[cobirds] Wild Basin - RMNP

All:

        Some birding and wildflowers at Wild Basin in Rocky Mountain National Park, over the last couple weeks.  Compiled from three visits in June.   Note:  requires a Timed Entry Permit between the hours of 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.  If you get there before 9 a.m. you don't need a timed permit, but you will still need your "regular" pass, or pay at gate.  The road is bumpy with some potholes, but a a passenger car can make it to the trailhead if going slowly.  I broke this down into three sections:   the "willow marshes" from Copeland Lake to the Winter Gate;  the Ponderosa \ Lodgepole pine forests from the Winter Gate to the main trailhead;  and the main trailhead up past Calypso Cascades.  Got my boots and feet muddy trudging through marshes.  

Pardon my spelling and grammar.  

Great Blue Heron - 2 -  one at Copeland Lake, the other in the willow marshes\

Spotted Sandpiper - 4 - at two separate ponds. 

Wilson's Snipe - 8 -  willow marshes;  several winnowing displays, alarm calls, and one doing the "broken wing trick" to lure me away from a nest site.

Mallard - 2 at Copeland Lake

MacGillivray's Warbler - 6

Audubon's Warbler - 21 males and females

Wilson's Warbler - 11

Williamson's Sapsucker - 1 male, foraging on a huge ponderosa pine (dead) snag

Northern Flicker - 2

Red Napped Sapsucker - 1 male

Three Toed Woodpecker - 1 male chased off a Douglas fir by a red napped sapsucker

Dusky Flycatcher - 8 - in willow thickets and marsh habitats - one being attacked by a broad tailed hummingbird

Cordilleran Flycatcher - only 1 at the entrance station

Hammond's Flycatcher - 4 in mixed evergreen habitat

Broad Tailed Hummingbird - 14

Brown Creeper - 1

White Breasted Nuthatch - 2

Red Breasted Nuthatch - 6

Pygmy Nuthatch - 6

American Robin - 40+  -  the predominant species

Townsend's Solitaire -2

Clark's Nutcracker - 2 flyovers, calling

American Dipper - 4 - at footbridge crossing and at Copeland Falls

Black Headed Grosbeak - 4 - males and females;  one nest site found

Western Tanager - 10 - males and females collecting insects

Lincoln's Sparrow - 12 - songs, chases;  in willow marshes

Song Sparrow - 12 singing, foraging in willow marshes

Fox Sparrow - 2 singing - in marshes

Violet Green Swallow - 16

Pine Siskin  -  15 - flyovers, calling

Mountain Chickadee - 6

Black Capped Chickadee - 4

Gray Headed Junco - 15 - nesting, foraging, songs, calls

Chipping Sparrow - 2

Warbling Vireo - 15

Note:  At the winter parking area and road-creek crossing there were dozens of robins, warbling vireos, Audubon's warblers, and Western Tanagers, all flycatching insects over the creek and surrounding forests. 

Mammals:  

Moose - 2

Pine Squirrel - 6

Golden Mantled Ground Squirrel - 2

Chipmunk spp:  2

Mule Deer - 1

Flowers were scant, but many species:  Stonecrop, Blue Columbine, Baneberry, Sulphurflower, Heart Leaf Arnica, Globeflower, Marsh Marigold, Shooting Star, Elephantshead, Spotted Coralroot, Geyer's Onion, Yarrow, Mouse-Ear, Dandelion, Boulder Raspberry, Wild Rose, Wild Strawberry, Ninebark, Chokecherry, Cinquifoil spp;  Wild Geranium, Goldenbanner, Mountain Lupine, Groundsel spp;  Mountain Violet, Pussytoes, Pearlyeverlasting, Mountain Ash, Red Elderberry, Blue Clementis,  and dozens of others. 

John T (Tumasonis)

"I'm not a real birder.  I only pretend to be one on CoBirds."  

--
--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group.
To post to this group, send email to cobirds@googlegroups.com
For more options, visit this group at
http://groups.google.com/group/cobirds
* All posts should be signed with the poster's full name and city. Include bird species and location in the subject line when appropriate.
* Join Colorado Field Ornithologists https://cobirds.org/membership/
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to cobirds+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/cobirds/91339802-0595-4ec5-9814-34d92afec775n%40googlegroups.com.

[cobirds] Birding while using AI

While bird watching in the Pacific North West I’m always impressed by  how few song birds  are detected. The habitats are stunningly lush and beautiful. Recently  while in the Trinidad-Humboldt region of Northern California I asked ChatGPT what is going on with the birds? Paraphrasing ChatGPT replied …During the last ice age much of the Pacific Northwest was smothered by glaciers that over time would retreat then then advance, thus forcing plants and animals  to be pushed further south. When the ice age finally melted for good some bird species returned but there was now less geologic time for birds to diversify. Further hindering diversification where the impeding Cascade Mountains. Also conifers became the  dominating habitat for the region which was good for some types of birds but discouraging for most.

Wow, how was that for an enriching answer for a complicated question!!

Any one else using AI while birding ?

Bob Righter

Denver CO

Re: [cobirds] Swan goose or hybrid

Ginger -- 

I'm not an expert on this, but from the photos I've seen online of Swan Geese, their bills appear longer and a bit more swan-like than this one's.

Hybridization with Graylag or some form of domestic/barnyard goose seems likely.

Since 2009, Denver City Park has had a resident Graylag hybrid (actually two of them until one died several years ago) that an eBird reviewer advised me some years ago was likely a Graylag X Swan Goose hybrid.

I've been checklisting it as such on eBird ever since that reviewer note.

That bird -- known to City Parkers as "Gandalf" (brother to the now-deceased "Randolph") -- is a lot like this one, except he has a prominent bill as orange as the feet, not darker like this one.

Also, his bill is large but not as elongated ast the Swan Goose photos I've seen online.

For what it's worth and comparisons, here's Gandalf last 

February in City Park's Duck Lake:

Patrick O'Driscoll

Denver

On Tue, Jun 23, 2026 at 4:13 PM 'ginger-o@comcast.net' via Colorado Birds <cobirds@googlegroups.com> wrote:

Hi Everyone,

I saw this bird on the Platte River near 88th, hanging out with a bunch of Canada geese.  Merlin says Swan Goose but a friend thought maybe a Graylag/Swan Goose hybrid.  Any thoughts?  Sorry for the photo quality.  I only had my phone with me.

Ginger

--
--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group.
To post to this group, send email to cobirds@googlegroups.com
For more options, visit this group at
http://groups.google.com/group/cobirds
* All posts should be signed with the poster's full name and city. Include bird species and location in the subject line when appropriate.
* Join Colorado Field Ornithologists https://cobirds.org/membership/
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to cobirds+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/cobirds/DS7PR01MB7757ED56756E6ED6C78F9451A8EF2%40DS7PR01MB7757.prod.exchangelabs.com.

--
--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group.
To post to this group, send email to cobirds@googlegroups.com
For more options, visit this group at
http://groups.google.com/group/cobirds
* All posts should be signed with the poster's full name and city. Include bird species and location in the subject line when appropriate.
* Join Colorado Field Ornithologists https://cobirds.org/membership/
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to cobirds+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/cobirds/CAMNEzJMKmxRS%3DnyhkDp0HegYcA5NdxXqASAsozgNoHSDqRi9ag%40mail.gmail.com.

[cobirds] Swan goose or hybrid

Hi Everyone,

I saw this bird on the Platte River near 88th, hanging out with a bunch of Canada geese.  Merlin says Swan Goose but a friend thought maybe a Graylag/Swan Goose hybrid.  Any thoughts?  Sorry for the photo quality.  I only had my phone with me.

Ginger

[cobirds] Broad-tailed Hummingbird nests

Over the past week I have had the good fortune to find two Broad-tailed Hummingbird nests.

 

The first one is in Grandview Cemetery in Fort Collins.  I noticed a female making repeated visits to a little cement vehicle bridge over the New Mercer Ditch near the entrance to the Cemetery Shop (which is 150 yards south of the rock Cemetery Office at the west terminus of Mountain Avenue).  Barn Swallows nest under this bridge.  Maybe the hummer was after feathers swallows use for nest liner, but it’s more likely the attraction for the hummer was spider webs.  Each of the 15 or so visits I witnessed involved a hover next to the bridge, then a dash into the dark underside of the bridge over the ditch water for 10-15 seconds, and then a quick exit out the opposite side from where it entered.  The exit flight was always in the same direction.  In the past almost all of the 30+ nests I have found at Grandview Cemetery have been on the lower branches of big Colorado blue spruce trees.  I checked the nearest spruce along the vector the hummer went after bridge visits.  Nothing.  Then I went across a broad open area to more spruce trees on the same vector and found the nest.  It was what I would call half-built on 6/18 (left photo below).  The cup had enough definition for her to sit in it, spin around and shape, and it was somewhat decorated on the outside with spruce bark flakes and bits of lichens.  The foundation of the nest appeared to be mostly what I think is bright white spider webbing (with a few American elm seeds embedded by the wind prior to the hummingbird’s procurement).  Also, a few dandelion seeds were recognizable.

 

On 6/21 the nest was basically complete, with much greater depth and exterior decorating (below right).  You can tell by the web debris on her beak she is still “knitting” the interior of the cup into a final configuration she likes.  I do not know if she had laid eggs on 6/21, but if not, that act is imminent.  If this nest is like others, she will liven up her two weeks of what must be boring incubation with continued additions to the nest exterior of a tile here and a bit of color there.  This has always seemed to me a futile attempt to improve on perfection.  And once the eggs hatch, mamma’s labors intensify considerably. She must feed the two nestlings, feed herself, defend/shield her progeny from heat, rain, sprinklers, incoming golf balls, fox squirrels, Blue Jays, etc.  Egg hatch also marks the onset of nest deterioration.  During their approximately two week-long nestling period, the young will grow, thrash around, completely fill the expandable nest to the exclusion of Mom (about half way thru the nestling period she will have to perch next to the nest to feed them).  On fledging day, most nests are reduced to throw rugs with no chance for refurbishing and reuse next year.

 

  

 

The second nest discovered lately is in lower Rist Canyon west of Fort Collins.  It is in an area I have been visiting for over 50 years to collect insects for the Gillette Museum at Colorado State University.  On 6/17 I walked past a 5-foot tall Douglas-fir that will be part of the next forest on a north-facing slope at present mostly devoid of big trees due to bark beetle outbreaks in both pine and Douglas-fir and the High Park Fire of 2012. Out of the little tree burst a female hummingbird. I knew what that probably meant and, sure enough, there was a nest with two eggs a mere 3 feet off the ground (left photo below).  Today, the female was on the nest (below right).  Note the plum-colored gorget feathers on this female, which the hummingbird books say is rare in female broadtails.  The exterior of every hummingbird nest is unique and the Rist Canyon nest has a lot more lichens and gray bark bits than the Grandview Cemetery nest.

 

  

 

Both genders of hummingbirds are awesome, but for different reasons.  The males are gaudy, engage in exotic flight maneuvers, make a lot of noise and beg to have their pictures taken.  But the females have always commanded my respect.  After being impregnated, they do it all: build the nest, then all the other chores mentioned above, and even do post-fledging feeding/life training of the kids.  Here’s to female hummingbirds!

 

Dave Leatherman

Fort Collins

[cobirds] BIRD BOMBS Habitat Blast: Alpine Living this Thursday June 25 at 7 pm

Register now  for DFO's BIRD BOMBS Habitat Blast: Alpine Living ,this Thursday June 25 at 7pm. What's the best place to beat the summer heat? The mountains! This BIRD BOMBS will explore the bird communities in habitats above tree line and in the subalpine forest.  

David Suddjian

Littleton, CO

--
--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group.
To post to this group, send email to cobirds@googlegroups.com
For more options, visit this group at
http://groups.google.com/group/cobirds
* All posts should be signed with the poster's full name and city. Include bird species and location in the subject line when appropriate.
* Join Colorado Field Ornithologists https://cobirds.org/membership/
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to cobirds+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/cobirds/CAGj6Ror-J5Hae_noMFrTEPiuzfhtT43e3_T03898NbdEPArtqQ%40mail.gmail.com.

[cobirds] Re: Possibly injured Kestrel Brighton Adams County

Help is already on the way! No need for more replies. Thanks!

Susan Rosine 

Brighton 

On Sat, Jun 20, 2026, 9:38 AM Susan Rosine <u5b2mtdna@gmail.com> wrote:

A small business owner in downtown Brighton sent me a photo of a kestrel looking through their window. She thinks it's injured. I don't really want to try and handle a kestrel myself.

Thoughts on getting someone out here to take it where it needs to go? 

Susan Rosine 

Brighton 

--
--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group.
To post to this group, send email to cobirds@googlegroups.com
For more options, visit this group at
http://groups.google.com/group/cobirds
* All posts should be signed with the poster's full name and city. Include bird species and location in the subject line when appropriate.
* Join Colorado Field Ornithologists https://cobirds.org/membership/
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to cobirds+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/cobirds/CACPnx8XPD9O2DDtVrvigXWPtBhN0S4S2njpEmSnZRhSSCnXb6g%40mail.gmail.com.