Red Rocks falcons, Jefferson County
Tom Wilberding Boulder CO
This
afternoon saw a Prairie Falcon at Red Rocks and a Say’s Phoebe at Bear Creek
Park, as well as various birds in between.
The rest of the story….
My wife Barb has never visited magnificent Red Rocks, http://www.redrocksonline.com/ so we drove there from Boulder today for a picnic (free, no concert ticket involved). The park has a lot of beautiful wild plum in full bloom, very fragrant. At the Visitor Center I learned that the Beatles performed here in 1964, $6.50 a ticket, and did not sell out. Where was I? (Junior in high school, could have driven from Michigan). Lily Pons, the great opera star, sang here once in 1952; the Grateful Dead has performed 25 times. I would have booked great opera singers 25 times, Grateful Dead once. Just sayin’.
We
saw the usual interesting birds at the Trading Post, then drove to Bear Creek
Park where we had the best find of the day, the inspiring Rob Raker http://www.rockandice.com/articles/how-to-climb/article/1095-rob-raker.
Rob and Mike Henwood keep us all informed of the birds at Red Rocks and Bear
Creek Park. Rob was very friendly and enthusiastic, and led us to a Great
Horned Owl on its nest, then gave us good directions to falcons at Red Rocks.
On our way out of Bear Creek we saw a Say’s Phoebe and some beautiful Mountain
Bluebirds. Back at Red Rocks we ( I mean Barb, she’s my spotter) located a Prairie
Falcon and American Kestrels, but dipped on Peregrine.
Here are 13 pics: http://twilberding.zenfolio.com/p613219682/slideshow
Here is where we saw kestrels and prairie falcon: http://tiny.cc/nguocw
BTW, Ornithology Question: Spring seems to be about a month early this year. We now have blooming shrubs, green grass, insects flying about, and warm weather. But it seems the birds are not a month early like everything else. Why is this? I asked my Michigan/Florida birding pal, Robert Epstein. He said that birds in Mexico and South America do not watch the Weather Channel and therefore do not know that conditions are so favorable here. This theory sounds pretty good, until you consider that certain geese watch ice hockey on TV, so why not southern birds the Weather Channel? Just sayin’.
Boulder, County