5/2/15 Barr Lake State Park, Adams Co. CSU Field Ornithologists Trip Report
Francis Commercon
This morning several members of CSU Field Ornithologists enjoyed the organization’s last field trip of the semester. We gathered this morning at 7:30AM on campus before our drive down to Barr Lake State Park. Just before we left, we spotted a CHIMNEY SWIFT flying overhead! A very special first of season bird to start off the day!
Stepping out of the cars at the Barr Lake visitor center parking lot, we were warmly greeted by the calls of WESTERN KINGBIRDS. The ubiquitous presence of these yellow-breasted, audaciously vocal flycatchers felt wonderfully appropriate as the intensifying heat (~80F!) signaled a decisive shift in season. HOUSE WRENS belted forth their loud, complicated songs with astounding force, and a YELLOW WARBLER tested out his song faintly in the treetops.
We set out on foot to observe and enjoy this bountiful avian diversity. Birding at the interface between the open lake and a narrow belt of cottonwoods and willows to our north and the open prairie to our south and east, we encountered a stunning variety of species. Among the hundreds of Western Grebes and several dozen Ruddy Ducks on the lake, we spotted a COMMON LOON in breeding plumage. We beheld spectacular views of BLUE WINGED TEAL and CINNAMON TEAL. Throughout the day, flocks of several dozen AMERICAN WHITE PELICANS soared gracefully against a scene of placid blue water, lush shoreline forest, and majestic snow-capped peaks.
In the shade of a flooded willow woodland along the Niedrach trail, Megan found a spectacular pair of WOOD DUCKS. A local park naturalist pointed out a nesting Black-Billed Magpie. We marveled at the magpie’s innovative construction—a spherical nest with a roof, walls, and two entrance holes. Just then, a SOLITARY SANDPIPER alighted on the driftwood near the shore. Tree Swallows flew by, grackles darted across our path, Swanson's Hawks filled the sky, blackbirds and robins and wrens sang endlessly, and everywhere one looked one saw a bird. The strange calls of Woodhouse’s Toads accompanied all the action. With the advent of new, green leaves, the land just felt alive. One simply cannot understate the magic of Spring.
As we walked westward along the path around the lake, a mother Mallard guided her seven tiny ducklings around the vegetation at the edge of the lake. In a nearby irrigation ditch, four adorable, yellow, fuzzy goslings pecked at insects and plants as they followed their parents along the bank. geese really are much cuter when they are babies).
Back near the nature center, we finally had great views of male and female YELLOW RUMPED WARBLERS (Audubon’s) as they methodically gleaned insects within the shaded boughs of a tall cottonwood. At the banding station (where Rocky Mountain Bird Observatory operates twenty mist nets in the fall), a BARN OWL peeped out at us from its nest box.
Part of the group continued for an extra hour, spotting four BURROWING OWLS up close at a prairie dog colony along Picadilly Road (just south of the intersection with CR 128). Brandon and Megan’s cars also spotted WHITE FACED IBIS, Lesser Yellowlegs, Brewer’s Blackbirds, WILSON’S PHALAROPES, Spotted Sandpiper, and YELLOW HEADED BLACKBIRDS in a small cow pond on Picadilly Road north of the park entrance.
Once again, CSUFO had a very successful trip, where advanced birders glimpsed exciting species while beginning birders learned their first field marks and songs. We’ll be back again this fall with even more great trips, meetings, and more!
Cheers!
-Francis Commercon, Fort Collins, Larimer County
