Wrens

Many of the CFO field trips I participated in were accompanied by the sound of the now returned House Wrens. They were busy establishing territories and and advertising the locations they had scouted out for comfortable nesting. Finding a nest box like the one above was reason to sing loudly...

Watching the plentiful House Wrens was a pleasure, but a greater treat was in store for the group of us that braved the Wyoming winds on Sunday to visit the Hutton Lakes NWR, just outside Laramie. As we hunkered down behind a clump of sage at one of the lakes we were rewarded with the sounds and fleeting glimpses of Marsh Wrens who remained mostly hidden in the brown cattail flats.

Eventually, after a few failed attempts I finally got my glass on this one.

I noted the darker crown, back and eye-line, not to mention the more elusive habits and distinctive song. Just one of the many great new birds I had a chance to observe over the weekend.

Observing Lunch on Lunch Break

Tuesday lunch was spent back at the South Boulder Trail, leaving from the Bobolink Trailhead. Bright sun made midday shooting tough, but the trees along the creek offered some shade possibilities.


This House Wren was very content to remain at a few perches as I observed from close range.


On my way back I heard some commotion off trail, looking more closely I was pleased to see that the cause was a Cooper's Hawk having some lunch. The trail gave me this view from the north, directly down sun but shaded enough to give me some good looks. Always a great reward for getting out during the day.

Family Photo from the Wren House

I ended up back at the Wren house yesterday. I really didn't intend to, but sometimes things don't work out quite as expected. I tried to stop off near a nice bend in the creek where there is a good mix of large trees, undergrowth, and willows. I arrived and found a good spot, just as some kids came by with their dogs to start splashing around. Oh well, it had been quiet when I arrived, it was a bit later than usual, and right in the mid-day doldrums.

So, in an effort to make lemonade from my lemons I continued on to the Wren nest, and was happy to get a group picture with one additional nestling. The close up of the lone individual above was nice as well, I wonder how the brothers and sisters at the bottom of the pile felt about helping him/her get a long look at the world.

It was also interesting to spend more time watching the activities of the adults in the area. There were a pair that spent the whole time I watched in a courtship like chase, around a pair of large trees and through some brush. I don't know if House Wrens raise multiple broods in a single season, or if these two had just had a failed attempt early and were looking for another chance. Either way they were fun to watch, and seemed to be having a blast.

Off to the mountains for another weekend. Hopefully more productive in the photography department but even if not I know it will be fun.

What's in that Hole?

Whose sad looking, hungry face is peaking out of the nest cavity?


I headed out at lunch today to get some outdoor time before the afternoon storms and social activities this evening. In an attempt to beat the heat and (for Colorado) humidity, so that my coworkers wouldn't throw a protest when I returned, I headed for a woody stretch of path running through the Dutch Creek Open Space in Louisville. Even so, walking the first bit through a still, open, field before the cloud cover reached me was a bit warmish. I reached the trees and drank in the relative cool of the shade. I was watching Robins and Grackles go about their business when something small and brown whizzed past me at waist level.
Another was just taking flight from a dead stump on the side of the path. There, inches from the bike and foot traffic, and no more than three feet off the ground - on the front side of the stump was an active House Wren nest.

I stepped back to the far side of the path, pre-focused, and waited for the parents to return. This one gave me a look that seemed to say, "If you have time to stand there and point that thing at my kids why don't you grab some food and stick it in those wide open mouths?" There wasn't much time for looking around though -

soon it was back off to the trees to pick up more carryout.

Back again, those mouths stay open.

A quick breather while on the hunt. It was interesting that once I had moved beyond the nest and onto a side trail I saw five house wrens all actively flying to two bare limbs at times. I am not sure if it was a common meeting point for all the parents between area nests, or what. It was the most wrens I had seen congregated though.

CU Campus Northwest Pond

The Sun is finally shining again in Colorado! To celebrate I headed up to the CU campus in Boulder on lunch to see if I could locate an American Redstart that had been reported there earlier in the day.

Instead it was a bunch of common birds, in a nice environment. Unfortunately I showed up just as the landscape crews were mowing, so that may have sent anything passing through to deeper cover, but at any rate there were some nice looks at familiar species. The Black-Capped Chickadee is one example. They are so familiar on bare snowy branches that seeing one surrounded by sun-drenched leaves almost seems wrong.

The House Wren was also cooperative in its perch. It was singing, and I approached it from the footbridge. I was able to move just under it and to the side of a building to get shots from the front - but at that point the light was behind the bird.

This brilliantly colored House Finch was working its way along the ivy covered walls. Even when seen daily their colors can be impressive in the right setting.

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