[cobirds] American Dipper at created habitat Massey Draw, Ken Caryl Valley JEF

[Note: there is no general public access to the areas of Ken Caryl Ranch described below]

This morning I found an American Dipper at little Massey Draw creek just upstream from the junction of West Ken Caryl Ave and South Valley Road, more or less at the crossing of the Lyons Formation hogback. This was my first in the KC Valley, and was especially interesting because it was using a man-made rocky stream substrate that was created in 2015. The location had formerly had an old dam that formed a small reservoir, but it had become dilapidated (still visible on outdated Google Earth image). In 2015 a habitat restoration/rehabilitation project was done to remove the dam and solve an erosion problem. The stream has a fair gradient in this spot, I suppose from accumulated sediment above the old dam, and the restoration included installation of over 50 yards of large rocks to create a step-down to the lower level, with the stream flowing over the rock structure as a cascade (impressive during spring flows). And I was delighted to learn that a dipper likes it! I've included a photo below of the newly created habitat and a poor image of the dipper. 

Another fun part in that same spot was a gathering of 4 Townsend's Solitaires that had fluttered down to the stream to have a drink side by side. There are presently lots of Solitaires in Ken Caryl Valley; I saw or heard maybe 30+ this morning. Two other good birds in that same area were a flyby Merlin, and a Sora calling from a cattail section of the creek. 

I've had Evening Grosbeaks on three days in Ken Caryl Valley since the very end of September, including 6 flying over my home early this morning. Orange-crowned Warblers remained fairly numerous this morning, with 10 detected along about 0.8 mile of Massey Draw this morning. There was a wave of migrant Spotted Towhees this morning. I detected over 65 totalled from several spots, but a similar effort yesterday had no more than 10. Steller's Jays showed there first evidence of any seasonal movement that I've noted so far in the Ken Caryl Valley, with 4 appearing near my home and a couple elsewhere. And small parties of Blue Jays are appearing widely in spots where they are usually absent at other times of the year. 

As an aside, one of my eBird checklists from Massey Draw today was my 20,000th complete checklist entered for Colorado. 

David Suddjian

Ken Caryl Valley

Littleton, CO

Cascade area created in 2015

Happy Dipper
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