A post that falls more to the artistic side of the scale than most of my shots do. Well, the Ring-necked Ducks above are just a good exposure showing their patterned bills and side coloration. The shot below though really struck me as the sun was dipping. A swimming rodent, either a muskrat or beaver appeared to be pushing something through the water, causing an extra wide wake and made for a really intriguing sight.

I also happened back towards the Great Blue Heron rookery and caught a couple of approach flights back-lit in the fading light.

It was one of the most quiet visits I have made to the Walden & Sawhill Ponds complex in Boulder. Usually this place serves up 25 plus species in just a few hours and without much effort. Yesterday, the most common sound was the welcome croaking of frogs. The Cottonwood Marsh pond, which was low last year and featured vast mudflats is now full and was packed with a good variety of ducks, but many of the smaller ponds and the woodlots were quiet.

Even so I had a great 4.5 mile walk and as always enjoyed my time there. It is such a large, segmented area that it is possible to go long periods without seeing another hiker, even as aircraft take off from the local airport with gliders in tow just over the treetops. Soon the ponds and trees will be full of migrants arriving or passing through. So perhaps it was good to have an afternoon to just soak up the environment.

Afternoon Delight

Or the next best thing. A beautiful afternoon overlooking Boulder.




This female Common Merganser was swimming with two males.

This Black-billed Magpie had the best view in town sitting right on the mesa's rim.

The typical sight of a Red-tailed Hawk soaring. Well off in the distance, but when they catch the sun those red tail feathers are impressive.

Finally this Yucca looked so cool growing up above the surface. Not sure if that is from recent wind erosion, or if it just had to stretch to beat out some other plant that has since gone.

Have a great weekend all! I am hoping to join a DFO field trip and or do some skiing.

South Boulder Creek & Denver Birding

Monday at lunch-time I headed up to Boulder, to check along South Boulder Creek and the southwest corner of Baseline Reservoir. There wasn’t much in the way of exciting species, but I did get to witness some cool behavior on the part of two Northern Flickers. When I first spotted them they were on opposite sides of the same tree trunk. For a few minutes I watched as they danced back and forth around the trunk. It was almost like a young child playing peek-a-boo around a centerpiece at a dining room table. After a bit, one of the two flew to another tree and began vocalizing in a different manner than I had heard previously. Those spring triggered hormones must be activating for the Flickers.
Being that Mondays are my early day at the office I had an early afternoon, and decided to use it in conjunction with the Denver Field Ornithologists meeting/presentation at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science.

My first stop was at the Denver Botanical Gardens. I have to say that I was a bit disappointed with my decision. I had been there once previously when my sister and her husband lived in Loveland and my parents were out visiting from Minnesota. At that time the gardens were obviously more interesting, and the entire area just seemed larger and more involved. The Koi above was as happy as a fish could be to have a visitor. Yesterday the gray skies, dead gardens and lack of people all made the site less interesting. Granted I did not spend any time in their indoor habitats, which I am certain I would have found more appealing in late winter, but I was looking for birds. There just wasn’t much to be seen, aside from the squirrels which had lost all fear of humans.

I did see a Red-tailed Hawk soar overhead, which was unexpected in such an urban area. As I was getting ready to leave I saw American Crows assembling in a murder to head off to roost. They just kept arriving from everywhere, and as the first to arrive headed west more were emerging from treetops and from behind buildings. It was very cool to watch.

I left before it started too get dark because I wanted to get to City Park with some remaining daylight. I had a specific target in mind, but had never really spent any time in City Park itself before. I have been to the Denver Museum of Nature and Science in the past, and knew that it was connected to a large park area which included the Denver Zoo, but that was the extent of my knowledge. I parked at the Museum and headed along the first lake towards Duck Pond. In the lawn just to the west of the museum building were two banded Geese in a crowd of many. There was a great variety of waterfowl in the first lake, and I stopped a few times to take pictures, but I was very aware of the setting sun, and needed to reach my destination before it got too dark for pictures. On the way I looked up into the trees that divided the Zoo from the Park and saw this:

Juvenile Red-tail Hawk

Urban raptors, what a deal! I did also see a Cooper’s Hawk fly right over my head, but being dusk it was too dark to track him for any pictures. Finally I did reach my destination and beheld:

Double-Crested Cormorants! Here is a closer view from the same pic:

I had no idea that there was a Double-Crested Cormorant rookery right in an urban park habitat until it was mentioned on the COBirds mailing list. Apparently the birds are still just arriving and will have totals in the hundreds at their peak. For the time being there were around 40 that I counted.

I did also see this unknown goose. After I had a chance to look it up I determined it was a Graylag Goose, which can be found wild in the Eastern Hemisphere, but here they are deemed released/escaped domestic birds and therefore uncountable.

Update 01/26/2010: After a return visit to the park and seeing two individuals I correctly identified Greater White-fronted Geese, and realized that I had made an incorrect ID last year.

Oh well, I did add the Double-Crested Cormorant and Coopers Hawk, not bad.

I walked back towards the museum in the growing darkness, and caught the novelty of sunset at City Park, lions snorting and roaring as they welcome the dusk, their natural hunting time. Not to mention a view that has gotten a bit of Executive attention in the past week.

2009 Count: 63

Lifetime: 93

Snow Goose & Gulls

Yesterday the call went out to COBirds that there was a "Blue" Ross's Goose at Stearn's Lake, along with a traditional white Snow Goose. I was fairly confident that it was the same "Blue" Snow Goose that I had seen previously, but I went over to the lake to check what was there at lunch. I did find both birds. The White Snow Goose was prominent walking on the ice, but the "blue" had his head tucked against a strong wind. Without getting a good look I was still confident that it was a Snow Goose as opposed to a Ross's because of its comparable size to the Canada Geese around it; a Ross's Goose is noticeably smaller. I returned to work to see that another Broomfield birder had already replied with the correct ID. (It is nice to get confirmation though).
After work I pulled back in at Stearn's to see if the "blue" had moved, it had not but the white Snow Goose was much closer to shore, allowing me to get the picture above.
Before leaving I walked down to the dam and caught a Gull gliding in the strong wind.



After a quick look and seeing that the original Snow had not moved I headed back for the car, and on to Plaster Reservoir, where the other birder reported that he had seen a White Ross's Goose in the morning.
If it had been there it was long gone. I walked towards a golf course on the far side of the lake to see if anyone out enjoying a mid winter round would stir anything interesting out of the trees.
That didn't happen, but the setting sun and strong wind provided a great setting to catch more Ring-Billed Gulls coming in to the lake for the evening.



Sometimes the water is so close you can almost taste it, right gull?

I believe that birdwatching is catching on more than many people know. As I stood in the open catching gulls on the wing, a pair of eyes in a blind were watching me!

He probably has his bins and field guide stashed in there as well. Hopefully he could check me off as a lifer!

2009 Count: 56

Lifetime: 86