Boulder, Weld, Latham, Crow Valley, and Pawnee

[JohnT]

Cobirds:

           A slow ramble through parts of Boulder and Weld Counties with highlight on Crow Valley.  Migrants are coming through slowly.  Hopefully this data will of use to someone traveling through the area.   These are data samples:

 

Culver Properties: Boulder Creek and 95th St.

Yellow headed blackbird - 1

Great tailed grackle - 2

Cliff swallow - 100

Song sparrow - 2 singing

Canada goose - 18

Red winged blackbird - males singing and displaying

Eurasian collared dove - 2

 

Route 52 near Route 287

Vesper sparrow - 14 - singing males

American robin - 11

Western meadowlark - 12 all singing

Eurasian starling - 14

 

Route 52 and County Line Road - Boulder side:

Great horned owl - adult feeding chick on nest

Red tailed hawk on nest

Forester's tern - 1 - a fly over and calling

Mourning dove - 23 - several attempting copulation

Song sparrow - 3 - more singing

 

Pearson Park, Fort Lupton:

Wood duck - 2 - in a cottonwood tree

American goldfinch - 5 - all singing

House finch - present

House sparrow - present

House wren - at least 9 - all singing

Brown headed cowbird - 1 male

Northern flicker - 7

American white pelican - 6 - flying in formation

American avocet - 1 - on the river

Blue jay - 12

Downy woodpecker - 1

Red winged blackbird - 6

 

Road 41 going North of Route 52 - Weld County

Great horned owl at farmhouse in nest - visible from the road on Road 41.

Horned lark - 4

Western meadowlark - 11 - singing and chases

American kestrel - 2

Mourning dove - 14

American robin - 1

Swainson's hawk - a pair - one light morph, one dark morph

 

Road 32 West of Road 41 in Weld County

Swainson's hawk - 2 - on the ground

Lark sparrow - 6 - some of them singing

Horned lark - 22

Western meadowlark - 6

Black tailed prairie dog - 55

 

Lower Latham Reservoir -  Note:  Lower Latham has become a very nasty, dangerous place to bird now.  Oil and gas and pipeline rigs are speeding down the road every 3 minutes, kicking up dust and rocks.  There is no safe place to pull over, and there are more "No Parking" signs than when last visited.  Get ready to breath dust.

Black necked stilt - 4

Bald eagle - 2 on nest to northeast

Northern harrier - 1 flyover

Blue winged teal - 40

Mallard - 6

Northern shoveler- 12

American white pelican - 44

 

Crow Valley Campground area:   Note:  Campground was half full with RV campers.  One group-sight was full with 20 tents.  It's still brown and dry here with not leaves on the trees.  There is no water in Crow Creek.

Loggerhead shrike - 3

Western Meadowlark - 45

Mourning dove - 115

Eurasian collared dove - 2

Northern mockingbird - 1 - singing and foraging

Brown thrasher - 1 singing

Gray headed junco - 12

Swainson's thrush - 13

Hermit thrush - 1

American robin - 16

Lincoln's sparrow - 7

Blue jay - 5

Northern flicker - 7

Downy woodpecker - 1

Eurasian starling - 12

Brown headed cowbird - 8 - males displaying

Spotted towhee - 11

White crowned sparrow - 16

American kestrel - 4

Rock wren - 2

Orange crowned warbler - 7

Myrtle warbler - 2

Common grackle - 24

Red winged blackbird - 1

Ruby crowned kinglet - 1

Black tailed jackrabbit - 1

Eastern cottontail - 1

Tracks:  Antelope, swift fox, badger

 

And out in the Pawnee Grasslands:  With sad note:  Several portions of the "Birding Trail Road" and shredded by heavy equipment - making them impassable to passenger cars.  Also:  There were dozens of gun owners out target shooting along roads with shotguns and semi-automatic riffles - mostly in the western and northwestern quadrants;  Leaving huge amounts of shotgun shells, glass, clay pigeons, cans, and bottles all over the place.  At one point I could hear gunshots coming from four different directions.  The Pawnee Grasslands:  Quiet no longer. 

Rock wren - 3

White crowned sparrow - 2

Western meadowlark - 55

Horned lark - 200 +

Vesper sparrow - 6

Lark sparrow - 6

Mourning dove - 40

Lark bunting - 1 - one lone male singing on a small bush

 

John T (Tumasonis)  of Louisville CO