Recovering from Perma-grin!

Birders know that waking up early has its advantages, so do skiers in Colorado. This morning started well before six, and the payoff was a Saturday powder day for me while most of the front range traffic was stuck on the highway! Anyone who has taken face shots off the T-bar at Breckenridge knows that the hours of driving and tired legs are worth it.
As a side bonus I finally have a chance to use the power of the Internet to take us back to last weekend. It was a happy time...Coloradoans hadn't felt double digit negative temps along the Front Range in seasons, and commute times were measured in minutes, not hours. I had celebrated the warm temps and great Cooper's Hawks of my surprising Friday afternoon walk by heading to Arapahoe Basin for a good day of sunny skiing on Saturday. By Sunday I was feeling the itch, and a bit of lactic acid in my legs, so I headed off for a midday walk along the South Platte River in Adams county to work the legs and enjoy the mild temps.


A Long-tailed Duck had been reported in the area earlier in January, and I thought maybe I would get a chance to track it down. Before I came upon many ducks, I had a group of seven small peeps on a rock bar to try to identify. I didn't have an ID in the field, but after looking at the pictures I recognised American Pipits.


No Long-tailed Duck on this trip, but Barrow's Goldeneye are a good consolation prize, (male shown above - left).

One of my real highlight birds was a Northern Shrike. Shrikes aren't uncommon, but this was the most cooperative bird I have had the chance to observe. It was hunting a field from its perch in the trail side tree, and let me walk past below it, shooting all the way.


Of course I also enjoy seeing Northern Pintails, they are just a classy looking bird. There were lots of Pintail on this stretch of the Platte, and I managed to catch this one in flight.


Next up, a species I hadn't found in a few months, Yellow-rumped Warblers. In summer these small birds are like Juncos in winter, absolutely everywhere. However, these days only a hardy (or foolish) few remain. Last Sunday they seemed an omen of more springlike weather, yeah right. At least it was a nice thought while it lasted.


After a great walk I headed for home, and on my way gave a close look at a Great Horned Owl nest near my home. As I drove past I spotted ear tufts! Traffic and my direction only allowed me to get a passing glimpse, but I was consoled a few moments later by this look at a well fed American Kestrel.


Little did I know that in a few short hours the bottom would fall out of the area thermometers, clearing the skies nicely, but making for nasty roads and bringing a good chunk of the regional infrastructure to a standstill. Tuesday evening I was bundled up, and off to watch a basketball game at the University of Colorado. On the way I made a detour to check on the owl nest, and managed a couple of passable shots before cold drove me back to the warmth of my truck.



Great birds, wild weather, and chances to go catch powder days in the Rockies, all wonderful reasons that I love Colorado.

A Wonderfully Wintery Day

I was raised in Minnesota, beyond giving me a taste for lefsa, my home state forged in my veins an acceptance of cold as a natural state of being. Were it not for a seventh grade trip to Wyoming, from which I returned knowing that mountains would have to be a major backdrop to my life, I may never have left. Had that been the case, I would probably never have learned that in some places "bone chilling" cold can be hyped on the news casts when the temperatures are still being measured in positive degrees. Not only that, but at times, a couple of days of cold can be wrapped around a day of warm sunshine and no wind. Despite reminding me that I have lost my true Minnesota attitude towards winter, these days are ones that I look forward to as much as any other.
One such day was this past Saturday. The weather was perfect, a break in my pre-holiday, Minnesota preparatory, cold immersion therapy. Just right for meeting folks in the great outdoors and tracking down some birds.


One of the highlights for me were the Western Scrub Jays.

Interesting for me was that I had not previously tallied this species in Colorado.

They are always entertaining, as are all corvids for that matter. I saw many individuals on the day, from a loner huddled in the low branches of an evergreen in the higher wind-swept park, to a group rotating through turns robbing a barn while others stood sentry on the surrounding fence posts, to a last look at one scavenging on the ground below some scrub oak.

We had a good list running with a nice variety of common species, including this Song Sparrow.

This Spotted Towhee was showing off color against the bright blue sky, but a battery change kept me from getting an unobstructed view of its face, or the apparent acorn in its bill.

Another great highlight of the day was getting some good shots of a Northern Shrike. We had one at our first stop early in the morning, but I never had a chance to switch from bins to camera. Fortunately, this individual perched after running off a Black-billed Magpie and sat for a moment letting me snap off a few frames.

The Northern Shrike is a hunter, using its hooked bill to lethal effect. The surprise here is just how small in stature this hunter is.

I wrapped up my day by swinging through Chatfield State Park in hopes that the Tundra Swans reported over the past few days had remained. They were no longer present, but these American Tree Sparrows were suitable, if dissimilar, replacements.

2009 Count: 193

Lifetime: 199

Trip day four: Ft. Niobarra National Wildlife Refuge

I woke early on Saturday to a light dusting of snow. I was on the road before sunrise because I wanted some time at Ft. Niobarra National Wildlife Refuge before heading on to Iowa.


Unfortunately the overcast skies made the early morning hours a bit tough for good photography at long range, but I made the best of it and really enjoyed the refuge. The refuge features a good deal of shrotgrass prairie divided by the Niobarra river valley as it flows through. The valley is wooded and had good warbler activity, while the prairie land had prominent Meadowlarks, Doves and Blackbirds.
The Chipping Sparrow above greeted me as I began the short walk that walked down beside the Niobarra Falls, and followed the river before returning up the bluff. It was so peaceful to walk beside a good sized river in a damp wood, with a thin layer of brilliant green new leaves in the undergrowth. As I walked I heard Turkeys gobbling across the water, and followed Yellow-Rumped Warblers through the canopy.

Back on the bluff I observed and photographed this Northern Shrike on a barbed-wire fence. This is the fierce little hunter that impales its kills on the barbs of barbed-wire and thorny bushes. You wouldn't guess it from that downy looking mug though.

One of the best experiences at Ft. Niobarra NWR was driving through the Bison area of the plains. They have a large herd, and a dozen or so individuals that were in an area accessible from the driving tour.

In my volunteering at the Rocky Mountain NWR I have gotten some good looks at Bison, (or if you are a CU alum - Buffaloes!). On my early drive I actually pulled through the herd as one half had moved across the road and the other was still grazing. It was still way to dark to get any postable shots - sadly one Buff still had a dusting of snow on his head - but I got a shot looking back a bit later to remember the moment. Not that it is one I will soon forget. Magnificent animals, even when they are not named Ralphie or running the field at Folsom Stadium.

BTW - yes it is very tough to drive through Husker Country. Talk about solidarity of a fan base. I am glad that Coloradoans have so much to divert our interest from college football, and so many great schools to divide our loyalty - but it would be cool to see every truck sporting a CU bumper sticker or listen to sports radio on a spring evening and hear a regularly occurring trivia contest tied completely to the buffs. Oh well, we have mountains!

Back on track - the people I met in Nebraska were all very kind, and most hospitable. The places I saw and the memories I made will have me planning a return far before I had expected to.

This Wild Turkey was in a group as I left the Refuge, but I continued to see them in nearly every county I crossed as I drove through to Iowa, and my family visit in Orange City, which will be the next post.