Kathie's Birds: Birding CO

Showing posts with label Birding CO. Show all posts

Tuesday, November 10, 2015

Oh, the Places I’ve Been!

View from the Matthews-Reeser Bird Sanctuary in Estes Park, CO

As I mentioned a couple of days ago, I recently had the opportunity to fly to Colorado and go birding with my best birding buddy, Chris Rohrer. I had not seen him since last summer when he came to visit me and I was so happy to see him again!

But before I joined him in Estes park, I stopped in Longmont to bird at the Jim Hamm Nature Preserve on the east side of town.

When I got to Estes Park my other birding buddy, Kathryn Kelley was there and she joined us at the cabin where Chris met her for the first time! TWO birding buddies! I couldn’t be happier!

The next day Chris and I went to downtown Estes Park and the Matthews-Reeser Bird Sanctuary where we saw plenty of elk as well as birds!

All of these huge boulders were deposited here after the most recent flood of 2013 at the alluvial fan in Rocky Mountain National Park.

Long’s Peak as seen from Many Parks Curve in Rocky Mountain NP 10-20-15

Every morning we had a Murder of over 40 crows around our cabin.

No, we did not kill them. A “murder’ is the collective noun for crows!

We also had Black-billed Magpies and Stellar’s Jays!

We looked and looked for Gray Jays but never found them.

However, Mule Deer were easily seen within Rocky Mountain National Park!

And snow covered elk were seen in the field right next to our cabin!

Bear Lake in Rocky Mountain National Park

We tried to find Gray Jays here, but all we found were a couple of ducks and a chickadee!

Chris says he loves this weather and he is not cold.

I’m not sure I believe him!

Chris in full birding mode at McIntosh Reservoir in Longmont, CO

On our last morning in Colorado we managed to find an hour to bird at McIntosh Reservoir in Longmont. We were on our way to the airport with Chris’ family and after filling my rental car with gas we grabbed some sandwiches at Subway and while the rest of the family had a picnic, Chris and I bolted for the shore and started birding. I wanted tog et my Western Grebes and this is where they had been spotted. We saw small dots at the western end of the lake and of course we were at the Eastern end. We walked about halfway down until we could clearly see them. I could not get photos because my camera was broken but Chris got some for me. I could have stayed there all day, or all week or for the rest of my life, but we had to get back. I had a plan to catch and so did the rest of his family. So, we made ourselves turn around and return.

And then I flew away…

Once back in Maine I went birding at Evergreen Cemetery in Portland.

Evergreen was very orange on this particular day! 10-26-15

I was looking for an American Widgeon that had been seen in the ponds, but I never found it, though I saw that others did and reported it on eBird.

A couple days later I went birding at the Paper Mill Trail in Lisbon 10-31-15.

Gus came with me and we followed the trail as far as the school and back to the main parking lot, but it was the middle of the day and we did not see many birds. Still, the Autumn foliage was lovely. Maine is a very beautiful state.

The Little Sabattus River runs alongside the Paper Mill Trail.

On November 2nd i headed to Connecticut but stopped in Massachusetts to get new tires on my car. While waiting for them to be changed, Of course I went birding! I walked to a nearby park in Wilmington, Massachusetts where I have counted birds at least one other time when I lived nearby. It is called Rotary Park and it has a small pond with a nature trail around it.

The pond at Rotary Park in Wilmington, MA

The “open-hearted” Willow Tree!

The flaming tree along the trail.

The little creek in the woods.

Once in Connecticut I birded all around Colchester. I was able to bird at Cohen Meadows on two separate days, thus adding to the eBird data for this location. It is such a pretty spot and I saw a wide variety of birds here. I do not know why more people do not come and bird here!

This is the larger of two ponds on the property.

The first day I stopped here there was a large flock of geese on the pond and more flew in as I watched until there were around 200 Canada Geese! I also saw and heard a Red-shouldered Hawk giving its eerie cry as it flew above the tree line. There was no shortage of woodpeckers here, and I counted Northern Flickers, Downy, Pileated, and Red-bellied Woodpeckers here, as well as a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker!

The early morning light was glorious!

In this pine tree cathedral I searched for but did not find Red-breasted Nuthatches.

Before Mom’s cataract surgery on November 5th I had time to go birding in the morning, so I took a drive around Lake Hayward. It was a mild, November day and so soft and beautiful under the steel wool skies.

Lake Hayward as seen from East Shore Drive 11-5-15

The woods around Lake Hayward.

Then, while Mom was in her surgery I went birding at nearby Harkness Memorial State Park. It was much better than sitting in a waiting room watching boring TV! I did not think I would get the chance to bird near the ocean in Connecticut, but I did! And I was almost back to the surgery center when I got the call that she was done.

Along the roadside.

The beach at Harkness 11-5-15

Picnic Area at Harkness Memorial SP

Golden Gingko Trees at Harkness Memorial SP

I ended the day counting birds at Fitchville Pond in Bozrah, CT.

The next day I headed back to Maine after doing a few more errands with my mom. It did not leave me much time, but I managed to stop by Plum Island a hour and a half before the sunset where I finally got my American Widgeons! No photos for now, but I hope to post some later.

Sunset at Sandy Point State Reservation 11-5-15

It was uncommonly warm on Friday with a southerly breeze and temps in the low 70’s! it was so warm that I took off my shoes and walked on the beach in my flip flops! What a fun time I had, even though it was short and it was dark by the time I left. I had a long two hour drive home in the car, but I was glad I took the chance and went to Plum Island. It only made me want to go back again, for I know that there are place there that I have yet to explore!

Here are my eBird Checklists for all these places I birded:

Jim Hamm Pond 10-19-15
Matthews-Reeser Bird Sanctuary 10-20-15
Evergreen Cemetery 10-26-15
Paper Mill Trail 10-31-15
Rotary Pond 11-2-15
Cohen Meadows 11-3-15
Cohen Meadows 11-5-15
Lake Hayward 11-5-15
Harkness Memorial State Park 11-5-15
Fitchville Pond 11-5-15
Parker River National Wildlife Refuge, Plum Island 11-6-15
Sandy Point State Reservation 11-6-15

You can read Chris Rohrer’s Posts by clicking on the links below:

All With The Family
Winter Wonderland

Tuesday, November 13, 2012

A Taste of Autumn at South Platte Park

View of the Rockies across one of the ponds at the South Platte Park

It is the day after the wedding and we are packing for home. A cold northwest winds is blowing over the parking lot as we load our car. Clouds hang low and heavy, like the downy gray underside of a Canada Goose. The air smells like autumn with a hint of winter in its wings.

We meet the newlyweds at the park. Since we arrive first, I start counting birds on the way in. Gus stops the car alongside the road so I can count and identify the birds. Though I brought my compact binoculars along to the wedding yesterday, I resisted the urge to pull them out until the ceremony was over and most of the people had left. I didn’t see anything then. Now I am hoping to make up for that! With a view of some starlings, a magpie and a red-tailed hawk I am thinking this will be a promising walk!

When you live in a desert water starts to seem almost magical and I love the look of these still blue pools reflecting the world. I can see a large flock of gulls at the far end but they are too far for me to identify. A lone gull that is closer turns out to be a ring-billed gull, but I can only guess at the others. A few mallards and shovelers float below me paddling around in the silver wet stuff that is such a large part of their world.

When Renee and Randy finally arrive we set off on a trail around a different pond. High overhead in a cottonwood tree a northern flicker lands amidst dried autumn leaves. There is grass here and tall trees and I am loving this golden autumn feel to the day.

As we start down the trail a kingfisher flies in scolding with its rattling call. It lands on a branch over the pond looking intently around him.

In the water below Gadwall are floating lazily on this cool autumn day.

Gray skies and autumn bronze are reflected in the rippling water.

Overhead a small flock of Canada Geese fly honking their wild call.

In a tall tree above a tangle of bushes and vines a gray squirrel nibbles away at a seed. It seems to eat in a hurry as if it cannot bulk up fast enough for the coming winter. Most of the bushes and trees are now bare, but a few still retain the colors of autumn.

I listen to the sound of leaves crunch as I wander down the woodland path. I know that I am here, now in this place, but my mind is wandering other paths from previous years and in other states. Autumn is such a rich time, full of promise, full of the bounty of the harvest, yet holding out the picture of the coming winter, of death and dormancy and the promise of rebirth. Why is it that I am so drawn to this season of mixed emotions? There is a dichotomy of peace and drama at this time of year. Autumn is an ambivalent season it seems.

I wonder what the ducks think as they float on this watercolor lake. Do they see it as I do? Do they realize the colors they are floating in? Water is safety for them. Do they also see its beauty? I think they do know that water is LIFE.

I glance overhead as a string of pelicans flies by like musical notes in the sky.

Can I sing the song of the pelicans too?

My daughter walks ahead of me, lingering while I stop to observe birds, to observe nature. I am as aware of her as she is of me. I remember all the hikes we have done together and I am thankful that she loves to be outside as much as I do. It is hard to live so far away from her.

It seems that all of Colorado is gold and gray with bits of blue.

My thoughts and emotions dissolve like ripples in the water.

This is my kind of Rocky Mountain High!

A Black-capped chickadee reminds of New England even as I stand on ground that is a mile high in Colorado.

Everywhere I look I see another picture.

Autumn Lake

Autumn Path

Clark’s Grebe

A cormorant flies by

Buffleheads, Coots, and Gadwall

Northern Shrike

Autumn Dreams

It is 1.7 miles around the lake and it takes us two hours to do it. Everyone was patient with me as I dawdled and looked and counted and soaked in a season’s worth of Autumn colors. We all hugged each other in the parking lot and said our good-byes. Then Gus and I got in the car and headed south.

Birds seen at South Platte Park in Littleton, CO on November 4, 2012: