Fowler & Goshawk Ridge Trails, Boulder County, May 25

[Ted Floyd]

Hey, birders.

Hannah Floyd and I enjoyed a nice ramble along the Fowler and Goshawk Ridge trails, near El Dorado Springs, southern Boulder County, yesterday, Memorial Day, Monday, May 25. Wonderful weather: partly sunny, not too hot, with a few sprinkles; very little wind.

Avian highlights included: at least 2, probably 3, and perhaps 4 chanting ovenbirds; a luminous adult male indigo bunting; and a singing rose-breasted grosbeak. In the go-figure category was a common poorwill belting out a tune at 10:45 am; we heard a wild turkey gobbling too. Lots of red crossbills, all type 2s, so far as we could ascertain, by habitat, logic, and spectrogram. Other odds and ends: several Hammond flycatchers, a lone Cassin finch, and a golden eagle atop one of the Flatirons.

Insects: the mother lode of pleasing fungus beetles, Gibbifer-or-whater-it-is-now californicus; a magnus ruby-tailed cuckoo wasp, Chrysis ignita, and a striking ornate checkered beetle, Trichodes ornatus. Butterflies were disinclined to fly, what with the sprinkles and partial overcast, but we did find a nice western pine elfin, Callophrys eryphon. "Tent caterpillars," Malacosoma neustria, a.k.a. "The Lackey," were legion; I do not make up these names, I only report them. Flowers galore (that's Hannah's department) and an Abert's squirrel so cute I wanted to reach down and stroke its velvet head.

Numbers, notes, photos, and audio at eBird:

https://ebird.org/checklist/S69648881

Ted Floyd

Lafayette, Boulder County