Hello, CObirders- Desperate to get out at least once this week, I set off on the Picture Rock trail (Red Gulch Rd, off St Vrain Rd in Lyons) to have a good hike and see some FOYs before the weather set in. Even so, the weather caught me halfway through, but it was a beautiful morning in spite of the rain.
In the St Vrain river valley below, an operatic canyon wren gave an amazing performance. It is hard for any bird to dominate multiple house wrens, but this little tenor was in another class: it strung together 13 songs without an apparent pause, then took a breath and started again. In the area all the usual foothills suspects are now in place (hairy wdpkrs pounding away at their construction site gnatcatchers complaining, etc), EXCEPT for lazuli buntings, tanagers, and of course the warblers (yellow-rumps were there). But I was delighted to find rock wrens on the hillsides, and lesser goldfinch in the wide valley 3 miles up, bordered by the hogback on east side and pine savanna on the west. Pipits were going through, and flocks of white crowned sparrows on the move. There were several flocks of wild turkey with the males in a crowing mood. Alongside the trail, all the foliage was sprinkled with silver raindrops, and there were quantities of brilliant white sand lilies, like stars on a green sky. Bad weather is not just for ducks! Linda Central Boulder County near Table Mtn., north of Haystack --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ Join us at the 2009 Convention in Alamosa: http://cfo-link.org/convention/index.php You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.as/group/cobirds?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
