Falling Farther Behind!

Note to self: If you go on a trip and take thousands of photographs in the beginning of May don't expect to process through them anytime soon.

Note to readers: I now have a list of selected photos from the first two days of my trip to be cropped/processed. Two additional days, and some cropping and I'll be ready to post! In the meantime migration is too good not to be out in, and the images keep piling up. On Wednesday I realized that I would reach my anniversary at work over the weekend, and had a half day of vacation that would have burned, so Thursday morning, was a cold, rainy, snowy day...with some great birds.


A Fox Sparrow seems to have taken the place of some of the unusual wintering sparrows at the Red Rocks Trading Post, so my first stop was to check on the feeders there. I quickly located the Fox Sparrow as it occasionally emerged from the bushes on the far side of the garden. This was a bird I was glad to photograph. I had mis-identified one back in 2009 in the blog (an obvious Song Sparrow). I corrected the entry, but the keyword remained like a scarlet letter on the right side of my page. Ha. Anyways, it is good to actually add the species to the blog.


The Fox Sparrow may have been the main draw, but other birds quickly stole the show. Two Black-headed Grosbeaks mingled with the many Spotted Towhees, showing their similar color schemes.


I also hit the jackpot on Lazuli Buntings. I placed my count from early in the morning at 30. They were everywhere! Eight to ten would feed in a group, while other clusters would circulate into the trees.


Even soaking wet these guys are colorful. The large numbers of birds even attracted a Sharp-shinned Hawk to make a pass. It was unsuccessful, and only captured as an image of a faint dot disappearing in the clouds. Even so, cool to see 50 or sixty birds scatter all at once.


After over an hour at the site I decided I would head uphill and get a bit of my precipitation in solid form (almost 2.5 inches of slow steady rain in the high plains of Colorado was welcome, but tiring - we like our sunshine!). I feel that this Ruby-crowned Kinglet was really trying to show off his color against all that white. It worked! The rest of my visit to Golden Gate Canyon State Park was uneventful, two Mallards, a flicker, and a Lincoln's Sparrow completed my list.

So the backlog remains, but I'll deal with it someday! Next week ends with a trip to Grand Junction for the CFO convention. That should ensure that the backlog carries me well into June! As of now my counts stand at:

2011 Count: 159
Lifetime: 268

Mountain Forest Birds

Ruby-crowned Kinglet. This bird was an exciting highlight of our trip to the Red Feather Lakes district. This little fellow was showing off big time for his lucky lady. He showed her that he could out sing, and display, an entire group of humans.

I was a bit disappointed that my sharpest shots didn't coincide with his best perches, but even so he made for a great subject.

As we worked our way along the road, giving the kinglet his well earned space after the show we reached one of our targets, the American Three-toed Woodpecker.

The American Three-toeds have a snazzy yellow crest, but the identifying field mark to look for is the barring on their sides. That distinguishes them nicely from some of the other woodpeckers in the area with similar black and white coloring.

I was able to get this horrible photograph of a male Pine Grosbeak perching high in a barren tree-top. He looked great, and I will enjoy future attempts to get better shots of these colorful males.

Another good mountain species that I added on the day trip was the Cassin's Finch. The female below was enjoying one of the feeders at the Moose Visitor Center at State Forest State Park.

Finally, an early morning singing Red Crossbill greeted the group of photographer birders who were headed to Wyoming on Sunday morning. Featured in the keynote address, these Crossbills were confirmed as Type 2 by our leader, based on the Ponderosa habitat we were in.

Mountain habitat birds help to contribute to the great diversity of species that we have here in Colorado. I really enjoyed getting to know some of those that I saw last weekend, and hope that I will retain some of this for my own trips up in the future.

Worth the Wait

Its been quiet up in here. The reason, ....


three full days of Midwestern March weather, in Colorado, in late September. There has been a serious case of socked in, leaden skies around here, and the migrants and birders were none to happy about it. I didn't get any local snow, but could see it falling just above my elevation on the foothills several times this week. Despite it all I ventured out both Tuesday and Wednesday at lunch, and both times came back damp, with very little to show for it.

Today Mother Nature seems to be pulling out all the stops to make up for it though. I was out at lunch on a beautiful, crisp, fall day. Fortunately, I had forgotten a memory card and had to immediately head back to my car. When I got back to the start of the woods on the South Boulder Creek Trail I caught a group of Chickadees moving across the trail just beyond me. I caught up to where they were crossing, and looking back caught this young fellow moving from branch to branch.

It was the first time I had seen a Yellow-rumped Warbler, (Audubon's - *note the yellow chin*), in first year winter plumage. Until I got back and had a look at a guide I wasn't aware that Yellow-rumpeds could have so much brown on them. A good close up view, but nothing compared to what I would see as the Yellow-rump passed me by...

A Ruby-crowned Kinglet not more than five feet from me, and ranging from one to four feet off the ground. I have seen this species before, but only breeding males, and only at a distance. Today I had a few good looks from close range. They seem even more tiny up close! The view above is better than what I have typically experienced, a head here, a tail in a different shot - always obscured by leaves or branches, or better - looking up into a pine tree - towards the sun.

This little lady, (maybe a non-breeding male?), was willing to sit in the relative open and give me a few nice looks. Even so this little spec was a constant blur of motion. Capturing it in the dark shade of the plum bush where it was moving proved to be far from ideal, but a satisfactory experience nonetheless.

Fast, Fun Getaway

I enjoyed another fun and relaxing weekend camping in the Pike National forest Friday and Saturday nights. Warm enough to enjoy the days, but getting cooler at night - ensuring deep sleep and crisp frosty mornings. The birding was better than I have had on recent camping trips. I didn't add any life birds, but did add one to my Colorado list, and saw a bunch of new species for that area. Vesper Sparrows, like the one above are common around my home, but this one seen just after sunrise really showed off the rufous shoulder patches.

At one point, after a bit of four wheeling, I had my friends drop me off a few miles from camp. That let me cross a boggy creek and cross a ridge on my way back, getting some diverse habitat types into my trip. The willows along the creek, which produced a Moose for fellow campers on a trip in June, were productive for me as well. The Ruby-crowned Kinglet, above, was the first I had seen in Colorado, and the first that I had seen while "out birding" rather than looking through my sister's back window.

Shortly after seeing the Kinglet I was treated to a fairly close Wilson's Warbler. Of course the ten or so shots I had of it perched left its eye squarely behind the branch - oh well. Their color is such fun to see along a willow choked mountain stream.

The Western Wood Pewees were ever vigilant just beyond "our" campsite nestled in an aspen grove.

One of the secret advantages of birding is the motivation it gives for getting up early when camping. For most of my adult life camping has included campfires that are kept burning until deep into the morning, and far more s'mores and belly warming beverages than were absolutely necessary. I'm not against those activities for any reason, and sometimes sitting on a stump staring at the dying embers of a good fire can be just as vital as any daylight exploration. That being said, it is good to have a reason to turn in when the first yawns hit, and even better to have a reason - and plan - for abandoning that warm sleeping bag to brave the frost as the predawn glow begins. The Downy Woodpecker above was a reward for getting up early on Sunday. I watched and enjoyed as he woke and performed his morning preen, getting ready for the busy day ahead.

The early day light and shadow even gave this Chipping Sparrow a distinctive look. I was glad to have the trip, the calendar is getting full for fall, and the next trip may feature heavy coats and multiple mid-layers.

2009 Count: 175

Lifetime: 183

Trip Weekend: Orange City, Iowa

It only seems right that I should have gotten my first Orange-Crowned Warbler in Orange City, Iowa this one showed up and was hopping around just outside the window.


In a rare bit of good timing this Ruby-crowned Kinglet showed up while I still had my camera ready, although he did not move to any non-screened windows. In a Glamour Shots way the screen probably helped to soften all those wet soaked looking feathers.

Much later in the day my Dad and I joined my Brother-in-law to head out looking for a reported Cooper's Hawk a few streets over.

The reports had a Cooper's nesting just off the road. We headed over and shortly found the nest, with a head and tail just visible. It wasn't tough to tell what we were doing in the mist with bins and a long telephoto lens, but even so four different people stopped to make sure we knew about and had found the local attraction. It was a nice bit of Americana, right down to the little girl who asked if we knew about the "Red-eyed Hawk" in the neighborhood.

We had spent our time maneuvering around the nest and had just started heading away when I heard what I called a "Rubber Duck" sound from the tree just across the street. I had been standing below it a few moments before getting shots of the nest.

Looking up I spotted a second Coop' a dozen feet off the ground.


It had a recent kill, and as I have read was more content to remain perched despite our close proximity. I fired away and despite the poor light got some fun closeups.

We continued on our short walk, and were rewarded a few minutes later with more distant looks at Junior. My brother in law, who knows his birds, was surprised that a presumable offspring would be in such close proximity to his parents, but regardless it was cool to get such close and varied looks at the whole family.

The next day my Dad and I braved an even colder wind to walk a bit of the "Puddle Jumper" Trail to see if we could track down any Harris Sparrows. The last bird I saw before the stiff breeze coming across a freshly manured field drove us back to the car and a warm house in town was this Harris.

Just in time!

The bit of birding I got to do was fun, but getting a few days with family was even better! It is always a treat to get to spend time with them.

That wraps up the trip. The return trip was posted out of order and is visible in prior posts. I am so glad I had a chance to do it, and will hope to do pieces of it again. If you get the chance, I recommend Northern Nebraska.