Way to go, Chris! Doug Swartz and I did a Big Day by bike on the 14th as part of the Fort Collins Audubon Society Birdathon. We well understand the challenges you faced (we also had to deal with a tire puncture) and the rewards.
Doug and I purposefully limited ourselves to the Poudre River corridor in order to bring attention to local efforts to get it designated by National Audubon as an Important Bird Area. Our purpose-driven itinerary gave us a good hook for Birdathon fundraising but being in essentially the same habitat all day long limited our species count to 84. We also spent a long time watching a mixed flock of 500-1000 swallows because we decided that was more fun that trying to maximize our species count. But that meant we were there when a Peregrine Falcon came. Watching a Peregrine hunt swallows was just breathtaking!!! Aerial acrobatics at their best. I echo your recommendation that people give Big Day by Bike a try! John Shenot Fort Collins, CO On Tuesday, May 17, 2016 at 9:00:48 AM UTC-6, Chris Rurik wrote: > Hello all -- > > On Saturday I made my first attempt at a Big Day on Bike. My route was > basically St. Vrain Mountain - Allenspark - Old St. Vrain Road - Lyons - > Longmont - Union Res - Sandstone Ranch, with lots of additional stops > thrown in. In the weeks leading up to it I had no time for scouting and > very little time for e-scouting, so I just went for it. > > No rare birds, but lots of highlights: > > - Sunrise in the mountains. First bird Brown Creeper, second bird > Townsend's Solitaire, then I heard an irregular tapping and found a > Williamson's Sapsucker! The hot start continued with Cassin's Finch, all > three nuthatches, singing Ruby-crowned Kinglets, etc. A calm gray morning. > > - Just below Ferncliffe I hit another great batch of birds: Brewer's > Blackbirds, Mountain Bluebirds, a Red-naped Sapsucker, Vesper Sparrow, > White-crowned Sparrow, and more. > > - Then the mist descended again and I feared for my day. Bombing down St. > Vrain Canyon was wet and frigid. The few times I was able to detect a bird, > it was near-impossible to see through my binoculars. I did manage a Dusky > Flycatcher. Since I wasn't pedaling much in the downhill wind chill, my > feet turned into blocks of ice. > > - Hall Ranch and Old St. Vrain Road. I got warmed up again and the > colorful birds came quickly: Western Tanager, Lazuli Bunting, Black-headed > Grosbeak, American Dipper, Plumbeous Vireo, BG Gnatcatcher, Western > Bluebird, Bullock's Oriole, etc. etc. With some additional care along the > road I found Lincoln's, Clay-colored, Lark, Song, and Brewer's Sparrows, > Swainson's Thrush, Gray Catbird, Cedar Waxwing. This was probably my > favorite birding spot all day. > > - Working the small reservoirs and agricultural areas west of Longmont I > managed Eastern Kingbird, Belted Kingfisher, Wilson's Warbler, GBH, Barn > Owl, Savannah Sparrow, Loggerhead Shrike, and a few other new birds. > > - McIntosh Lake, which I had scheduled just for a quick scan, turned out > to be clutch with Western Grebe, another Dusky Flycatcher, Redhead, all > three teals, and a Least Sandpiper with an impressive number of Spotteds. > > - Union Res. was largely a bust with significant heat waves, but some Bank > Swallows were cruising around near the S entrance. At this point I had no > idea how many birds I had seen nor if it was worth trying bird my last > planned stop... > > - At Sandstone Ranch I loaded my bike into the car and got to leisurely > bird with Mimi. We found three species new for the day: Green-tailed > Towhee, Wild Turkey, and Wood Duck. > > - I had been sick as a dog on Wednesday night, so I was glad to be feeling > great on my bike. The day left me energized, not exhausted! > > > A few lessons for future biking big days: > > - This is awesome. I love being outside all day, no car to hide me from > the elements and birdsong. I'll definitely be doing more big days on my > bike. Hugely encourage others to try. > > - Several factors limited my success: lack of scouting, lack of targets > (i.e. I didn't really know if I should stay in a certain place and try to > dig out more species), slowing down throughout the day to meet up / bird > with Mimi, and often only having one set of eyes and ears. > > I must hugely thank Mimi for driving me to the start point and > accompanying me throughout much of the day. What a grand day it was. > > Oh yeah! A species total: 101. > > Chris Rurik > Denver CO > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/cobirds/f710be06-d754-41c4-a777-bc9563ea5e4d%40googlegroups.com. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
