Fall Friday at Marshall Mesa

Last Friday was a beautiful, warm but windy day here on the front range of the southern Rockies. Migration has been competing with football and friends for my attention, so Friday was a nice chance to get out on a fast walk and see what I would come across without many stops. The sun really caught the Spotted Towhee's eye as it watched me from a bush.

The Mountain Bluebirds were flocking, the group I saw contained just over 20 individuals. They are now sporting a worn and drab look, as opposed to the more prominent blue they displayed when they arrived back in March.

Now as they perch, the blue is hard to see at all from a distance, but when they flare their wings in flight the blue pops back out in all its brilliance. Of course, those action shots all failed miserably - so please settle for the perching shots, and imagine flying bluebirds!

There were some flight shots that I was able to capture to some degree of satisfaction. This Red-tail came over the bluebirds low and slow, after calling a few times to get my attention. "Next time, Red-tail, please angle yourself so the sun hits your face"! Actually I was quite pleased with the flyby and will take them however they come.

Just a few minutes before I had enjoyed watching this Red-tail, with what I believe to have been more heavy streaking. It was a part of a new birding experience for me that I will share in more detail in my next post.

A Fast-Paced Loop at Marshall Mesa

"I'm an Owl!"

"What???? Um....Why is the world spinning?"

Tough to see in these pictures, but there is something just above the bill in the first shot, and just to our right of the bird's left eye in the second. Not sure if that is an insect harassing the bird's ears or something else entirely, but that was quite a head shake.

My trip to Marshall Mesa was really about getting a fast loop in more than doing any intensive birding, but I did want to get back out as it had been a few days, and the weather is deteriorating. Beyond the head-banger it was a visit filled with Towhees and Chipping Sparrows. I had some Cowbirds in the pasture and Catbirds on the return, other than that it was fairly quiet.

The Sparrows and Towhees gave me a few good looks, and I did check the mesa overlook turnoff, which did not end up being the shortcut I had hoped it would but was a great view.

A good break, and more birding from last night and this morning to come.

Some of Colorful Colorado

We have gotten into our spring weather cycle of warm days, and late afternoon thundershowers. These are really moving the plant cycles along quickly. I have no idea what these are, but took pictures so I could check my plants guides at some point.

I was looking at this one, and think I see a smart bit of plant advertising that had gone on. There are a couple of spent bloom things (sorry, no idea what they are called but you can see the couple of strings hanging off) that seem to hang individually from the main stem rather than in the clusters. I'm thinking that before the plant puts all its energy into a bloom cycle it sends out a couple of free samples to get the pollinators ready for the big show. If I were a plant I would certainly want the bees and whatnot to know that there was about to be some good stuff in the area.

Purply somethings - I took this one after I had spoken to a cow just across a bridge I needed to cross to get back to work. The cow was quite cooperative and worked her way on down the trail, but I couldn't see beyond her and didn't know if she had a new calf in the area.

Uh, Wild Snapdragons? The sad part is I ran, yes RAN, a greenhouse for four summers. Not only that but I ran it well and had a flock of customers who would come to me for gardening advice. I can grow things like a champ when it is work, but as a home gardener I am a terrible failure. I guess I just prefer to see the wilds as a garden, it really cuts down on the weeding.

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.

Marshall Mesa

There is a quote from Ferris Bueller's Day Off that runs as follows:
"How can I possibly be expected to handle school on a day like this? This is my ninth sick day this semester. It's pretty tough coming up with new illnesses. If I go for ten, I'm probably going to have to barf up a lung, so I better make this one count."

Believe it or not I did not play hookey today. I posted the quote because I think everyone in Colorado has the same feeling today, that we had better make this one count. It is once again pushing 70 degrees along the Front Range, and we all realize we are living on borrowed time. So, knowing that there are still two of our snowiest months ahead I made sure to get out today to enjoy a bit of spring in advance.

I headed to Marshall Mesa, another trailhead area of the Boulder County Open Space land. It ended up being overly ambitious for good birding. I made a 2.6 mile loop in just over 45 minutes. It was enough to be a good well paced hike, but didn't allow time for stops to wait for birds to emerge. The warming Chinook winds, (blowing close to 20 mph), didn't help me hearing anything singing from cover either.
My three species total would have been very disappointing, except that it was a beautiful day, I got to be outside, and one of the species was a Golden Eagle - which I needed for my year list.





Unfortunately he was soaring towards the sun with respect to me, and despite standing for a few seconds with a balled fist blocking out the sun hoping he would angle back towards me, he continued to drift away.
I'm sure the biker who was stopped right there thought I was completely sane!




In addition there is a great PDF available on the site above that describes the history of the mining town of Marshall whose traces can still be seen in the landscape. Marshall was mined for coal from 1859-1946. It adds a nice backdrop for anyone enjoying the area, and even more so for someone who earned a history degree a few miles up the road! The same time constraints prevented me from taking pictures of any artifacts, but I am sure I will get them some day. I did get a shot of the Flatirons from the top of the trail though.




On a side note, to any of my friends or relatives in Minnesota who are reading this...Yes, I know I am spoiled, and yes I have been seeing just how cold it has been there. Stay warm!

2009 Count: 52

Lifetime: 85