Pacific (?) Wren at Calypso Cascades, Boulder County

[Andrew Bankert]

I had been meaning to check out the stub-tailed wren that was found by Jeff Connor last month, but I kept deciding to make early morning hikes to Columbine Falls to look for Black Swifts.  I never did find any Black Swifts at Columbine Falls in the two sunrises I spent up there.  This morning I gave Ouzel Falls in the Wild Basin of Rocky Mountain National Park a try, and once again failed to spot any swifts leaving for the morning.  I am not sure when they leave, but if they are like the Voilet-green Swallows (the only bird I heard during my hike in during darkness) then I doubt they can be found at the roost sites early in the morning.  After enjoying a very tame American Dipper at the falls, I decided to head down to Calypso Cascades where I easily heard the stub-tailed wren singing on the downstream side of the trail between the single bridge and the double bridge.  The whole time I observed the bird, it was fairly high in the trees but it did come down below 20 feet off the ground a few times and I took a few pictures which I have posted here: https://flic.kr/p/vfkVgW .  The song seemed to be less musical and the notes less connected than a Winter Wren's song should be.  In addition to the song, the overall buffiness of the bird as well as the lack of contrast in the cheeks led me to identify this bird as a Pacific Wren.  It would be nice if others could get more photos/audio of this bird.  On my way back to the car I spotted 2 Black Swifts at 7:15 a short ways towards the Wild Basin Ranger Station from Calypso Cascades, and I think I spotted the same pair again at 7:40 near the 2nd (?) sign warning hikers of the dangers of the swift moving water as you hike up from the parking lot.  I bet these birds were moving down the drainage during the early morning. 

Good Birding

Andy Bankert

Fort Collins