My girlfriend and I headed up to Allenspark this morning at around 9 am. Fawn Brook was pretty slow but we did both get our life Northern Shrike on the telephone wire in front of the low blue house at the corner of Ski Road and CO 7 and a Red-Breasted Nuthatch. We headed back to Boulder along the Peak-to-peak (CO-72) and at the intersection with Sugar Loaf road had a flock of 15 to 20 Red Crossbills (another lifer) and another Northern Shrike. I'm from the south myself and used to Loggerheads. Are Northerns usually this high up? I thought they'd be on the plains. After a two hour break at home we headed out to Lower Latham Res for the Short-eared Owls that others have been reporting on CR 48. We spent two hours driving around chasing raptors and getting close-up looks at coyotes. At just after 5 with light fading we had given up and were headed home when two owls flew in from the res. The male only rested on a fence post for about 30 seconds. The rest of the time they were hunting individually, very low over the wetlands on both sides which can make them hard to spot and follow. Full species lists from the day are below. I usually only list common species for the first site I saw them that day.
Allenspark: Northern Flicker Downy Woodpecker Northern Shrike (Lifer for both) Steller's Jay Black-billed Magpie American Crow Common Raven Black-capped Chickadee Mountain Chickadee Pygmy Nuthatch Red-breasted Nuthatch (Lifer for her) Townsend's Solitaire Dark-eyes Junco (Slate-colored, Oregon, and Gray-headed) Sugar Loaf: Hairy Woodpecker Northern Shrike Gray Jay American Robin Red Crossbill (Lifer for both) Weld County: Canada Goose Mallard Bald Eagle Northern Harrier Rough-legged Hawk Red-tailed Hawk American Kestrel Merlin (on top of telephone pole on CR 48) Eurasian Collared-dove Short-eared Owl (Lifer for both) European Starling
