Hey, all.
The Havana ponds and vicinity had 8 flyover snow geese, 3 Say phoebes, 1 eastern bluebird, 8 mountain bluebirds, 3 hermit thrushes, 1 latish chipping sparrow, 1 orange-crowned warbler that we thought was good for nominate celata, and this rock wren channeling his inner Freak Nasty ("Da' Dip"):
Lower Derby had lots of ducks, although nothing really out of the ordinary. On the walk from Lower Derby west back to the Havana ponds parking lot, we found 2 hooded mergansers, 2 Virginia rails, 1 marsh wren, and 2 swamp sparrows. Checking out the far southern stretches of Ladora, we saw a surf scoter (which we learned had been present there for several days), a strange Aythya duck (perhaps "just" a Redhead, pics at eBird if you're thus inclined), and a candidate hybrid Blue-winged x Cinnamon teal (again, pics at eBird). Also a lone ruddy duck and a lone western grebe.
Big Bluestem had a late turkey vulture, a late sage thrasher, another rock wren, and a longspur that, given its paleness and amply white tail, we think was likely a thick-billed. But seen in flight only, and we didn't hear it call, so who knows.
At the first creek crossing on the refuge loop, we heard and audio-recorded a tooting northern saw-whet owl in the roadside willows. Also present were 2 nelsoni white-breasted nuthatches, a nominate villosus hairy woodpecker, and a late red-headed woodpecker.
The refuge loop proper had three more eastern bluebirds, about 10 American pipits, and a dark-morph ferruginous hawk.
Rattlesnake Hill was teeming with late-season tiger beetles—Cicindela punctulata and C. purpurea at the very least, and perhaps others. Here's one of purple tiger beetles, C. purpurea, in all its viridescence:
Go figure.
Mary's Lake and Upper Ladora had at least 2 Harris sparrows—and perhaps as many as 4. Also a great horned owl and an Audubon warbler. Here's one of the sparrows:
Some highish counts (13 eBird checklists combined, thank you "trip report" functionality!) included: 212 green-winged teal, 20 pied-billed grebes, 373 rock pigeons, 8 northern harriers, and 18 American kestrels.
It was just another run of the mill, par for the course, consistently brilliant, and utterly unforgettable visit to The Arsenal.
Ted Floyd
-- With Jenna Anthony, Harold Eyster, Tykee James, and Claire Wayner, I enjoyed a superb morning and early afternoon of birding & natural history at Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge, just outside Denver, earlier today, Sat., Oct. 19, 2024.
It was still cloudy, humid, and cool when we arrived at sunrise—the tail end of the "weather," such as it was, the day before and overnight. But the skies quickly cleared, and it was partly sunny and mild for much of the rest of our time at The Arsenal. As we were walking south from the Havana ponds parking lot off the start of the auto loop, we came upon this luminous scarlet tanager:
Here are, l.–r., Claire, Harold, Jenna, and Tykee documenting the tanager:
It was still cloudy, humid, and cool when we arrived at sunrise—the tail end of the "weather," such as it was, the day before and overnight. But the skies quickly cleared, and it was partly sunny and mild for much of the rest of our time at The Arsenal. As we were walking south from the Havana ponds parking lot off the start of the auto loop, we came upon this luminous scarlet tanager:
Here are, l.–r., Claire, Harold, Jenna, and Tykee documenting the tanager:
The Havana ponds and vicinity had 8 flyover snow geese, 3 Say phoebes, 1 eastern bluebird, 8 mountain bluebirds, 3 hermit thrushes, 1 latish chipping sparrow, 1 orange-crowned warbler that we thought was good for nominate celata, and this rock wren channeling his inner Freak Nasty ("Da' Dip"):
Lower Derby had lots of ducks, although nothing really out of the ordinary. On the walk from Lower Derby west back to the Havana ponds parking lot, we found 2 hooded mergansers, 2 Virginia rails, 1 marsh wren, and 2 swamp sparrows. Checking out the far southern stretches of Ladora, we saw a surf scoter (which we learned had been present there for several days), a strange Aythya duck (perhaps "just" a Redhead, pics at eBird if you're thus inclined), and a candidate hybrid Blue-winged x Cinnamon teal (again, pics at eBird). Also a lone ruddy duck and a lone western grebe.
Big Bluestem had a late turkey vulture, a late sage thrasher, another rock wren, and a longspur that, given its paleness and amply white tail, we think was likely a thick-billed. But seen in flight only, and we didn't hear it call, so who knows.
At the first creek crossing on the refuge loop, we heard and audio-recorded a tooting northern saw-whet owl in the roadside willows. Also present were 2 nelsoni white-breasted nuthatches, a nominate villosus hairy woodpecker, and a late red-headed woodpecker.
The refuge loop proper had three more eastern bluebirds, about 10 American pipits, and a dark-morph ferruginous hawk.
Rattlesnake Hill was teeming with late-season tiger beetles—Cicindela punctulata and C. purpurea at the very least, and perhaps others. Here's one of purple tiger beetles, C. purpurea, in all its viridescence:
Go figure.
Mary's Lake and Upper Ladora had at least 2 Harris sparrows—and perhaps as many as 4. Also a great horned owl and an Audubon warbler. Here's one of the sparrows:
Some highish counts (13 eBird checklists combined, thank you "trip report" functionality!) included: 212 green-winged teal, 20 pied-billed grebes, 373 rock pigeons, 8 northern harriers, and 18 American kestrels.
It was just another run of the mill, par for the course, consistently brilliant, and utterly unforgettable visit to The Arsenal.
Ted Floyd
Lafayette, Boulder Co.
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