Six Statebirds in Colorado, Two in Wyoming to Reach “Reportable Plus 15”, July 2018

A family vacation to Fort Collins, CO, one of my favorite locations in the country, gave me an opportunity to fill some gaps in my CO statelist.  My CO list was pretty good at 274, 30 over the old ABA reporting threshold, but there are nearly always chances to add some statebirds.  And then there was WY where I was at 227, 13 over the ABA threshold.  That put me tantalizingly close to my goal of 15 over the threshold.  The WY stateline was a bit distant but perhaps there were some opportunities for me in the southeastern corner of the state that would be close enough to chase after.

Next it was time to set up eBird Needs Alerts in both states.  Not surprisingly many entries popped up, but CO and WY are big states, so I had to pare it down to counties near the areas where we would be vacationing.  Even just in the nearby counties there were quite a number of possibilities in CO, and several in WY.  But then I had to limit the possibilities even further since my birding time would be restricted generally to just the early mornings before the family was up and about.  With some additional planning I came up with 7 possible targets in CO and 3 in WY.  That would give me some nice potential additions to my CO list, and of course enough to hopefully reach Reportable Plus 15 in WY.  Now if only the birds would cooperate!

The targets for the first morning were right in Fort Collins, the first two being Common Gallinule and Green Heron at the Running Deer Natural Area.  The Gallinule was an extreme rarity for CO, and had been seen for a couple weeks, though most birders reported having to wait quite some time to see the bird when it was visible in a small opening in the cattails.  Plus it didn’t stay in sight for long.  Green Herons were not that unusual, and were spotted apparently while birders were waiting for the Gallinule to appear.  I arrived at the park before sunrise and after a short walk came to the eastern side of the wetlands.  There were multiple acres of dense cattail habitat, with only a couple small openings.  The one where the Gallinule was typically seen looked to be no more than 10 ft by 20 ft in size.  With such a tiny window for the Gallinule to appear in such a large wetlands, no wonder the bird was only being seen sporadically.

I set up my scope focusing on the open water, and in the dim light could see 3 Mallards swimming there.  They must have spotted me, because they soon took off.  And a few seconds later 8 more rose out of that same part of the wetland – though I couldn’t see them before they took off.  Seeing the Gallinune was going to be tough.  I needed to keep a close eye on the small opening in the cattails, but there was nearly constant movement of birds in the area easily diverting my attention.  I spotted 4 species of Swallows flying about, and good numbers of Blackbirds including a few Yellow-headeds were constantly in view.  Plus a calling Virginia Rail was a nice addition.  And in the distance I could see quite a number of waders heading into a nearby wetlands - several Great Blue Herons, a few Great Egrets, and an impressive flock17 Snowy Egrets.  But there were no Green Herons in sight.  But then I heard the characteristic “kearp” call of my target, followed by another call of the same or a different bird a few minutes later (statebird #1).  As shown in my statebird map below I’ve now seen Green Heron in all but 5 western states – not surprisingly the area of the country where they are least likely to be found.

With the Heron out of the way I could really concentrate on the Gallinule.  Despite all the diversions, I kept the binocs trained on the little opening in the cattails as much as I could.  I had been there about an hour when another birder arrived – a gentleman from western CO who still needed this species for his CO statelist.  He confirmed that I was in the right spot - he had tried unsuccessfully for the bird the evening before.  As we compared notes I looked back to the open water and there was the Gallinule swimming right out in the open!  (statebird #2)  It stayed in view for maybe 30 seconds, before swimming to the cattails in the back where it preened for a couple minutes only sometimes showing a portion of its body.  I got this distant phonescoped shot barely showing the orangey red bill and a bit of its dark body as it was tucked into the reeds.

Interestingly, the day I saw this bird was the last day it was reported.  Great to add this bird as a rarity in CO as my 31st state for this species, though I still need it in a number of eastern states where it is regular. 

Next I was off to a couple nearby reservoirs where Caspian Terns had been recently reported – Arapahoe Bend and Kechter Pit.  Caspians are rare migrants through the state, so it was nice to see multiple reports from two reservoirs in Fort Collins as well as a couple other reservoirs to the south.  But the local reports were now 5 days old, so I wasn’t too surprised that I came up empty despite finding a nice collection of Pelicans, Gulls, and shorebirds on the sandbars at the reservoirs.  Still a nice start to the trip – seeing 2 of 3 targets.  And I was still able to get back before breakfast.

The next morning my plan was to head a short distance to the south into Boulder County where Bobolinks and Dickcissels had been reported at several locations.  Both species are reasonably regular in eastern portions of CO, but are not routinely reported too near the Front Range.  In fact, neither species is listed in a 2008 checklist of birds in the Fort Collins area.  One of these locations also included a report of a Red-eyed Vireo, and there were a couple reservoirs in the area with Caspian Tern sightings, giving me 4 potential targets.  I arrived at my first stop a bit before dawn, where a couple reports included both Bobolinks and Dickcissels.  But the hay fields had been cut and my targets were gone.  That was the same way at second stop, and again at my third stop.  It looked like I was about a week too late to find these species that often only barely have enough time to fledge young before the agricultural fields are cut.  That is if they are successful at all.

I had one last area to check along St. Vrain Road that included several recent Bobolink sightings, and as I pulled up I noticed that the grasses in this field looked much more natural than the planted alfalfa fields I had checked out earlier.  And more importantly, the grasses had not been cut.  I got out of my car to listen for the characteristic Bobolink song but with no luck.  After a couple minute wait I spotted a bird flying low over the field – with a quick binoc view I realized it was a male Bobolink (statebird #3).  Then I noticed another in flight, and then several more.  I counted 11 Bobolinks in all, interestingly all flying from the western side of the field to the eastern side of the field.  Nice to see that at least this one field was likely to be a successful breeding site for them this year.

CO was my 37th state for this species.  I still need it in a few western states as a breeder and several south-central states as a migrant.

Since it took me so long to find the Bobolink I didn’t have time to get to the location with the Red-eyed Vireo.  And I had no more local Boulder County spots for Dickcissel.  But I had a couple other possible sites to check in the next couple days for this target so I wasn’t too worried.  And I decided to not try for the Caspians since these sightings were now a few days old, and they were likely long gone.  One new statebird was better than none.

The next day the family went up to Rocky Mountain National Park where I had just 1 possible statebird – Fox Sparrow seen at a couple locations in Endovalley.  I birded those spots a bit but it was mid-afternoon with limited activity.  Though it was fun to watch typical woodland birds like Black-headed Grosbeak, Western Tanager, and families of “Audubon’s” Warblers, Mountain Chickadees, and “Gray-headed” Juncos.  But the highlight was watching American Pipits and Brown-capped Rosy Finches eat insects from the snowfields near the Alpine Visitor Center.  I counted 12 Pipits and 2 Rosy Finches in view at once.  Plus a pair of Mountain Bluebirds were feeding nearby – I never can see enough male Mountain Bluebirds!  (Henry David Thoreau said “a bluebird carries the sky on his back”.  I’d imagine he was talking about Eastern Bluebirds, but that’s only because he hadn’t seen the Mountain Bluebird!)

The next day I had some time mid-morning and planned a hike in the Reservoir Ridge Natural Area where there had been a couple recent Dickcissel sightings.  But to no avail, though a singing Blue Grosbeak was nice.  And that afternoon I took a little tour of Lory State Park where Dickcissels had also been reported, but again struck out.  Were these birds no longer singing this late in the summer?

I didn’t have any plans for the next day so I checked the Needs Alerts and noticed Caspian Terns were reported the previous day at yet another nearby reservoir, Timnath Reservoir.  And there was even a report of a flock of 34 Marbled Godwits there, but that was a couple days earlier.  With a bit of research it looked like access would be from the western side of the reservoir.  But it was a large body of water, and it was mentioned that the Terns and the Godwits were on a distant sand spit, so viewing might be a bit tough. 

And then I remembered another potential target – Eastern Screech-Owl.  Something triggered my memory that I had tried for this species unsuccessfully some years ago while on a work trip to Fort Collins.  I pulled up data on eBird, and although there had been no reports in the last month, there were several reports over the last couple years in a couple spots nearby – CSU Environmental Learning Center and the adjacent Prospect Ponds/Owl Woods.  (How could I miss at a spot called Owl Woods?)  So that gave me 2 targets to try for if I could get going early enough.

Luckily I was up and out of the hotel while it was still dark, and I headed over to Owl Woods to try for the Eastern Screech-Owl.  As I stepped out of my car the winds were light, there was a bit of a moon, and it was extremely quiet – ideal conditions to listen for owls.  I walked over to the trees and could hear several coyotes calling off to the north.  Then I played some Screech-Owl tape and quickly got a reply in the general direction of the coyotes.  But wait a second – was I sure it wasn’t the coyotes?  I walked a bit closer and played some more tape and it called again from the northeast while the coyotes continued to call to the north – Eastern Screech-Owl indeed (statebird #4).  Nice to finally add this species to my CO list at the western edge of its range, though I still need it in several eastern and central states in the core of its range.

As I was walking back to my car I heard some rustling in the grass just a few feet off the trail.  Using my weak flashlight it took me a while to figure out what I was looking at – it was a skunk no more than 10 feet away!  Needless to say I made a hasty retreat back to my car at that point.

Next I was off to Timnath Reservoir.  With a bit of searching I found a nice access point on the west side, and could see a distant spit with a number of birds on it.  But the spit was east of me, and soon the sun would rise nearly right behind it.  Needless to say that would make for miserable viewing conditions.  I needed to make my way to the east of the reservoir, but all I could see over there was a very nice new subdivision backing right up to the edge of the water.  Maybe there would be a gap between the houses that would provide a view of the water.

After a short drive I found my way over to the east side of the reservoir, and was wandering through one of the subdivisions.  Unfortunately I couldn’t find any viewing spots – certainly didn’t want any homeowners to get upset with me trespassing.  Then I got to another subdivision and found a small park-like spot with a paved walkway to the water.  Perfect!  The spit was still pretty far away, but not nearly as far as when I was on the west side.  And of course lighting was much better.  One of the first birds I spotted was a Caspian Tern, soon followed by a second bird, luckily not obscured by the much larger White Pelicans (statebird #5).  I “only” need this species in 7 more Lower 48 states to fill in my statebird map.

 

Also on the spit was a nice collection of gulls including several Franklins, and a few Killdeer, but no luck on the Marbled Godwits which were long gone.

Then I turned my attention to the marsh in the foreground there were a number of waders, including this one mixed in with a flock of Snowy Egrets.  Based on the bill coloration it made me think it might be a rare immature Little Blue.

But even this barely passable phonescoped picture showing the legs and feet is good enough to prove the bird was just an immature Snowy.

Later that day the family and I headed up the Poudre River Canyon for some sightseeing.  At the end of the day I was hoping we could make a stop where there had been yet another recent Dickcissel sighting – one last try for this target.  It was a pleasant day so we had the car windows down as he headed toward the canyon.  As we passed an alfalfa field I heard the loud “dick dick cissel cissel” call – recognizable even while driving at 40 mph!  I immediately pulled over and could hear at least 4 Dickcissel’s calling (statebird #6).  Finally!  I had struck out searching for them at several spots where they were reported, but ended up finding them at a new spot on my own.  I guess they were still calling after all.

That gave me 6 new birds for my CO list – putting my total at 280.  Very nice!

And now it was on to WY where my 3 possible targets were Dickcissel (again!), Lesser Goldfinch, and Burrowing Owl.  All 3 targets were near Cheyenne, so I had planned to spend a morning in the area giving them a try.  But as it turned out my time was more limited than expected, especially given the driving time to and from WY.  So I wouldn’t have much if any time to try for Owl.

I arrived pre-dawn at an area south of Cheyenne near the Wyoming Hereford Ranch where Dickcissels had been reported several times recently.  One spot that looked like it might be best was simply mentioned as “Burlington Trail Road”.  With no specific locations given on this pretty long road, I was a bit worried about how much time it might take to find the birds.  I started at the western end of this road driving slowly with my windows down.  In a short distance I came to a fork and unfortunately took the wrong one.  As I stopped to turn the car around a Dickcissel sang nearby!  And then as is often the case, I heard a couple others a few feet away.  I was able to get these phonescoped photos of the first bird illuminated by the rising sun.

I’ve now seen Dickcissel in most all of the central US states in its normal range and several eastern states where it is a rarity.

Next I was off to Steve Campanaro’s house.  Steve had posted that he was having quite a number of Lesser Goldfinches at his feeder and he agreed to have me come by to look for his birds in his backyard.  He had a very nicely landscaped yard, and there were quite a number of birds at his feeders.  It took just about 15 minutes for the first adult male Lesser Goldfinch to arrive – a black-backed bird.  Later a female came to the feeder as well.  Many thanks to Steve for his hospitality!  I got these photos of the male Lesser by holding my phone up to my binoculars.

And here’s a shot of the female.

 

WY was my 10th state for this southwestern species that just barely gets into WY.

Unfortunately I had run out of time and wouldn’t have a chance to try for the Burrowing Owl.  That one would have to wait for a future trip.  But with 2 new birds that gave me 229 for WY – 15 over the old ABA threshold.  WY is now my 43rd state where I’ve reached my goal of Reportable Plus 15.

I ended up with about 110 species for the trip, including the 6 new state birds in CO and 2 more in WY.  A most successful trip despite limited birding time.