Count Day!

"Hurry up and count me, so I can get back to suet!"

As my past entries on the subject indicate, the Christmas Bird Count has been a special event for me. From a first time exposure to the great people that one can meet while birding, to unexpected encounters with new species, and revelations about new ways to expand identification skills the CBC has always been a highlight of my birding year. This year presented a new challenge, to organize and lead a territory count. While I had my hesitations, I was flattered to be asked to do so by the count organizer. My concern was that I would be taking an opportunity from a more experienced birder, but the need remained and I was happy to give it a shot.

Two of three Coyotes, calculating their chances of success with a group of Mule Deer just after sunrise.

I began by mapping out what I thought the best locations in the territory would be, and then driving around to see what did and did not meet expectations. As I guessed, some of the peripheral areas were our most productive. My guess that some of the creek corridors running through the neighborhoods would also be good turned out to be completely wrong. A large area of trails on University of Colorado pasture/prairie restoration land also ended up being a major bust. That area did generate a Northern Harrier and juvenile Bald Eagle, but failed to produce species our team hoped to find, like Western Meadowlark or Ring-necked Pheasant; all at the cost of over an hour and several miles of extra walking. I believe birders would still be well advised to look to that area on future counts, but may look for ways to check it and similar areas more quickly. Leaving a vehicle at both ends of that trail is a refinement I would consider for future years. Multiple vehicles would have allowed for an end to end search, but without the team having to make a full loop in an area that we quickly determined was under productive.

American Kestrel - hover-hunting in the breeze.

In a bit of a surprise for me, our best habitat turned out to be the last houses on the edge of the open space just before the foothills. I knew they were going to be good, but our species counts from trails running just beyond the developments and the streets on the opposite side of those homes, gave us the greatest species diversity. That transition zone netted us three species of jay, two woodpeckers, both chickadees, White-breasted Nuthatch, Brown Creepers and Townsend's Solitaires, along with two different raptors and many other more common species. During the count compilation, those teams reporting Western Scrub-Jays all found that the species turned up at the perimeter of developments, just as they approached the lower edges of ponderosa pine forest. Not Earth shattering, but a cool confirmation and as I look back at my previous sightings, (Red Rocks Park and Roxborough State Park), one that holds true throughout the Denver area.

Western Scrub-Jay - a species we found in a very specific habitat belt.

Once again my expectations were completely blown out of the water by the people who volunteer for the Christmas Bird Counts. I had three great volunteers, each an accomplished birder and all three were people who had a good time just getting to know the others while being out seeing some cool birds. Each of us spotted species that made for 'good' adds to our day list, and I think as a group we all made one another stronger with our varied backgrounds and skills.

Townsend's Solitaire - a welcome sight on each of my Boulder CBCs to date.

We had a section that was as advertised, it produced a good list of fairly common birds. There were some birds that we were surprised we did not run across during the day. White-crowned Sparrows, Mourning Doves, and Belted Kingfishers were all misses for our count, and despite our best efforts we could not produce a roosting owl. It is amazing to me that even when spending an entire day dedicated to watching for birds, some of the more common species won't turn up.

Brown Creeper - an elusive bird that gave us good looks, and was a lifer for at least one member of our team.

When I look back on this count I hope the lesson I will remember is that identification skill isn't a prerequisite to bringing others together for good birding. Having been taught and lead by so many great birders in the past couple of years I guess I just hadn't seen what happens when a bunch of willing folks get together and bird. It turns out that if you pick a meeting place and have a general idea of where you want to go the rest will take care of itself. In our case one participant even lived in our count area, and invited the three strangers to her home at six in the morning for breakfast - how often does that happen these days?

I hope that all the members of the Bear Creek team had as good a day as I did. Thank you very much to each of them, Bill Schmoker the count compiler, Bill Kaempfer who hosted the compilation potluck that evening, and to all the other birders who participated. To all of them and for anyone reading this...

...may your Holidays be filled with family and friends, food and fun, fur and feathers, and if your location favors it at least a bit of frost!


Bear Creek Territory 2010 Total: 30
Boulder CBC 2010 Total: 114, (A count day record by 5 species) plus 1 'free-flying presumed escapee' and 2 additional count week birds so far.

Roxborough State Park

Our bizarre mild December continues here in Colorado, making it tough to process that the holidays are nearly upon us. I fear that Colorado is not going to give me a preparatory cold snap before I head to Minnesota at the end of the month.


On the bright side though, walking around in a t-shirt and light jacket last Wednesday wasn't bad at all. I spent a few hours in almost perfect solitude on the South Rim Trail at Roxborough State Park. It was one of those days where the air wasn't stirring a bit, and the silence was palpable. I would hear animals and birds moving on the ground or through the branches from dozens of yards away. The Western Scrub Jays (top) and Spotted Towhees (not pictured), were generally stationary and I would pass groups or individuals as I walked. Chickadees, both Black-capped (above) and Mountain (below), were moving about - with mixed flocks moving past at times. They would all gather around to get a look as they flew from branch to branch, responding to my very quiet pishing. Twice, they were joined by Downy Woodpeckers (two below) - who seemed to associate more with the Mountain Chickadees than the Black-capped ones.


Roxborough didn't produce those great Gray Foxes, as it did during my last visit. Even so it continues to grow on me. Wednesday was great for reflection, while getting in a bit of exercise. For a few weeks now I've been chewing on the question of how far my birding skills have progressed. Along those lines I had a great opportunity to wrap my mind around ways to improve one's birding skills. I had some thoughts...but am curious about what others think. If there was a single tip you could give to a beginning or novice birder, what would it be. Feel free to comment or email, I would like to see if my thoughts are in-line with those of others.


I haven't had the lens or lighting to show off the rock formations of the park on my visits to date. To set the scene think of a more intimate Red Rocks or Garden of the Gods if you are familiar with those types of rock formations. The view that I had from the crest of the South Rim ridge moving counter-clockwise around the loop was just great; it offers views north towards Long's Peak.


Hopefully I will get back on a day with better light to show off the impressive geology. A young Red-tailed Hawk was trying to make up for the overcast sky, and doing an admirable job.

Not a remarkable birding day, but a memorable one nonetheless. Nature offered an intimate look at some of its more subtle sights, and I am glad I was there to accept.

Still a couple more posts in the works from last weekend, and will be getting in some type of outdoor activity this weekend as well.

Red Rocks Trading Post - Leftovers

While I was waiting on the Golden-crowned Sparrow to make his appearance on Saturday I was treated to good views of a number of different species. They were all coming to make use of the feeders and water features arranged off the back of the building.

There were dozens of Juncos, and a good number of Chickadees and House Finches as well, but as those are seen frequently all over my area I focused on a couple of birds that I do not see quite as often, like this Western Scrub Jay. The Western Scrub Jay is a common resident of the foothills, and being a corvid is always entertaining to interact with. This individual came so close and watched me for so long that I eventually broke down and scattered a couple of peanuts from my trail mix along the railing. If it was working for peanuts it sure did earn them.

Another bird that always catches my eye is the Spotted Towhee. The contrasting colors and vivid red eye make it a fun find, no matter how many times I see them.

Back once more to the Scrub Jay. The intelligence of some of the corvid species has been well documented, and I always get the feeling that I am not the only one being entertained when they are around. Sure, they have base motives like an easy snack, but they do seem content to pause and observe the actions of the others around them - much as we humans must seem to them.

No pics from my ski trip to the high country on Sunday. I only saw two species, Raven and Mountain Chickadee and kept the camera warm in the backpack while I tried to make up for a season of far too few runs. I was disappointed to learn that someone on CObirds had spotted a pair of White-tailed Ptarmigan at a pull-off on the same pass I rode over that day. Oh-well, the mountains don't close in the summer, but the snow will be gone soon, so I'll ski while the skiing is still good!

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