Our goal for today was to find as many mountain birds as possible, especially small owls. We birded three locations, saw some great birds and a couple of four legged surprises.
Castlewood Canyon
Our first stop of the the day was Castlewood Canyon State Park. We arrived well before sunrise hoping to hear a Northern Saw-whet Owl. These small owls are extremely hard to find because they only call at night. During the day they roost in pine trees almost always in the densest part of the tree making them almost impossible to see. The best we could hope for with these owls was to hear them.
Although we didn’t hear any Saw-whets we did get to enjoy a beautiful sunrise. Undoubtedly the bird of the day, the Red Crossbill. This small flock landed in a tree along Castlewood Canyon Road in the predawn light.
Rampart Range Road
The first bird we saw upon arriving at Rampart Range Road was this female/juvenile Red Crossbill, just one of the many we saw.Unfortunately the ornament on this tree is the closest we came to seeing an owl. Although we did hear a Northern Pygmy-owl very close to the road, we could not locate it. The Nuthatches and Crossbills heard the owl as well judging by their continual panicked chatter just off the road.After the Pygmy-owl stopped calling this White-breasted Nuthatch went back to his normal behavior. A fearless Pygmy Nuthatch along the road.The view along the South Platte River as we drove to our next birding location.Look at the rack on that Elk!He was fearless, standing less then 30 feet away from our car! A Steller’s Jay along the road on our drive to Staunton State Park.Consulting the map…
Staunton State Park
Spectacular view!A Pygmy Nuthatch enjoying the pine cones.A very vocal Clark’s Nutcracker! We were able to locate him by his unique call.What a treat to have such close views of this Clark’s Nutcracker, by far the closest I have ever seen a Nutcracker. If only it was less obstructed…Ah, that’s better!Cool Nutcracker call.Great view of this male Red Crossbill. Look at that distinctly shaped bill!Every time I see a Crossbill I marvel at the uniqueness of his bill.A squirrel enjoying a pine cone just like many of the birds we saw today.My first Abert’s Squirrel! Look at those ear tufts!One of the many Mountain Chickadees we saw today.Our last bird of the day was the same as the first, a Red Crossbill.
Although we had an awesome day looking for mountain birds we went one for two on hearing owl species and didn’t manage to see either of them. I know we will be back out soon to try and see those owls.
Our birding adventures took us to Pueblo over the weekend. Pueblo is almost two hours south of Colorado and provides a very different habitat type than the Metro area and therefore there are many desert birds that don’t get this far north. We looked forward to birding in the area around Pueblo Reservoir. We were especially hoping to spot three rarities: Red-throated Loon, Dunlin and Great Black-backed Gull.
Pueblo Reservoir
When we arrived at Pueblo Reservoir just after sunrise it was 15 degrees.
First bird of the day, Mountain Bluebird . This was only one of the many Mountain Bluebirds we saw today.Yum! A berry! Another Bluebird the same color as the sky.Some of the many gulls loafing on the tires at Pueblo Reservoir. By looking through the hundreds of common gulls (Herring and Ring-billed Gulls) you can often find a few rarer species. This is the area where the Great Black-backed Gull hangs out so we were constantly on the lookout for him.One of the many Ring-billed Gulls which were definitely the most common species. This was the only California Gull we saw at the reservoir today. Although they are quite common in spring and fall, finding them in winter in Colorado can be difficult. You can also see a Herring gull in the background, sleeping, with pink legs.Hmmm. A Black-backed Gull, just not the right species. This is a Lesser Black-backed Gull, the smaller, yellow legged relative of the Great Black-backed Gull, who has dull pink legs.Gulls have an incredible ability to eat almost anything. The Lesser Black-backed has found a dead fish (?) on the shore of the lake.Finally! The Great Black-backed Gull, the largest gull species in the world!Time for a nap… It’s hard to see in this picture, but he towers over all other gulls.Another target bird, the Dunlin. Finding this small shore bird mixed in with the gull flock can be quite difficult. Thank you to the two other birders who pointed him out to us!If the Dunlin was behind the tires it would be almost impossible to spot him.After our luck with Gulls on the tires, we scoped the reservoir in search of the Red-throated Loon. Although this bird is a loon it is in fact a Pacific Loon. This is not the loon we were looking for.Another fun bird, a Horned Grebe.A Ground Squirrel on the shore of the lake.After scoping from every possible vantage point on the north and west sides of the lake we decided to check the grassland around the reservoir. One of the first birds we spotted was a Loggerhead Shrike perched in the distance.An American Goldfinch in the top of a willow tree. He is not in his bright yellow plumage during the winter months.A fearless Canyon Towhee. This is the only part of the state where this species can be found.
Valco Ponds
Valco Ponds are a group of ponds just downstream from Pueblo Reservoir.
Curve-billed Thrasher that was making a lot of noise in the bushes. They get their name from the way they thrash their bill through dead leaves on the ground looking for food.A male Red-breasted Merganser with some awesome hair.One of the smallest birds in Colorado, the Ruby-crowned Kinglet.A Belted Kingfisher hunting over the river.Yellow-rumped Warbler. You can see his yellow rump.One of two Killdeer foraging along the banks of the river.A female Eastern Bluebird was a pleasant surprise!And her mate, a male Eastern Bluebird not far away.A Bewick’s Wren skulking in the brush. The thorny Cholla cactus reminding us we are in a desert.
Pueblo Reservoir (Again)
In hopes of spotting our final target bird of the day we returned to Pueblo Reservoir.
Behind the Western Grebes you can see an extremely distant bird. Though it’s impossible to tell from this picture, it is a Red-throated Loon. We drove to the other side of the lake to get a better view of the bird, but because of bad glare from the setting sun we could not refind it.
What an awesome day of birding around Pueblo Reservoir. We found all three of our target birds and it turned out to be a super successful day!
