Two Ponds Bird Walk

Had another excellent bird walk today at Two Ponds NWR! Only two other birders showed up but we had a great time.  We had a total of 32 species on the walk and added four more afterwards.
Upon arrival, we checked out where a pair of Cooper's Hawks had been seen making a nest earlier in the week, and they were still there today.  A flock of Blue Jays came around to harass the hawks which made for an enjoyable sight.   When the other two birders showed up, we headed down to the north eastern pond to find the Black-crowned Night-herons that hang around in the trees there.  After tracking down the herons, we headed out along the first loop trail.  Common Grackles and Red-winged Blackbirds abounded, and pretty soon we tracked down our first Yellow-rumped Warbler of the day as well as our first pair of Bushtits.  The Bushtits nested in the Refuge last year and from what we saw today it looks like they may be nesting there again this year. That is very exciting for me as they are my favorite bird.  We hiked up to the canal and found Spotted Towhee and Song Sparrow.  A Green-tailed Towhee made a brief appearance as well.  Walking over to the bridge, we headed into the western complex. We thought we heard an oriole, but were unable to track it down.  Another pair of Bushtits made an appearance, as did an Orange-crowned Warbler and another Spotted Towhee.  A pair of Wood Ducks made a fly by and landed in the canal, but we were unable to find them on our return walk.   Although the ducks eluded us, a pair of Eastern Phoebes made a surprise appearance just a few feet from us.  These were new birds for the Refuge and a good bird to see in Colorado.  A flock of sparrows got our attention and we put our sparrow identification knowledge to the test and were pleasantly surprised to find them to be Clay-colored Sparrows.  We worked our way back to the entrance with no new birds to add to the list.
Our fellow birders headed out, and we set out to check on and refill the hummingbird feeders we had around the entry area.  While we were doing this, we were treated to some great views of the Cooper's Hawks as they flew close by to us while making sure we weren't bothering their nest.  A Red-tailed Hawk made a flyover and was immediately mobbed by two crows.  I snapped off a quick picture of the action which is now one of my all time favorite photos.  A Swainson's Hawk made a brief appearance as well.  We finished up with the feeders and then looked around a little more.  We heard a Broad-tailed Hummingbird fly through the park but did not see it.  After a great three hours of birding, we called it a day and headed home.  We compiled a list of 36 birds and had a great time.  As always I can't wait for the next one.

Starting the morning off right. 

Robins to welcome us. 

The Cooper's Hawk building her nest. 

More robins. 

One of the Black-crowned Night-herons.

Our little group. Thank you for coming! 

A Common Grackle "hiding" in the reeds. 

Apple blossoms!

Song Sparrow along the canal. 

Yellow-rumped Warbler

Red-winged Blackbird making a statement. 

Singing his heart out, a Spotted Towhee.

Magpie flyby.

The Mallards.

Clay-colored Sparrow.

More of the many and beautiful apple blossoms throughout the Refuge. 

Taking care of the feeders. 

Canada Goose 

Cooper's Hawk flyover. 

The picture.  A pair of American Crows harassing a Red-tailed Hawk.  

Spring is in the Air

Ah...spring. The season where the weather gets warmer, days get longer, flowers start blooming, trees leaf out and, of course, spring migration occurs.  The time of year birders dream about, with the birds showing off in their brightest plumage, ear delighting songs and surprise appearances.  Though it isn't quite spring yet, the birding is picking up and March is probably my second favorite month to bird(second only to September).   I haven't been able to get out to bird much, but that looks to change in the coming months as due to a variety of changes in life, my schedule should be freeing up.  That means more birding adventures which in turn means more activity on my blog.   I was able to squeeze in two hours of birding yesterday at the wondrous Walden Ponds in Boulder.  I absolutely love that place and one of my earliest birding memories is of my dad taking me their to bird early in March many years back.  Well enough of the daydreaming about the coming spring and nostalgic talk of years past, let's get on to the birding trip wrap up.

Walden Ponds is a gem of a birding spot located in Boulder, Colorado. Walden has a diversity of habitats that attract birds ranging from swans to warblers, Sora to Osprey, and a trip at any time of the year(but especially during the months of March-June) will be productive and fun.  They have done some renovations to the trails and boardwalk, but nothing that changed any habitat.  My friend let me borrow his Canon Rebel t2i/550D, so I was very excited to put it through its paces and see what pictures I could take.  I got to Walden in the early afternoon.  To my surprise and delight(I haven't checked the rare bird alert lately, otherwise it wouldn't have been such a surprise to me), 12 Tundra Swans were gracing the lake with their presence.  A multitude of other waterfowl, including Canvasback, Redhead, Bufflehead, Common Goldeneye and more dotted the surface Cottonwood Marsh.  I didn't have my binoculars with me but my car kept 8x21 monocular provided decent views as the light was good.  The t2i paired with a 55mm-250mm  lens took good pictures and provided a good viewing medium as well.  Outside of the waterfowl, there was not much bird activity.  I walked along the boardwalk and along the trails to Sawhill Ponds, but no birds showed themselves outside of a distant Red-tailed Hawk.  Some geese were setting up territories on one of the Sawhill lakes.  With the bird life being very quiet, I decided to head back to Cottonwood Marsh and see what other birds showed up, as well as to meet my dad and bird with him for a little bit.  I met up with my dad about 20 minutes later, and we had a nice conversation with another birder about bird life at Walden.  My dad and I spent about an hour birding, scanning the lake, walking the boardwalk and chatting with other birders and locals we met along the walk.  The bird life didn't change much, outside of a very distant Northern Harrier. A couple other birders had seen the Great Horned Owls by the South Boulder Creek, but we didn't have enough time to walk that far.  A wren made a flash appearance and disappeared into the weeds before we could get a look at it beyond a quick glimpse.  Red-winged Blackbirds started popping up and call-defending their territories.  There weren't many small birds at all, but the waterfowl made up for it.  I was very impressed with the t2i and had a very enjoyable day of birding overall, and can't wait to go back in the coming months to see what surprises Walden has in store later in the year.

Just a handful of the waterfowl on Cottonwood Marsh.

The Tundra Swans.

The new boardwalk.

Looking out over one of the Sawhill Ponds ponds.

A Red-tailed Hawk flying over the lake. 

Here comes the dad.

A Ring-billed Gull providing a nice photo op.

More pics of the swans.

Red-winged Blackbirds setting up their territories.

2012 Christmas Bird Count #2

Another fun and wonderful CBC under the belt!  Went back to Roxborough State Park this time.  I had a lot of fun last year on this count so I was really looking forward to this years CBC.
We again met up at Safeway, with a few returning members from last year and some new members to the count.  The weather report called for a mid 30's temp, but the wind made it seem like it was going to make for another miserably fun count, much like last year.  Once we were all together and on the same page for the plans for the day, we were off to find and count some birds.
Wind, wind and, well, lots more wind made it miserable. Northern Harrier, Rough-legged Hawk, Wood Duck and a Song Sparrow made the cold bearable.  We saw a few other more common birds, and lots of snow.
We continued on to Roxborough, stopping first to scan some open water on the reservoir just outside the park.  Common Goldeneye, Redhead and Ring-necked Duck were nice finds on the water, and shortly up the road the first Northern Shrike of the CBC provided some nice, fairly close views.
Arriving in the park itself, we were pleasantly surprised to find that the wind had died down and the sun was shining nicely.  Though it was only about 30 degrees out, it felt balmy compared to the windy cold we had earlier.
We walked up to the visitor center and saw many Black-capped Chickadees and some Dark-eyed Juncos, Western Scrub Jay and one Spotted Towhee.  We headed out along the Willow Creek Trail. Shortly along the trail, we heard an odd call and started searching the rock face for the bird that made it.  A Canyon Wren hopped out, making a short appearance before disappearing back into the rock.  This was a nice bird to see, and the first of the CBC.  A large raptor appeared in the distance, and after some discussion and consulting of a book, identified it as a juvenile Bald Eagle.  Continuing along, we picked up some more chickadees and jays.  Two Red-tailed Hawks were soon discovered overhead, including a Kriders race Red-tailed Hawk.  We were able to enjoy some long, excellent views of this uncommon bird before they disappeared behind the ridges.  Golden Eagle, a pair of heard American Goldfinches and more jays concluded the walk along the trail.
Back at the nature center, I set up shop outside and took some pictures of the chickadees.  After a short lunch we headed back outside and headed out on the Fountain Valley Trail.  Chickadees and another junco greeted us, and soon another Northern Shrike made an appearance.  One of the three that we saw.  Heading further along the trail, a pair of American Tree Sparrows were found, with one landing feet away from us on the pathway to bathe in the snow.  While we were watching the sparrow, a falcon flew by.  We only got a short view, but my dad and I saw it well enough to identify it as a Peregrine Falcon. This was the first time this bird had been seen on this count.  The pictures I took of it turned out less than spectacular, but at least they show the bird to be a falcon.  The trail was very quiet bird wise for most of the next mile.  A pair of odd calls drew our attention to the rock face.  We scoured the rocks for the source for a few minutes before we finally spotted some movement.  A close look revealed the birds to be a pair Canyon Wrens foraging along the rocks.  We were able to get everyone to have a nice view of these birds before we started heading along the trail.  An American Kestrel suddenly swooped in and made a pass at the wrens, but got nothing.  The kestrel then perched on the top of the rock face for a minute before taking off again.  We proceeded back to the nature center with very little bird activity.
We saw a total of 31 different species of birds, a very productive CBC.  Thankfully the weather was much nicer in the park, unlike last year when the entire CBC day was miserable.

Wind and snow.

The only open water in our count area.

Northern Shrike. Awesome views of this bird.

At the feeder.

The Krider's race Red-tailed Hawk.

On the Willow Creek Trail.

Downy Woodpecker on the Fountain Valley Trail. If you look at the second picture you can see the nictating membrane that protects the woodpeckers eyes when it strikes the branch.

The falcon.

American Tree Sparrow providing for excellent views.