Year Bird 200 plus some 4/23

Cheri Orwig and I took a trip north of Wellington today looking for Burrowing Owls and Mountain Plovers along with anything else we could find. Our first stop was Cobb Lake on the way to the Prairie Dog Colony on the County Line Road. Nothing to interesting at Cobb, but Cheri got a year bird with Yellow-headed Blackbird.
On County Line Road we found a flock of Vesper Sparrows and hanging out with it was a Brewer's Sparrow (199). The birds were flying back and forth across the County Line Road. At the Prairie Dog colony I quickly picked up on a Burrowing Owl (200) we also found a second at the same location. This was a great bird to see for Larimer County year bird 200.
On our way towards Wellington while driving on County Road 42 we found a Rock Wren (201) close to the road.

                                                      Rock Wren

                                                    Savannah Sparrow

We made a stop at Steve and Kathy Martins house. There wasn't much around in terms of migrants. A few interesting birds we saw was a continuing White-throated Sparrow, a House Wren, and 4 Great Horned Owls (2 adults, 2 owlets).

                                                  White-throated Sparrow

We then made stops at Bee Lake, North Poudre #4, Boxelder Reservoir #3, and North Poudre Reservoir #3. The only interesting bird was a continuing alternate plummage Common Loon at North Poudre #4.
We then got on County Road 9 between Owl Canyon Road and Buckeye Road. On the drive on this road we found Burrowing Owls at 3 different locations with a total of 8 individuals.

                                                     Burrowing Owl

                                                       Tree Swallow

We then went on County Road 5 from Buckeye Road to the end north of County Road 5. We ended up seeing a number of McCown's Longspurs. In one location while looking for the longspurs I saw a snake in the field acting very strange. I hurried out there with my camera and it was a Bullsnake laying eggs in a hole. There were also several Vesper Sparrows with a couple Brewer's Sparrows.

                                                    Brewer's Sparrow

                                                         Bullsnake

                                                         Bullsnake

Hamilton Reservoir had quite a few birds, but couldn't locate anything of interest. We also checked several fields which looks good for Mountain Plover, but never found any during the day.
Our last stop was Duck Lake, which is still producing a lot of birds. We ended up seeing 4 Killdeer, 1 Black-necked Stilt, 19 American Avocet, 16 Marbled Godwit, and 8 Wilson's Phalarope (202) along with the typical ducks.

                                                   Wilson's Phalarope

A quick mountain trip plus all 3 bluebirds 4/22

I went with my dad up to Storm Mountain to let one of my Grandpa's friends the horrible news that Grandpa had passed away. Didn't really do any birding, but kept an eye out while driving and made several stops to identify some birds. Some of the more interesting species were Mountain Bluebirds, Western Bluebirds, Vesper Sparrows, Tree Swallows, Violet-green Swallows, Red-breasted Nuthatch, and Loggerhead Shrike.

                                                       Tree Swallow

                                                  Violet-green Swallow

                                                  Violet-green Swallow

Just before we got to the mouth of the Big Thompson Canyon I noticed 2 White-throated Swifts (197) flying around, so we found a pulloff and stopped. I was able to find 2 Violet-green Swallows and 4 White-throated Swifts in total. I was surprised that we didn't hear any wrens. We were getting close to getting home while driving on 1st Street just west of CR 23E and I noticed 2 bluebirds sitting on the telephone wires. We turned around and I took photos of the Eastern Bluebirds, which makes for a 3 bluebird day in Larimer County, which is a rare feat.

                                                     Eastern Bluebird

Just as it was getting dark I was standing outside of my house and I heard a Common Poorwill (198) calling in the distance. This is the 4th time I have heard them at my house.

Horrible Day, Good Birds 4/21

Early in the morning I got a phone call from my parents to find out my Grandpa had passed away. What a horrible way to start a day.

I decided to still go on Connie Kogler's bird walk that she was leading and found out that 40 people had showed up to this event. We saw quite a few species with the best being a Sharp-shinned Hawk, Peregrine Falcan, and Sage Thrasher (196). I also heard a bird sing once when I was behind the group down by the river that sounded very good for a Hooded Warbler, but a search after the field trip didn't turn one up.

                                               Brown-headed Cowbird

                                                      Sage Thrasher

I then made a quick stop at Duck Lake, Fossil Creek Marsh, and Kechter Pit on my way to work. At Duck Lake the highlights were 7 Black-necked Stilts, 7 American Avocets, and 5 Greater Yellowlegs. Fossil Creek Marsh had 16 American Avocets and 1 Greater Yellowlegs. The last stop, which was Kechter Pit, had 4 American Avocets and 1 Least Sandpiper. 

Long walk on the Big Thompson Bike Trail 4/20

I decided to take a walk around Morey Wildlife Preserve and then go over to the Big Thompson Bike Trail. At Morey there were only 8 Yellow-rumped Warblers and a large flyover Cooper's Hawk was a nice add. Then on my way towards Highway 34 from Morey I stopped at the bridge going over the Big Thompson River. I immediately heard a phoebe calling, but I wasn't able to see it. It sounded more like an Eastern, but I am not going to say it wasn't a Black.
The Big Thompson Bike Trail was very birdy, so I decided to walk it from Wilson all the way to Roosevelt Ave. During the walk I saw over 200 Yellow-rumped Warblers. Immediately after I started walking I heard and then saw the first of several singing House Wrens (191). In the same bush was the first of two Lincoln's Sparrows. I then found a pair of Great Horned Owls in a thick tree. The Eastern Phoebes and Solitary Sandpiper was still at the previously described locations. Then below the diversion dam I found an Orange-crowned Warbler (192) with some Yellow-rumped. As I was getting close to Taft Ave I found an adult Broad-winged Hawk (193) sitting up in a tree. Just as I pulled up my binoculars the bird flew and quickly disappeared. Then shortly before I got to 1st St I found 3 Chipping Sparrows (194). South of 1st Street I found a couple birds of interest. The first bird I saw on the ground on the north side of the river. This Hermit Thrush (195) was the fifth year bird I saw during this walk. Then shortly after that I saw a wren hopping around, but immediately noticed it had a stub tail, but quickly disappeared. I then tried to get it in with using playback and it eventually started calling making this bird a Winter Wren.

Poor Weather 4/19

It was a very cloudy day, which meant the birds could be good. On my lunch break I went back over to Timnath Reservoir. There I saw more Franklin's Gulls in one spot than I ever have before. There were at least 500 Franklin's Gulls flying over the lake and more flying in from the east. While standing on the north east side I heard 3 Virginia Rails calling back and forth to each other in the cattails and I also heard a Ring-necked Pheasant calling at the same time. I also had a flyover Ferruginous Hawk in the same thermal as a Red-tailed Hawk.
After work I made several stops in the rain. First stop was at Kechter Pit. Here the only good bird was a Marbled Godwit being chased around by 2 Ring-billed Gulls.
Then a stop at Fossil Creek Reservoir. I immediately found a large group of about 1000 swallows flying in the distance. After carefully looking through them I found out over 90% of them were Tree Swallows. I was able to find several Northern Rough-winged, Bank, and Barn Swallows with them and one of each of Cliff and Violet-green Swallows (190). While looking through the swallows I found a Peregrine Falcon sitting at the top of a tree on the north side of the reservoir.
At Duck Lake the large shorebirds are still around. I saw 9 Black-necked Stilts, 4 American Avocets, 6 Greater Yellowlegs, 1 Lesser Yellowlegs, and 3 Killdeer.
Horseshoe Lake also had large numbers of Franklin's Gulls. The best bird was a very confusing gull. Nick Komar also saw it. After carefully thinking about the field marks it was probably a very worn 2nd year Thayer's Gull.
Lake Loveland held 2 Bonaparte's Gulls and a flyover Osprey.

Worm-eating Warbler 4/18

This morning I decided to take a walk along the Big Thompson River starting at the Wilson bridge. Along the trail I saw over 50 Yellow-rumped Warblers, with most being the 'Myrtle' subspecies. After I was there for about 15 minutes I ran into Elaine Coley who told me she had just seen a bird she has never seen before and her thoughts on the bird was Worm-eating Warbler. This immediately got me thinking about a bird I heard in the same area 2 days ago and it was probably a Worm-eating, but their song is similar to Chipping Sparrows and a few other species. After a while of looking and running in to Kennith Lane I decided it would be a good idea to play the tape. We played the song for a little while with nothing happening, so I changed to its call. This brought in a bunch of birds with the majority being Yellow-rumped Warblers. I then decided to go back to the song. After playing it for 30 seconds or so I heard the identical song responding back to the tape. Unfortunately I didn't see it, but I heard a Worm-eating Warbler (188) and I will try for it on Friday to try for photographs. Both Eastern Phoebes were in the same area they have been in. A few other birds of interest was Sharp-shinned Hawk and Savannah Sparrow.
I then went to the Cattail Pond area. Nothing of interest was on any of the bodies of water in the area, but there was a large number of swallows flying around Bud Mielke Resevoir. I started looking at all the birds sitting on the wire. Most of the swallows were Tree Swallows, but with them were a handful of Barn Swallows and 2 Northern Rough-winged Swallow (189) and perhaps more species were around, but I didn't see any. Then just down the road I got some great photos of a Swainson's Hawk sitting on a road sign.
Before work I met up with Cade Cropper looking for the Worm-eating Warbler. We never found it, but again saw the Eastern Phoebes. The Solitary Sandpiper had also returned to the same spot where I found it yesterday.
I then went to Duck Lake looking for more shorebirds. I was able to find 9 (yes, 9) Black-necked Stilts, 9 American Avocets, 6 Greater Yellowlegs, and 3 Killdeer. I also got great looks at very close Blue-winged Teal.
A quick stop at Kechter Pit didn't produce much of interest.

More Larimer Shorebirds 4/17

This morning I decided to hike the Big Thompson Bike Trail again. On the way I stopped by Boedecker Reservoir and saw 14 Western Grebes, 13 Franklin's Gulls, and 4 White-faced Ibis. The numbers of Yellow-rumped Warblers continue to grow along the bike trail of both subspecies and integrades between them. Both Eastern Phoebes continue and after talking with Elaine Coley I found out they have finished building their nest. At one point in time I flushed a Great Horned Owl out of a tree while walking through the woods. The best bird was the second shorebird I saw in the area, Killdeer being the first and Solitary Sandpiper (186) was the other.

                                                   Solitary Sandpiper

                                                   Solitary Sandpiper

I then stopped at Duck Lake. Here I found 4 species of shorebirds. Several Killdeer, 1 Greater Yellowlegs, 3 Black-necked Stilts, and 1 Willet (187). The Trumpeter Swan appears to have left the area. The numbers of waterfowl has also grown since the last time I have been there, but still all expected species.

                                                            Willet

A stop at Kechter Pit produced nothing new. The best birds were 4 American Avocets.
During my lunch break I spent some time at Timnath Reservoir and ended up seeing 47 species of birds. The hundreds of Franklin's Gulls flying around was amazing to watch. A single Canvasback continues and I heard a Ring-necked Pheasant has still been calling from the same location I have heard if from the last few times I was there. I saw 2 Clark's Grebes, 2 Greater Scaup, a Wood Duck, a large flock of Tree Swallows with a couple of Cliff Swallows, a single White-faced Ibis, and a Great Egret in its amazing breeding plummage.

                                               Yellow-headed Blackbird

Poor day for photography, excellent day for birds 4/11

I decided to do the 25 bird route that I made last year and decided to do at least once a month this year. When I got up I realized it was not the greatest of weather as it was cold, drizzling, and very low clouds. The plan is make a stop every mile for a 25 mile route. On the fourth mile I happened to look out in the field and saw a strange bird walking around about a quarter of a mile out. When I got my binoculars on it I immediately knew it was a Long-billed Curlew (176). I was on the county line road and fortunately for me it was on the west side of the road, which means it was in Larimer County. Minutes after finding it and after calling a couple birders it starting calling and flew off. It flew one mile towards the north and then it went straight east going into Weld County.

                                                  Long-billed Curlew

I then continued on with the survey. Just when I was about to get to the stop on the sixth mile I noticed a bird on the road and I hit the brakes. It flew just as it flew calling towards the west. Sure enough, this was a Chestnut-collared Longspur (177). As I was standing outside of my car on this sixth mile I heard another Long-billed Curlew flying around in the fog. Then while driving on mile eight before I got to the stop I slowed to look for anything of interest in a prairie dog colony. There right next to the road on the west side of the road was yet another Long-billed Curlew. After analyzing photos there is no doubt this is a different bird than the first one I saw as this one has a shorter bill. While photographing it I heard another Chestnut-collared Longspur flying around, but I wasn't able to locate it.

                                                  Long-billed Curlew

At mile 8 the road turns towards the west and the rest of the route is in Larimer County, so I don't have to worry about getting something of interest in Weld County instead of Larimer. At mile nine on County Road 62 I found a flock of feeding blackbirds. While looking through them I found a male Brown-headed Cowbird (178). At the same location I heard a singing Vesper Sparrow.

                                                  Brown-headed Cowbird

At mile 14 in the Wellington SWA on CR 3 the pond on the east side of the road is very low and has good mud for shorebirds, but all I could find was Killdeer and Wilson's Snipe.
As I was approaching the stop on mile 15 I noticed a white wing flash from a bird in a small tree. When I got stopped I noticed it was a Northern Mockingbird (179). It was on the northeast side of intersection of CR 3 and CR66.

                                                 Northern Mockingbird

Although the rest of the 25 mile route was birdy I couldn't find anything else of interest. Some of the better birds were Brewer's Blackbirds, Yellow-headed Blackbirds, Great-tailed Grackle, and Ring-necked Pheasant.
My plan from there was to check out several reservoirs in the area and then go looking for the plains species I was still missing which were Mountain Plover, Burrowing Owl, and McCown's Longspur. I had Chestnut-collared Longspur and Northern Mockingbird on that list at the beginning of the day, but already observing them during the route I didn't need to worry.
The only good bird on North Poudre Reservoir #3 was a Tree Swallow flying over. A stop at North Poudre Reservoir #4 I quickly found a Greater Yellowlegs on the near shore. While scanning the reservoir I only found one bird, it was a Common Loon (180) in alternate plummage.

                                                     Common Loon

At North Poudre Reservoir #6 the only good bird I found was a Merlin.

                                                            Merlin

Douglas Reservoir was also nearly void of birds, other than 2 Western Grebes. The only bird of interest was a Vesper Sparrow.

                                                    Vesper Sparrow

On the way towards Rawhide Power Plant / Hamilton Reservoir I found a few locations that looked good for Mountain Plover, but no luck, although I did find a couple more Vesper Sparrows.
Hamilton Reservoir didn't have many birds on it, but it did have a good number of Eared Grebes. I was also able to find 2 American Avocets walking around on the west side. As I was leaving I decided I was going to get a good look at the Buffalo in the field towards the west. As I was getting stopped I saw a fairly large white bird and knew immediately it was a Cattle Egret (181). Shortly after I found it a couple of the Buffalo became curious and starting heading towards the egret, the egret in turn started running away from them, then the Buffalo started to run towards the egret, and the egret decided the safest thing to do was to fly. I watched it as the Cattle Egret flew towards the north and out of sight.

                                                        Cattle Egret

                                                        Cattle Egret

After a quick look at the map I noticed CR 5 went north from Buckeye Road and I decided this might be my best chance for the plains birds without going into Soapstone Ranch. About a mile or so on the road I crossed a cattle guard and noticed some good habitat. I stopped and quickly picked up on a male McCown's Longspur (182). In all I found 7 McCown's in this field. I found a good looking Prairie Dog colony, but was unable to locate any Burrowing Owl or Mountain Plover. In the field on the SW side of CR 5 and CR 92 I found more McCown's Longspurs and there were even a couple of them skylarking. On my drive towards I-25 on CR 92 I heard another Chestnut-collared Longspur flying around.

                                                   McCown's Longspur

On my way towards Timnath Reservoir I decided to check several locations. The first was to go back to the Prairie Dog colony and try to get better photos of the Long-billed Curlew. When I got there I quickly realized it was gone.
I made a stop at Cobb Lake on my way south. While driving I noticed a couple peeps along the edge of the reservoir. I got on one and it was a Least Sandpiper (183), but didn't get a good look at the other. I then drove up and turned around to get my scope out and get a better look. While looking at them I realized the other was slightly bigger with black legs instead of yellow of the Least. It had a thicker and straight bill, of which the Least had a thin bill with a slight droop at the end. The second peep was a Semipalmated Sandpiper (184). On the lake there was a lot of Western Grebes with some Horned mixed in. The pond on the north side of Cobb Lake had a lot of dabbling ducks with some diving mixed in, but nothing of note. There were also large numbers of blackbirds including some Yellow-headed Blackbirds and Great-tailed Grackles.

                                             Semipalmated Sandpiper

Semipalmated Sandpiper and Least Sandpiper

I also made a quick stop to try to scope out Hinkley Lake, but couldn't find anything from this long distance scan. While I was just about to leave a Cooper's Hawk started circling over me.
The plan from here was to meet up with Cade Cropper at Timnath Reservoir. I arrived to the NE side before Cade. Again I found lots of birds including 4 Canvasback. I then starting looking into the trees and picked up on an Eastern Phoebe, but about 20 seconds later some Red-winged Blackbirds came in and chased it off. This is the 4th Eastern Phoebe I have seen in Larimer County this year and the first I have ever heard of at Timnath Reservoir. A good number of Franklin's and Bonaparte's Gulls continue.
We then went over to Kechter Pit. Here we found a flock of 10 White-faced Ibis (185). There was also 4 American Avocets and a Greater Yellowlegs.
Our next stop was Duck Lake where the Trumpeter Swan is still putting on an appearance. A couple Greater Yellowlegs was still present.
The Loveland area was fairly slow. The areas I went to was Donath Lake, Horseshoe Lake, and the Cattail Pond area. It was a great day though. I managed to observe 10 Larimer County year birds, 8 of which I was able to photograph. I also managed to get over 100 ebird lists for the day.

A nice walk and some lakes 4/10

Today my brother and I went for a hike with our dogs along the Big Thompson Bike Trail. Along the way we found a couple flocks of Yellow-rumped Warblers. All that I saw was Myrtle's or integrades between the two subspecies. We also saw the 2 Eastern Phoebes and 2 Wood Ducks.

                                                    Yellow-rumped Warbler

                                                    Yellow-rumped Warbler

                                                     Yellow-rumped Warbler

                                                       Wood Duck

                                                      Wood Duck

                                                     Wood Duck

                                                       Wood Duck

                                                    Barn Swallow

A drive around the Cattail Pond area didn't produce anything of interest.
This afternoon I met up with Cade Cropper and we went to Duck Lake. There we had 1 Black-necked
Stilt, 12 American Avocets, and 7 Greater Yellowlegs. Also the continuing Trumpeter Swan.

                                                   Cinnamon Teal

                                                    Cinnamon Teal

We then went to Kechter Pit where we found a Snowy Egret (174). On the drive back towards Horseshoe Lake while on Timberline just south of Carpenter we saw a Swainson's Hawk (175) sitting on a telephone post.

                                                  Swainson's Hawk

When I got home a Western Scrub-Jay was sitting up.

                                                      Western Scrub-Jay

Duck Lake, possibly a shorebird hotspot 4/9

In the morning I spent half a day birding around some popular lakes in eastern Larimer County and SW Loveland area. My first stop was Timnath Reservoir. Driving towards the lake on the SW side I found a female Mountain Bluebird for one of the first birds at the location. Still a lot of birds around including lots of Franklin's and Bonaparte's Gulls. I then went to the NE side and found a field full of American Pipits. At the outlet on the County Line Road hosted a bunch of blackbirds including a number of Yellow-headed Blackbirds and Great-tailed Grackle.

                                                   Mountain Bluebird

                                              Yellow-headed Blackbird

                                               Yellow-headed Blackbird

                                                 Great-tailed Grackle

                                               Yellow-headed Blackbird

                                                  Red-winged Blackbird

                                                    American Coot

                                                     Pied-billed Grebe

                                                      Ring-necked Duck

                                                         American Pipit

                                                   Horned Lark

The next stop was a Kechter Pit where immediately picked up on a Great Egret (172) standing next to a Great Blue Heron. Also there was a number of Red-breasted Mergansers mixed in with some Common and Hooded.

                                                      Great Egret
I then went to Fossil Creek Reservoir. Here I found a really neat looking Canada Goose it was either partially albino or a hybrid with a Snow Goose. I also saw a Tree Swallow at a nest box, which looked like it was getting it ready for a female. Five species of grebes were still present.

                             Probable Canada Goose x Snow Goose Hybrid

                              Probable Canada Goose x Snow Goose Hybrid

                                                   Song Sparrow

                                                  Tree Swallow

                                                     Gadwall

I then went to Duck Lake. Here the Trumpeter Swan continues, but didn't see anything else of interest.
Again nothing of interest at Donath, Horseshoe, Lake Loveland, or the Cattail Pond area. I most interesting part of the Cattail Pond area is the flooded fields. They look like they could host a number of shorebirds or ibis within the next few weeks if they stay this way. In one of the fields I was able to see 2 Wilson's Snipe and 2 Say's Phoebes. In another field there was good numbers of Yellow-headed Blackbirds and Great-tailed Grackles.

                                                     Wilson's Snipe

The 2 Osprey were still on the nest pole on Namaqua Road as 7 Turkey Vultures were flying around.

                                                     Turkey Vulture

On my way to work in the afternoon I decided to go check out Duck Lake again. This time things had changed. The swan was still there, but what showed up was the 2 Black-necked Stilts I saw the day before and a Marbled Godwit (173) had joined them. I called Cade Cropped and he was able to get there and see them before I had to leave for work. We both went over to Kechter Pit and refound the Great Egret before I had to make a quick departure.

                                                  Black-necked Stilt

                                                   Greater Yellowlegs

                                                   Marbled Godwit

                                                Trumpeter Swan