Winter Mountain Birding

Recently I took a group out for birding for the Fort Collins Audubon Society. The plan was to head to the hills and look for mountain birds. We had 3 cars full of folks - 11 total. One fellow, Eric Defonso, spotted a pair of eagles near Lyons and hollered on the radios we safely turned 3 cars around and had stunning looks at a nice pair of Bald Eagles, one who was enjoying a fish breakfast. Neither eagle paid us any mind.
Photo above by Larry Griffin, used with permission.

Our next main stop was in Ward, Colorado, where a generous couple allows birders to walk by their house and see what we can see. Evening Grosbeaks, Rosy Finches and Pine Grosbeaks were all on the wish list. We dipped on the Evenings and Rosys but were thoroughly entertained by a flock of 25 Pine Grosbeaks. Several members of the group were able to add this bird to their life list.

Photo above by Larry Griffin, used with permission.

Photo above by Larry Griffin, used with permission.

While in Ward, many folks took advantage of the Purple Porta Potty. A landmark in it's own right.

Participants scanning the clear mountain skies for birds.

My little, bitty Pine Grosbeak photo. When I'm leading a trip I focus less on my own photography and more on keeping people on birds and off the roads and such.

We had a tasty and hot lunch at the Meadow Mountain Cafe in Allenspark before visiting the FawnBrook Inn and other nearby homes to check out their feeders. Hairy woodpeckers taking advantage of the suet offered. Steller's Jays and Mountain Chickadees were quite abundant. Rosy Finches were noticibly absent!

A nice surprise for the day was this Northern Shrike, a life bird for several on the trip.

Winter Mountain Birding

Recently I took a group out for birding for the Fort Collins Audubon Society. The plan was to head to the hills and look for mountain birds. We had 3 cars full of folks - 11 total. One fellow, Eric Defonso, spotted a pair of eagles near Lyons and hollered on the radios we safely turned 3 cars around and had stunning looks at a nice pair of Bald Eagles, one who was enjoying a fish breakfast. Neither eagle paid us any mind.
Photo above by Larry Griffin, used with permission.

Our next main stop was in Ward, Colorado, where a generous couple allows birders to walk by their house and see what we can see. Evening Grosbeaks, Rosy Finches and Pine Grosbeaks were all on the wish list. We dipped on the Evenings and Rosys but were thoroughly entertained by a flock of 25 Pine Grosbeaks. Several members of the group were able to add this bird to their life list.

Photo above by Larry Griffin, used with permission.

Photo above by Larry Griffin, used with permission.

While in Ward, many folks took advantage of the Purple Porta Potty. A landmark in it's own right.

Participants scanning the clear mountain skies for birds.

My little, bitty Pine Grosbeak photo. When I'm leading a trip I focus less on my own photography and more on keeping people on birds and off the roads and such.

We had a tasty and hot lunch at the Meadow Mountain Cafe in Allenspark before visiting the FawnBrook Inn and other nearby homes to check out their feeders. Hairy woodpeckers taking advantage of the suet offered. Steller's Jays and Mountain Chickadees were quite abundant. Rosy Finches were noticibly absent!

A nice surprise for the day was this Northern Shrike, a life bird for several on the trip.

It's SNOWY In Colorado!

Well that's no news, eh? Isn't it always snowy in Colorado in the wintertime? Yes, it is, but not usually this kind of snow, especially on the roof. Can you see it? No?

How about now? YES? For real, there has been a Snowy Owl in a Peyton, Colorado neighborhood now for several weeks. I finally had an opportunity to go see it this week. A friend of mine, Scott Rashid - of Small Mountain Owls and I took the day to go view this lovely bird.

Below is a beautiful photo by my friend Larry Griffin.

Here are a few shots of the bird hovering while facing into the wind, hunting.I had never seen a Snowy Owl in person before, so it was a spectacular life bird experience. Most of the time Snowy Owls are sighted in eastern Colorado, they are never refound.This bird seems quite content in this wide open, prairie, neighborhood, even though people and dogs both were out and about.
Here he is approaching a favorite perch - a microwave wireless internet antenna on a rooftop.As you can see there is no snow cover in this part of the state. Many of us are wondering why the bird is staying here - abundance of food, maybe?I imagine, he'll be winging his way north very soon. In the meantime, he has blessed many people with his large, white, glorious presence.To spend a moment of time with a creature like this - it's a privilege.
Thank you.

Ridgway State Park and Turkeys

My sister and I recently visited western Colorado where I use to live. I had to take her down to my favorite state park to see if the little birds would come in and feed from my hand like they used to do.

We found very few birds, actually, and the ones we did see never gave us a photo op. So we enjoyed the Magpies, Stellar's & Scrub Jays and Nuthatches.

The lake was about 1/3 open water, but since my scope is in the shop, we couldn't ID them.

The San Juan Mountains in the distance. Whew!

I've spent many hours and days hiking in these hills. Today we thoroughly enjoyed the view.

I hope you do too.

Oh, and the Turkeys.

Ridgway State Park and Turkeys

My sister and I recently visited western Colorado where I use to live. I had to take her down to my favorite state park to see if the little birds would come in and feed from my hand like they used to do.

We found very few birds, actually, and the ones we did see never gave us a photo op. So we enjoyed the Magpies, Stellar's & Scrub Jays and Nuthatches.

The lake was about 1/3 open water, but since my scope is in the shop, we couldn't ID them.

The San Juan Mountains in the distance. Whew!

I've spent many hours and days hiking in these hills. Today we thoroughly enjoyed the view.

I hope you do too.

Oh, and the Turkeys.

Have You Ever Found A Pinyon Jay?

One of the things I've wanted to do the last several times I was in western Colorado visiting family is to find Pinyon Jays.

Now, Pinyon Jays are not the easiest bird to find. When I lived in Montrose, some folks had seen my postings and come to my house to see the birds as at that time they were visiting my feeders daily. However, one lady wouldn't come into the house, despite my nearly begging her to do so, and the birds never made an appearance. That is, until they were at the end of my 1/4 mile driveway, heading back east.

But these birds made it easy for us. We headed out to drive along the edge of my dads housing development, where the pinyon trees are.

Expecting to be out for 1-2 hours, we heard the birds before we ever left the subdivision! Within 15 minutes we had our PJ's. They were visiting a yard with nearly empty feeders and using the Cottonwood tree shown here as a staging area. There were at least 65 birds.

And now, I hope you enjoy this wobbly video that captures the unique sound of one of my favorite Corvids.

My Dad's Place, Cedaredge, CO.

My sister Lauren Burke and I went over to visit my dad this past weekend. He lives in Cedaredge which sits in the shadow of Grand Mesa, the largest geologic formation in the world, located in western Colorado.If you look closely at this photo of his backyard you can see the Mesa lit up in the morning sun.


We spruced up dad's feeding station a tiny bit and enjoyed the bounty of birds. Here is a picture of a "Cassiar" Junco.
A local 4 point buck wandering the neighborhood.The "tidbits" or Bushtits that visit were so entertaining! Here is one on the ground, using it's foot to hold a seed like a parrot. They were quite tame and never stopped talking.
At times they cover the suet so densely you cannot see it.
I think we came up with a total of around 14 Bushtits. It's tough to count them!
Coming up: Pinyon Jays - Jewel of the west.