingbirds look like they never quite bought into the idea of feathers over scales.

Finally the idea of migrants and a known Boulder hotspot made me pull into the lot on the left side of the street rather than the right, and BLAMMO, there I was. A nice trail runs along the South Boulder Creek valley, and eventually climbs along the ridge to offer occasional peaks through at the Flatirons and foothills to the north and west. With just a bit of haze it was spectacular.

A House Wren and its mate appeared to be busy carrying nesting materials to the back of a nearby tree.

Word on some of the Colorado Birding email lists is that the changes to the trail configuration at Doudy Draw have made it less appealing, and frankly I can see why. More of the trail has been shifted up the hillside and away from some great riparian habitat. However, even seeing that the older trail which is now blocked off looked much more favorable I am willing to accept the area as is. I look at the hilly trail before reaching the ideal habitat as a buffer between the dedicated and those looking for an immediate reward. After all, part of what has attracted me to doing this so often is the chance to find peace and calm, and an active relationship with Nature that had been missing from my life. Walking ten paces from a parking lot to a overlook, or worse, shooting frames from my car window is a necessary compromise at times, but it really can't compete with a good walk on a beautiful summer afternoon.
But, then again I have only been birding a few months, and had never been to the site before, so what do I know?

This Rock Wren knew that its place was on a rock.

Even with a more distanced trail the birding was still fantastic. I had new species for my lifetime list, the House and Rock Wrens pictured above, a Catbird, Western Bluebird, Yellow-Breasted Chat and Clay-Colored Sparrow all pictured, just not well enough for here! That was not all though, oh no. There was a whole family of species that I had been waiting to see all winter, Orioles. I don't recall ever having noticed an Oriole in Colorado, and only once as a kid in Minnesota. Last fall though I learned that the little hanging balls of fishing line or fiber you see on trees can be Oriole nests. As I have walked and observed through many habitats this winter I have seen the nests everywhere, an known that at some point I must find one of those colorful birds at the back of the guide.

Yesterday was that day:

May I present, the Bullock's Oriole!

All of the color of a finch or warbler, none of the tiny size issues. It was great fun to find and watch these colorful individuals, there were two that I saw. They act quite shy and elusive, but their brilliant yellow-orange plumage isn't very conducive to hiding in the thin spring growth. A bit frustrating when taking pictures to not often see the face, but more bearable when the comic value of bits of orange poking beyond both sides of the same thin branch is realized.

Great color, great location, great afternoon.

It was a bit of a milestone day on the counting side of things. I broke through 150 on my global lifelist, reached 130 in Colorado, and broke 100 in my first county, Boulder. I have learned so much through these early months, and can't wait to see where I am when I reach the one year anniversary. That will hopefully be many productive months from now, after the end of spring migration, a whole summer, and then a fall migration to boot. Good times and continued improving photographs ahead!

2009 Count: 136

Lifetime: 151