Piling on

At what point does seeing good birds become an embarrassment of riches? After my great Downy Woodpecker start to the morning I headed out in the mild overcast for my lunch, and spotted this juvenile Cooper's Hawk at the end of my walk. That is two for two on Friday afternoons - not a bad streak!


Once again the bird was at the end of my walk, just as I was approaching the parking lot - this time at the Bobolink Trailhead on the South Boulder Creek Trail. I am also seeing a pattern develop. The walk this afternoon was entirely devoid of any small birds. I may have heard a lone Junco, but if I did it wasn't sticking its head out much. I think those quiet bird days in the future are going to find me scanning a lot more carefully for Cooper's Hawks.

It wasn't just the Cooper's Hawk though.


Earlier I had spotted a Red-tailed Hawk across the large field to the east of the trail. Closer examination of the photo revealed what I believe is a Harlan's variety of Red-tail. It's always fun to find those.

So, I am still no further along at getting through a backlog of photos, but in my book that is a good problem to have. Mountains tomorrow, and who knows what before football on Sunday.


Have a good weekend everyone!

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.

A flycatcher I could identify (I believe)

For all the United States based readers, I hope you had a good holiday. I had a short week in the office and ended up taking some time away from cameras, birds, and the outdoors in general. It was great. Today I headed out for an early lunch, and ended up with a newly identified life bird as a result. I headed down to the Bobolink Trailhead in Boulder to get a short walk in the shade before it got too hot. As I walked I stopped to get a few frames of a flycatcher. It was high on a dead limb, and as I shot I expected that it would be yet another dismissed as unidentifiable - it wasn't vocalizing so I didn't even have that option. However, when I got back and took my obligatory closer look I found that this flycatcher was different from the others I have puzzled over, it didn't have an eyering. After identifying that the Willow Flycatcher matched this description I compared the other field marks I could see and strengthened my confidence in the ID based on the many large willows in the riparian habitat along the creek. If anyone knows that this is incorrect please let me know, but based on the field marks and habitat I am confident it is a Willow Flycatcher.
Next I had this fun shot of a female House Finch back lit among the leaves. The lighting, combined with the dark green leaves in the background shows the two patches of molting feathers on her head. It looks like she had Horned Lark envy.

While I was on my walk I also got to enjoy a couple of species that I hadn't seen in a few weeks or longer. One species, the Yellow Warbler, was represented by a group of three individuals who were constantly moving between three trees, and singing back and forth. Fun to watch, but a photographic challenge facing the southeast.

One of the first birds I saw was this Hairy Woodpecker. I hadn't seen one in a while, and this guy just popped onto a branch a few feet from me at eye level. I got exactly one shot before the Hairy decided it was too close and headed off to a more distant perch.

So, a nice reward for some down time and a return to the outdoors.

2009 Count: 164

Lifetime: 175

Bobolink at the Bobolink Trailhead

My failed lunch attempt to find a Bobolink on my drive was followed up with a more successful walk this evening. As I walked along Baseline to the edge of the field where they had been reported back in May I hoped that this would be a bird that made an appearance rather than one that was invisible in June when the grass is high. Much to my satisfaction as soon as I lifted my bins I found one perched on some sparse bushes in the middle of the field.
I walked until I was about even with him, got five pictures, and then he took off and settled into a more dense bush. I waited another five minutes, but he did not reemerge. The fast approaching thunderstorm may have had something to do with that though. Many thanks to the members of CObirds who posted their sightings when it first arrived with a specific location. I guess they had a reason for naming that trailhead.

Of course I had decided to outsmart the Boulderites and park at the rec center off of South Boulder and walk up the trail. I know how busy the above-mentioned trailhead can be at lunch, and parking can be tough and my choice always has lots of parking. Unfortunately while the trail offered lots of activity on the way up my Deepwoods Off is on my kitchen table, and the many bites kept me moving fast. On the way back I went for trees over open fields in a thunderstorm's path, and didn't even try for pictures. I made it pack to the car, unstruck, and mostly dry.

2009 Count: 154

Lifetime: 167

What???

I'm not a life bird?

So I may have jinxed my lunch trip with that last post. Even though it was fairly quiet I had flyovers from both an American White Pelican and a Turkey Vulture. Besides how often do you get to appreciate the color variations in a Barn Swallow? Usually they are zipping by overhead and out of focus in my pictures.

Time to clean the sensor before any looks on the way home.

South Boulder Creek & Denver Birding

Monday at lunch-time I headed up to Boulder, to check along South Boulder Creek and the southwest corner of Baseline Reservoir. There wasn’t much in the way of exciting species, but I did get to witness some cool behavior on the part of two Northern Flickers. When I first spotted them they were on opposite sides of the same tree trunk. For a few minutes I watched as they danced back and forth around the trunk. It was almost like a young child playing peek-a-boo around a centerpiece at a dining room table. After a bit, one of the two flew to another tree and began vocalizing in a different manner than I had heard previously. Those spring triggered hormones must be activating for the Flickers.
Being that Mondays are my early day at the office I had an early afternoon, and decided to use it in conjunction with the Denver Field Ornithologists meeting/presentation at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science.

My first stop was at the Denver Botanical Gardens. I have to say that I was a bit disappointed with my decision. I had been there once previously when my sister and her husband lived in Loveland and my parents were out visiting from Minnesota. At that time the gardens were obviously more interesting, and the entire area just seemed larger and more involved. The Koi above was as happy as a fish could be to have a visitor. Yesterday the gray skies, dead gardens and lack of people all made the site less interesting. Granted I did not spend any time in their indoor habitats, which I am certain I would have found more appealing in late winter, but I was looking for birds. There just wasn’t much to be seen, aside from the squirrels which had lost all fear of humans.

I did see a Red-tailed Hawk soar overhead, which was unexpected in such an urban area. As I was getting ready to leave I saw American Crows assembling in a murder to head off to roost. They just kept arriving from everywhere, and as the first to arrive headed west more were emerging from treetops and from behind buildings. It was very cool to watch.

I left before it started too get dark because I wanted to get to City Park with some remaining daylight. I had a specific target in mind, but had never really spent any time in City Park itself before. I have been to the Denver Museum of Nature and Science in the past, and knew that it was connected to a large park area which included the Denver Zoo, but that was the extent of my knowledge. I parked at the Museum and headed along the first lake towards Duck Pond. In the lawn just to the west of the museum building were two banded Geese in a crowd of many. There was a great variety of waterfowl in the first lake, and I stopped a few times to take pictures, but I was very aware of the setting sun, and needed to reach my destination before it got too dark for pictures. On the way I looked up into the trees that divided the Zoo from the Park and saw this:

Juvenile Red-tail Hawk

Urban raptors, what a deal! I did also see a Cooper’s Hawk fly right over my head, but being dusk it was too dark to track him for any pictures. Finally I did reach my destination and beheld:

Double-Crested Cormorants! Here is a closer view from the same pic:

I had no idea that there was a Double-Crested Cormorant rookery right in an urban park habitat until it was mentioned on the COBirds mailing list. Apparently the birds are still just arriving and will have totals in the hundreds at their peak. For the time being there were around 40 that I counted.

I did also see this unknown goose. After I had a chance to look it up I determined it was a Graylag Goose, which can be found wild in the Eastern Hemisphere, but here they are deemed released/escaped domestic birds and therefore uncountable.

Update 01/26/2010: After a return visit to the park and seeing two individuals I correctly identified Greater White-fronted Geese, and realized that I had made an incorrect ID last year.

Oh well, I did add the Double-Crested Cormorant and Coopers Hawk, not bad.

I walked back towards the museum in the growing darkness, and caught the novelty of sunset at City Park, lions snorting and roaring as they welcome the dusk, their natural hunting time. Not to mention a view that has gotten a bit of Executive attention in the past week.

2009 Count: 63

Lifetime: 93

Posing Female Juvenile Northern Harrier (Not Red-Tail)

On my lunch today I ran out to get my Boulder County Mountain Parks and Open Space parking permit. $15 will be worth 5 trips to Flagstaff Mountain and Gregory Canyon in the course of the year, and should have itself paid for soon.

The administration building is located close to Baseline Reservoir and the East Boulder Park Ponds. There is a trail that runs along South Boulder Creek next to the parking area, and I decided to check it out quickly with the time that remained for my lunch. I crossed a footbridge over the creek and was disappointed that nothing had been drawn to the moving water that had broken through the ice in a few places.

I checked my time and looped around the far side of the creek when I caught alarge bird flying low over a nearby field. She settled in on a post a few hundred feet from me, and I was able to move up slowly and get some fairly good shots of her.

She is, upon further review a juvenile Northern Harrier female, the white facial disk line is the giveaway trait. (Before editing I had this incorrectly ID'd as a juvenile red-tail and wondered about the facial disk.)

Popping up to land on the post.

Showing her dark banded tail, the "red-tail" is not visible until adulthood. After checking Hawks From Every Angle, I saw my mistake, the juvenile red-tail banding is fine, where these bands are broad. Again the facial disk was the key, but this is another telltale trait.

Light brown streaking beneath. Update, I should have noted that the streaking on a juvenile red-tail is faint, and would be limited to the bellyband area.

Just after landing. This pose shows his fluffed belly feathers, and those powerful looking talons.

If anyone does have additional details on the facial disk shown here please feel free to drop me a comment. (Duh, I saw it, but since I was so much closer than my previous Harrier sightings I hadn't appreciated their size. Lesson learned.)

2009 count: 46

Lifetime: 84