A frenzy of Violet-green Swallows! A dozen
swarmed above a conifer forest like a throng of bees. A couple of pods of
Turkey Vultures circled above us. We counted more species in our Franktown
patch than we have seen this year. (We did get up earlier than usual, and
walked both gullies that intersect our road instead of only one.
We heard our first-of-the-year Warbling
Vireo (“how do you know that I’m here?”) and listened to and saw singing
White-crowned Sparrows (the Colorado mountain subspecies), and saw one Wigeon
on the pond. The inevitable flock of Turkeys prowled under our feeders. And we
enjoyed our usual scrub-oak denizens: Scrub-Jays, Chickadees, Nuthatches, House
Finches with their delightful song, 7 active and warbling Black-headed
Grosbeaks (they like suet cakes), and 8 Spotted Towhees. We spied an elusive
Green-ttailed Towhee, a Catbird,. One flicker with a red stripe on the back of
his neck as well as a red whisker—probably a hybrid.
Then we headed for Castlewood Canyon where
we hoped to find White-throated Swifts; we didn’t hear or see any, as we
haven’t so far this year. On the Winkler Ranch south of the Park we saw 13 Tree
Swallows and two pairs of Western and two of Mountain Bluebirds, all claiming
nest boxes.
Next we drove to Louviers, hoping to
buttress the list. At the pond there we saw 8 Wood Ducks, a Gadwall, and 3
Shovelers. After lunch and a tour through the Louviers woods (Catbird, Yellow
Warbler, House Wren) we drove the streets hoping to score a House Sparrow. We
stopped at a terrific feeder which sported a passel of House Finches (we
counted 24 in the town), plus a couple of Mourning and a couple Collared-Doves.
And, a male Evening Grosbeak called from a pine tree that towered over the
feeders. But no House Sparrows! After driving every street (and stopped only by
a couple to check if we had a problem who turned out to feed birds, we left.
Then, at the last building in town, a church, we heard and saw some elusive
House Sprarows.
Only one trash bird left to find: Rock
Pigeon. None in Louviers, none along the road, none that we could find in
either Castle Rock or Franktown!
The gravel pit on Castlewood Canyon Road
did have more ducks (including 17 Shovelers, and four shorebirds scurrying on a
sand spit way across the water, a challenging scope view. We called them
Killdeer & Spotted Sandpiper.