I went up to Cameron Pass and Walden last Friday the 17th. In short, the road
construction delays in lower Poudre Canyon due to last summer's flooding and
fire erosion were not excessive. Dipper numbers seem down along the scoured
river but I did see one near milemarker 119 without much effort. No solitaires
or Northern Pygmy-Owls decorating the tops of trees on the way up to the Pass.
I collected five individual roadkilled birds in the two miles of highway east
of Cameron Pass: 2 Red Crossbills, 2 Pine Siskins, and 1 Cassin's Finch. This
stretch has been a chronic deathtrap for birds seeking salt on a road heavily
used by vehicle-propelled humans seeking snow sports. At the Moose Visitor
Center feeders near Gould (Jackson) my goal of Pine Grosbeaks and rosy-finches
was unmet for one of the few times ever in winter. I did see several Gray Jays
and one Evening Grosbeak. In Walden (Jackson), the usually productive feeders
owned by the Fliniaus held only House Sparrows and Eurasian Collared-Doves (no
rosy-finches). Are these the End Times?
I think I heard a Winter Wren yesterday the 20th at Martinez Park in Fort
Collins (Larimer). The bird was in the general area described by Rob Sparks in
his December COBIRDS post. Janet Harden also independently reported one to me
in this area recently. Roughly, the site, best accessed from the Martinez Park
parking lot, is about 0.5 miles e of Shields along the bike trail nw of
Martinez Park parking lot, and is highly disturbed by the flooding. At present
it contains lots of heaved up sheet ice over laid-down vegetation and bare soil
(i.e. treacherous walking). Since I always seem to get reprimands and tickets
from our industrious City Natural Area Trail Rangers for going off trail,
forget I even said this. Just listen from the trail. The chittering I heard
(and could get no response from) was very feeble and seemed to be coming from
under an ice flow, muffled by a dirt bank, about 100 yards west of the
westernmost bridge that connects the southside bike trail to that north of the
river (w of Legacy Park).
Today (the 21st) just southwest of Horsetooth Reservoir (Larimer) in a private
subdivision I had Clark's Nutcrackers (seeking ponderosa pine seeds), Bushtits,
Western Scrub-Jays, Pinyon Jays (seeking ponderosa pine seeds), and 20+ Pine
Siskins (rare this winter in FC area). Interestingly, Black-billed Magpies
were eating ticks from the backs and butts of several Mule Deer. I'm just
sayin', if you ever see a deer mooning a magpie, it may not be a statement of
disdain, but rather a cry for help.
At the Northern CO Environmental Learning Center (east end of Drake off
Environmental Drive) (Larimer) there was a male Wood Duck (thanks Mary and Tom
France) in the ditch along the entry road. Picking midges off cottonwoods and
shrubs near the west end of the suspension bridge just north of the parking lot
was a Ruby-crowned Kinglet. The pond along the entry road is still mostly
frozen but hosted a throng of white-cheeked geese. Oh what the heck, among
them was a hybrid Snow X Canada. There, I said it.
The Brown Thrasher persists in the yard of Karen Wilken at 143 Frey Ave. in
Fort Collins. Basically this is one block ne of the Mountain Avenue entrance
to Grandview Cemetery. Best way to see this very inconspicuous bird is to
drive very slowly down the alley on the south side of the yard and watch the
European Buckthorn bushes and ground under the bushes near the alley (10 feet e
of a lime green meter box). Due south of this spot is a chicken coop. Karen
and her enlightened neighbors all know about the thrasher, are proud of it, and
are OK with polite birders. Karen has feeders near her back door which the
thrasher also sometimes visits.
Dave Leatherman
Fort Collins
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