Another possible place to look for pipits would be the Mayhoffer trail (trailhead on the E side of 66th, near the intersection with Marshall road.) You can't leave the trail, but it goes right over the top of Lake Mesa, within easy sight of the pipit site on Davidson Mesa. http://bouldermountainbike.org/trail/mayhoffer-singletree-trail has more details. I have seen birds along there that were tantalizingly like Sprague's pipits, with the lark-then-freefall flight and "skweet" call ... but never well enough to be totally convinced about.
Also in that area, there is currently a pair of golden eagles, and bald eagles and other raptors can be thick over the prairie dog colonies. I also like to check along W Coal Creek Dr, where there's some nice brushy riparian-ish habitat. In the last few weeks this has attracted scrub jays, wood-pewees, and a hairy woodpecker -- not your typical grassland species! In the junipers along 66th is a good place to look for bluebirds and solitaires at unexpected times of the year, and there can be a sparrow bonanza around the S end of 66th. You might even come across a bobwhite - maybe an escapee from the Marshall Lake gun club? We're so lucky to have the "southern grasslands" complex so close at hand, and despite its proximity it seems to be under-birded. -Peter Ruprecht Superior -- 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.com/group/cobirds?hl=en.
