Most of my posts so far have been about remote locations and chasing rarities in the wild places of Colorado. Not all good birding happens in far-flung locations. Many of us have great birds close to home, we just have to slow down enough to see them. With the current situation in our world today, staying at home has become an all too real reality. This is a post about a few hours of birding on March 15 when Mom and I explored a local trail leading to a small neighborhood pond that has been made into a nature preserve.
A male Mallard. I often take these common ducks for granted but enjoyed watching this bird feeding very close to us.Townsend’s Solitare. This European Starling confused me by imitating a Killdeer. After several minutes I realized Killdeer do not perch in trees and that the only bird in the tree was a Starling.Starlings are well known mimics, imitating up to 20 different bird calls.A male Hooded Merganser.Any fish down there?
Can you spot The Belted Kingfisher hunting in this short video?After diving into the pond the Belted Kingfisher shakes off water sending droplets into the air.The Kingfisher sat in a tree overlooking the pond before flying away.A Great Blue Heron hunting along the cattails.
Watch this Heron go 4 for 4 catching minnows!After careful consideration I have decided that this bird is a Cooper’s Hawk. The very similar but slightly smaller Sharp-shinned Hawk is the only other option. The light colored nape of its neck is indicative of a Cooper’s Hawk.A male Ring-necked Duck swimming along.A little splash. What on earth is he doing!?
Spring is in the air! Watch the male Ring-necked Ducks (the ones with black heads and white bodies) chase the females (brownish overall). Keep an eye out for the males displaying for the females by tipping their heads back in the air.
As you can see it is not difficult to find cool birds close to home. I encourage you to take a moment and appreciate the birds that we often take for granted.
Our goal for the second day of searching for owls was to find the ever elusive Short-eared Owl. Several Short-eared Owls had been seen at Tamarack Ranch State Wildlife Area near dusk.
Cottonwood State Wildlife Area
Before we headed to Tamarack we decided to bird Cottonwood State Wildlife Area in search of a Common Redpoll. This state wildlife area is an interesting mix of open agricultural fields, hedgerows, and large cottonwood trees along the South Platte River.
We birded here for almost three hours primarily focusing on the large flock of Goldfinches continually flying back and forth between some thistles in the fields and the tall cottonwoods along the river. Among the flock of Goldfinches were several Pine Siskin and one Common Redpoll. Unfortunately we were unable to photograph the Redpoll.
Although this is not the Redpoll, it is the similar Pine Siskin.
The real question is, how does this relate to owls? Well, after almost two hours of attempting to find and then refind the Redpoll we spotted a Barn Owl flying along a hedge row. It glided into the junipers before we could photograph it. By the time we got closer we could not locate the Barn Owl but we accidentally flushed three Long-eared Owls! In order not to disturb the owls we left the hedgerow even though we had not photographed any of them.
The owls did not pose for pictures, but this Townsend’s Solitaire did! Another shot of the Solitaire.A very secretive Brown Creeper.
Tamarack Ranch State Wildlife Area
We arrived at Tamarack Ranch a little before the time that the Short-eared Owls would start hunting over the open fields. We birded in the rich riparian habitat along the South Platte River.
A juvenile Red-tailed Hawk perched in a tree.Snow Geese flying over.The first sign of spring!As the sun set this Great Horned Owl began calling.He was one of several Great Horns that were calling continuously.In this picture you can see he is bent over and hooting
Shortly after seeing the Great Horned Owl, we arrived back in the open fields to try and spot a Short-eared Owl. These owls had been seen flying low over the fields right around sunset. The CU Birding Club and several other birders joined us to search for the owls. About ten minutes after sunset someone spotted an owl on the other side of a hedgerow. Everyone sprinted down the road and saw the bird just before it ducked into the bushes. Several minutes later another Short-eared flew by but this bird did not land in the hedgerow. It flew through to the other side giving us distant but identifiable views. The owl cruised back and forth over the fields for several minutes but because of the distance and lack of light photographing it was impossible. A rather unsatisfying way to get a lifer! Nonetheless, we were exhilarated by our 4 owl day as we started the three hour drive back to Denver.
Warren Lake, March 1
Warren Lake is a very productive lake for rare winter gulls in Colorado. Large numbers of birds loaf around the lake eating the abundant fish that are frozen in the ice. When a Glaucous-winged Gull, a bird normally seen along the Pacific Coast, was reported at a small pond nearby and later at Warren Lake we could not resist chasing it. This bird was an adult, unlike most other Glacous-winged Gulls that are seen in Colorado.
When we arrived some other birders were already on the bird. It was perched out in the middle of the lake. To the delight of every birder watching, it swooped over the water and landed extremely close to us providing great views!
Glaucous-winged Gull standing just feet away from us.The star of the show!Why is everyone taking pictures of me?The reason so many gulls congregate around the lake is the large number of fish frozen in the ice. The Glaucous-winged is enjoying one of them.Adult Glaucous-winged Gull on the left and an adult Herring Gull on the right. As you can see, one of the main differences is the color of the wingtips which are black on the Herring and gray on the Glaucous-winged.A Red-tailed Hawk carrying a branch for his nest.
