Baird’s Sparrow is one of the most difficult sparrows to find in Western North America. They are challenging to locate except during the breeding season when territorial males will sometimes sing their musical song from exposed perches. Uncommon breeders in eastern Montana, North Dakota and Southern Canada, Baird’s Sparrows can be found in large areas of native prairie. They prefer expansive fields of tall grass and scattered weeds. These sparrows have declined by 71% since 1966 due in large part to habitat loss and fragmentation.
Baird’s Sparrows were first detected in Colorado during the breeding season in 2015 and since then singing males have been located every year at Soapstone Prairie Natural Area and other nearby locations. It wasn’t until 2018 that nesting was confirmed in the state for the first time. This apparently new population of breeding Baird’s Sparrows in Northern Colorado (and also several areas in southern Wyoming) are hundreds of miles south of the previously known breeding range of this species. It is currently not clear why these sparrows have taken up residence in Northern Colorado.
Sunrise at Soapstone Prairie Natural Area as we hike the 3.5 miles into Jack Springs Pasture, the Baird’s Sparrow location. The best chance of finding these birds is early in the morning when the males are most likely singing and the wind is minimal. We arrived at Jack Springs just after 7:00am. The Baird’s hang out in the tall darker green grass. This area is fenced off to protect fragile habitat and is only viewable from the trail. The best way to find them is by listening and scoping from the south gate of Plover Trail. As soon as we arrived we heard the song of a Baird’s Sparrow. In this recording it sings twice from 0:01-o3 and again from 0:10-12. For comparison you can hear a Grasshopper Sparrow sing from 0:05-07. These birds are very distant so you may need headphones to hear them. After hearing the bird sing continually for almost 10 minutes, I finally spotted the Baird’s perched up on a tuft of grass far out in the field. At this distance it is hard to see any field marks even through the scope. You can just barely make out the orange tint of the face. Baird’s Sparrow had been a nemesis bird for me. Over the last 2 years I had hiked into Soapstone 3 separate times, including twice during my Big Year, and never located them. Let me tell you the hike out carrying a scope and camera feels so much shorter after finally seeing a Baird’s!While looking for Baird’s Sparrows we heard and saw numerous Grasshopper Sparrows in the same area. Grasshopper Sparrows are much more common in Colorado and can be found in most of the eastern third of the state.Throughout the morning the most abundant bird was the Lark Bunting, Colorado’s State Bird. This male has a bill full of insects, a sure sign he is feeding fledglings. Another common bird of the Western Prairie is the Sage Thrasher, the smallest thrasher in North America. They can be found in areas of scattered brush.On the hike out a friendly Horned Lizard was sitting on the path. These small lizards are perfectly adapted to arid and semiarid terrain. When approached Horned Lizards will remain still and rely on camouflage to avoid detection.What a great hike on the prairie!
I have five days until school starts. There are a lot of rare birds in Colorado right now, so I decided to try and see as many as possible in the first week of the year! Day one – New Year’s Day.
Trilby Road Gyrfalcon Stakeout
Today, the rare bird reports (cobirds Google Group and eBird) took us to Fort Collins birding destinations. Our first target was the Gyrfalcon near Larimer County Landfill. He has been seen for the past two winters at this location but has evaded us on all 11 of our previous trips to find him. Today was no exception. Despite searching for 4 hours the Gyr never made an appearance. Even though the falcon was not present we saw other fascinating birds.
Beautiful sunrise colors.Sun finally peaking over the clouds.Zooming in… way in!Northern Harrier hunting right before sunrise.Thayer’s Gull circling over the landfill. Seen from Trilby Road.More gulls at the Landfill seen from Trilby Road. Who knew that landfills were such good birding destinations!? They draw a wide range of gulls and other garbage eaters.Merlin, not the right falcon, but a falcon nonetheless… Ferruginous Hawk, still not a Gyrfalcon even though he’s on the falcon’s favorite perch.
Grandview Cemetery
Our next stop was Grandview Cemetery in Fort Collins. Our target here was the Yellow-bellied Sapsucker. After a few hours of searching we finally located him. Thanks to Joe Mammoser for helping us find the bird; I had met Joe last year looking for the Gyrfalcon and it was great to see him again.
Birder Parking!Red-breasted Nuthatch.Red-breasted Nuthatch flicking bark off a pine tree in search of insects.Can you spot the Brown Creeper?Look at the tail on that Creeper!!Creeper upside down.Yellow-bellied Sapsucker hiding in a pine tree.Look at all those holes in the tree! Sapsuckers feed on sap (among other things), hence the name.Sapsucker eating sap.Mom, Joe and I looking at the sapsucker.
Union Reservoir
After successfully seeing the Sapsucker we drove to Union Reservoir in Longmont to look for two Tundra Swans. The Swans were nowhere to be found. However, there was a very friendly Kestrel with freshly caught dinner.
The smallest Falcon in North America, the American Kestrel.Cute little Falcon. The blue color on his back shows us that this is a male.Dinner in his claws! This is a small mouse that he just snagged out of a grass field.Tearing his mouse in half! Not so cute now!He swallowed this piece whole!
While driving home we saw a truly incredible spectacle. Near the town of Frederick we saw two gigantic groups of geese. The first flock was made of multiple connected flying ‘V’s of Canadian Geese spanning the evening sky numbering well over 5000 birds. The second flock was another 3000 Canadians on the ground in a corn field with more geese landing to join them as we drove by. Unfortunately, it was too dark for decent pictures by that time. An amazing site!!
What a terrific New Year’s Day to start 2020!
Camera: Nikon COOLPIX P1000, SONY Cyber-shot DSC-HX200V
