cobirds colorado rare bird

Friday, 26 August 2022

[cobirds] Snowy Egrets at Washington Park

I didn't count the BCNHs and SNEGs this year for Citizen Science re: the birds' breeding activities on the island in Grasmere Lake in the south part of Washington Park. But I thought I would go over last night and watch them come in to roost and count them, to see if they are about the same numbers as past years before they migrate. They were. Two of us counted 157 fly in and roost, from 6:40 - 7:50 p.m. It is fun to watch them come in - sometimes just two at a time, sometimes 8 and sometimes 33. Last night, one hundred and eight flew in from the southeast (coming in from a day of R&R at Cherry Creek?) and fifty-one from the south or southwest (coming in from the Platte River?). Since it's an exciting sight inside Denver, I recommend this activity before they migrate in early September. The numbers go down as the calendar gets closer to Sept. 8, so catch them now if you're inclined.

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[cobirds] Bird Conservancy of the Rockies - Barr Banding Report, 8/26/22

We continue on our good start for the season, with another 44 new birds, half of which were Yellow Warblers - it appears to have been a good breeding season here for this lovely species. Early migrants just trickling in. Here's today's new birds:

Mourning Dove 1

Western Wood-pewee 3

House Wren 7

Orange-crowned Warbler 1

Yellow Warbler 22

Northern Waterthrush 1

Common Yellowthroat 1

Wilson's Warbler 4

Clay-colored Sparrow 1

Song Sparrow 3

If you'd like to enjoy fall birds up close and personal, please come visit! Click here to make a reservation - we are offering one-hour slots (up to 15 visitors at a time) from 7:30-8:30 most weekdays (closed Mondays), and 8-9, 9-10, and 10-11 on weekends. We look forward to seeing many of you during the season!

Meredith McBurney
Bander, Barr Lake Station
Bird Conservancy of the Rockies

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Thursday, 25 August 2022

[cobirds] Where do the birds go after breeding

In Colorado, birds breeding in our forests, start to move south when the breeding season concludes. It has always been assumed that the young fledging hangs around the nest site and then slowly shuffle their way south. But recently it's been discovered that the young actually leave the forest as fast as they can and head for the safety of the dense thickets that are along the edges of the forests, along roadsides, in clear cuts and any other places where the thickets occur. Thickets are where all the actions is; protection from raptors which can't squeeze their way through the tangled thicket branches, insects are plentiful and the berries are juicy. So what should we conclude from this information. Maybe instead of wasting time endlessly time peering through tall leafy trees, it maybe more productive in stead focusing on the thickets?

This information was adapted from Scott Weidensaul's 2021, A World on the Wing…

Bob Righter

Denver, CO

[cobirds] Bird Conservancy of the Rockies - Barr Banding Report, 8/25/22

Yellow Warblers and House Wrens continue to dominate our captures, as we banded another 48 birds this morning. Here's today's list:

Mourning Dove 1 (This was our 6th of the season, close to a record number. Two adults and four hatch year birds, two of which were so young they could have flown straight from the nest into our nets. All caught in essentially the same area.)

Downy Woodpecker 2 (an adult female and a young male, caught together)

Western Wood-pewee 3

Cassin's Vireo 1

House Wren 12

Yellow Warbler 23

Common Yellowthroat 3

Wilson's Warbler 1

Yellow-breasted Chat 1

Clay-colored Sparrow 1

Meredith McBurney
Bander, Barr Lake Station
Bird Conservancy of the Rockies

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[cobirds] Yard Birds, Douglas

We see lots of juveniles this month. One day, 14 junior Spotted Towhees. Several fledgling Gray-headed Juncos and Mountain and Western Bluebirds. 12 fledgling Robins gorging on a Chokecherry bush.

House Finches, Black-headed Grosbeaks, and Lesser Goldfinches feeding begging youngsters. Chickadees (Mtn. & Black-capped) grab seeds and maybe take them to their kids, maybe stash them. Nuthatches (White-breasted and Pygmy) like the suet and occasionally the thistle feeder. A fair selection of Hummingbirds, mostly Broad-tailed. A Cooper's Hawk youngster kekking for food & attention. One Cooper's crashed into our dotted window, but flew off and apparently didn't injure itself.

Our dotted windows seem to work pretty well at helping the birds avoid our windows.

Swallows have dispersed. So far, no fall migrants of note.

Hugh

Wednesday, 24 August 2022

[cobirds] Bird Conservancy of the Rockies - Barr Banding Report, 8/24/22

Another pleasant early day of banding; 46 new birds banded. Continue to have the expected large numbers of summer resident Yellow Warblers and House Wrens, but also got our first Wilson's Warblers, 2 young females arriving right on schedule. Here's the breakdown of today's new birds:

Mourning Dove 3

Western Wood-pewee 3

Traill's Flycatcher 1

Willow Flycatcher 1

Dusky Flycatcher 1

Black-capped Chickadee 2

Black-capped/Mountain hybrid 1

House Wren 11

Yellow Warbler 18

Common Yellowthroat 2

Wilson's Warbler 2

Yellow-breasted Chat 1

If you'd like to enjoy fall birds up close and personal, please come visit! Click here to make a reservation - we are offering one-hour slots (up to 15 visitors at a time) from 7:30-8:30 most weekdays (closed Mondays), and 8-9, 9-10, and 10-11 on weekends. There is space this week! We look forward to seeing many of you during the season!

Meredith McBurney
Bander, Barr Lake Station

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[cobirds] Dinosaur Ridge - Denver Field Ornithologists (24 Aug 2022) 7 Raptors

Dinosaur Ridge - Denver Field Ornithologists
Colorado, USA

Daily Raptor Counts: Aug 24, 2022
Species	Day's Count	Month Total	Season Total
Black Vulture	0	0	0
Turkey Vulture	0	0	0
Osprey	0	0	0
Bald Eagle	0	0	0
Northern Harrier	0	0	0
Sharp-shinned Hawk	0	0	0
Cooper's Hawk	1	2	2
Northern Goshawk	0	0	0
Red-shouldered Hawk	0	0	0
Broad-winged Hawk	0	0	0
Red-tailed Hawk	5	6	6
Rough-legged Hawk	0	0	0
Swainson's Hawk	0	1	1
Ferruginous Hawk	0	0	0
Golden Eagle	0	0	0
American Kestrel	1	2	2
Merlin	0	0	0
Peregrine Falcon	0	0	0
Prairie Falcon	0	0	0
Mississippi Kite	0	0	0
Unknown Accipiter	0	0	0
Unknown Buteo	0	0	0
Unknown Falcon	0	0	0
Unknown Eagle	0	0	0
Unknown Raptor	0	0	0
Total:	7	11	11

Observation start time:	08:00:00
Observation end time:	12:30:00
Total observation time:	5 hours
Official Counter	Ajit Antony
Observers:

Visitors:
A few hikers coming north along the Hogback Trail missed the turn going down and seem puzzled when they hit a dead end at the Hawk Watch. I told them where the trail went and were reassured when I told them there were others who made the same mistake.

Weather:
The forecast for Morrison CO called for NW winds changing to the first hour but at the watch the winds came from the East. By 8:15 a.m. EST there were small puffy thermals forming far to the West which became tall cumulus clouds which seem to come in the direction of the watch as well as slightly Southward -- the winds seemingly from the NW. I wondered if the wind from the East that I was experiencing was a ridge lift effect.

Raptor Observations:
The first migrant was an adult male AK at 8:32 a.m. EST which flew just over the watch. The first 2 local TV were seen over Mount Morrison at 9:05 a.m. EDT and a minute later 2 low just north of the watch. RT 1. In the fourth hour an RT over the ridge to the NW was chased for about 5 minutes by a CH, neither migrating. I was observing mainly towards the NW and W as the cedars north of the watch prevented a direct view North, occasionally walking over to observe from east of the cedars to observe South Table Mountain and North Table Mountain and Green Mountain where I did not see any raptors; nor do I expect to see too many as there seems to be no mechanism for creating thermals on that side, while to the West there is a continuous ridge lift from Wyoming (upto which there is a continuous line of roughly north-south mountains beginning in Alaska) along the Colorado Rockies.

Non-raptor Observations:
Woodhouse's Scrub-Jay 5, Black-capped Chickadee 3, American Crow 1, House Finch 2, House Wren (heard). A paraglider with a red and white parachute to the north. As I was about to leave another one which was blue and yellow, which was the one I had seen two days ago which flew past the watch and soared over Mount Morrison.

Report submitted by DAVID HILL ()
Dinosaur Ridge - Denver Field Ornithologists information may be found at: http://www.dfobirds.org
More information at hawkcount.org: [Site Profile] [Day Summary] [Month Summary]

Site Description
Dinosaur Ridge is the only regularly staffed hawk watch in Colorado and is the
best place in the world to see migrating Ferruginous Hawks. Hawk watchers may
see 17 species of migrating raptors; and it is an excellent site to see rare
dark morph buteos including Broad-winged hawk, Swainsonâ€™s hawk, Ferruginous
hawk, Rough-legged hawk and Red-tailed Hawk. Other raptors we see include Golden
Eagles, Bald Eagles, Northern harrier, Osprey, Peregrine Falcons, Prairie
Falcons, Cooper's and Sharp-shinned Hawks, American Kestrels, Merlin, and Turkey
Vultures. Northern Goshawk is rare but also counted each season. Non-raptor
species include Rock Wren, Bushtit, Western Bluebird, Sandhill Crane,
White-throated Swift, American White Pelican, and Dusky Grouse. Birders of any
skill level are always welcome. The hawk watch at Dinosaur Ridge is staffed by a
Hawk Counter and volunteers from 9:30 AM to 5:30 PM from March 1st to May 14th,
weather permitting.

Directions to site:
From exit 259 on I-70 towards Morrison, drive south under freeway and take left
into first parking lot, the Stegosaurus lot. Follow small signs from the
southwest end of lot to the hawkwatch site. The hike starts heading east on an
old two-track and quickly turns south onto a trail on the west side of the
ridge. When the trail nears the top of the ridge, turn left, head through the
gate, and walk to the clearly-visible, flat area at the crest of the ridge.
(Distance: 0.56 miles, Elevation gain: 259 feet)

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