broad winged hawk, dusky grouse, eastern phoebe - boulder

[JohnT]

Cobrids:

             Holy crap!  With all the incredible reports coming in from all over the state, I wonder whether it was worth it to post.  After reading the Two Buttes reports, I mulled over throwing my bird book out the window.  In any event, I know there's some small competition going on in Boulder County for some - so I'll post this anyways.....  Everything listed here is for Boulder County. 

 

Broad tailed hawk seen from the summit of Bear Peak (Boulder Mountain Park) along with other migrants, including:

Prairie falcon - 1

Sharp shinned hawk - 2

Red tailed hawk - 1

Osprey - 1 (no kidding)

Turkey vulture - 12

Coopers hawk - 2 (seen lower down)

 

Three toed woodpeckers - 2 males - have staked out territories above 7,000 feet on the backside of Bear Peak in the burn area.  Both have drawn a line (so to speak) on the top of the burned ridge and threaten each other with knocks and staccato raps.

 

Black headed grosbeaks have returned in several areas - Gregory Canyon, Bear Creek, etc.

 

Dusky grouse in two locations:

3 - backside of Bear Peak on the West Ridge Trail

3 - on the Greenman Trail going up Green Mt.

 

Eastern phoebes persist at 75th and Boulder Creek underpass, foraging along the Heatherwood Trail (the owls will be watching you).

 

Warblers:

Virginia's warbler - 1 - Bear Creek;  1 - Bear Peak,  1 - Ampetheatre Trail, 1 - Green man Trail

MacGillvray's warbler - 1 - Twin Lakes

Yellow warbler - 1 - brightly colored singing male - South Boulder Creek Trail and South Boulder Road

Myrtle warbler - at South Boulder Creek, Walden, Sawhills, Twin Lakes, Heatherwood Trail

Audubon'w warbler - same as above, also - Bear Peak, Bear Canyon, Green Mountain - singing males are now fighting and chasing in territories above 7,000 feet.  Females are present there also.

Orange crowned warbler - a few still at Twin Lakes

 

Hermit thrush - Bear Creek Trail \ Bear Creek Drive - 1

White crowned sparrow - 2 - same as above

Vesper sparrow - Louisville

Chipping sparrow - 12 - small flock at Boulder Creek near Foothills highway

Green tailed towhee - 1 - in my backyard - Louisville - 3rd year in a row.

Broad tailed hummingbird - seemingly everywhere - Lafayette, Boulder, Louisville, lower elevations and up to 8,000 feet

White throated swift - summits of Bear Peak and Green Mt.

All six swallow species are here.

 

Belted kingfishers are nesting along Coal Creek Trail in Lafayette

Black crowned night herons - 2 - Along Coal Creek

 

Ruby crowned kinglet - numbers increasing - singing and moving up in elevation

Bullock's oriole - many - in several locations, especially Bear Creek and Cottonwood Marsh.

 

Wildflowers and leafing trees are still over 2 weeks late - it looks more like mid-April - but here's a few:

Pasqueflower, spring beauty, wallflower, bladderpod, yellow violet, white violet, purple violet, Wyeth bisquitroot, desert parsley, wild plum, Oregon grape, bastard toadflax, buttercup ssp:,  sand lilly, cranesbill, several mustard ssp, several vetch ssp. 

 

Herpetological:

Western painted turtle

Western chorus frog

Eastern fence lizard

Snakes - 0 (Darn!)

 

Insects are out, finally, so the birds can have something to eat.  Of special note:  bumper crop of Morning Cloak butterflies.

 

Enjoy the weather,   John T (Tumasonis)  of Louisville CO