Denver
& the Rockies
22-26
June 2004
Henry Detwiler
While up in Denver for several days of training, I escaped to the
mountains every afternoon and all day on Saturday
105
species -- bird list is at the bottom of the page
Click on
thumbnail pictures for full-sized shots.
McCown's Longspurs
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The first afternoon I headed up north to the Pawnee
National Grasslands. At a small pond on the way I lucked out
with both Wilson's & a Red-necked Phalarope. Once in the
cactus-studded grassland I was soon treated to the sight of
skylarking McCown's Longspurs, beautifully plumaged Lark Buntings,
and twittering Horned Larks.
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| A welcome surprise was a small flock of Mountain
Plovers which settled on the road in front of me. I was used
to these birds as winter residents in the Imperial and Yuma Valleys,
but it was great to see them on their breeding grounds. |
Mountain Plover |
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Lark Bunting
In the campground were trees with breeding Blue Jays
and both Eastern & Western Kingbirds.
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Lark Buntings were one of the most visible and striking birds of the
grasslands.
Blue Jay feeding fledgling
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Black-capped Chickadee
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I spent two of my lunch breaks at Cherry Creek Reservoir State
Park. House Wrens called from the thickets, American
Goldfinches fed on the thistles, Downy Woodpeckers worked the
trees, and chickadees roamed the woods for tasty morsels.
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During my second visit to the park I heard some of the
familiar raucous chants of our biggest warbler, the Yellow-breasted
Chat. Since it was moving about quite a bit, I waited for
him to come out in the open and snapped a few pictures.
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Yellow-breasted Chat
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Ladybug at Cherry Creek
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I also looked in vain for a reported Rose-breasted Grosbeak
on the east side of the park. Not finding that, I looked
around for other sights to photograph, and spotted this nicely-posed ladybug.
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Each of the three afternoons when class was over, I would drive west
to the foothills of the Rockies. At a little park in
Morrison, I saw this Northern Flicker posed high upon the hillside.
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Northern Flicker
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Garter Snake
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In years past I've seen American Dipper along the
stream here, but this year I found only a cooperative Garter
Snake.
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West of Lair 'O the Bear Park I hiked up a moist canyon and saw
lots of Broad-tailed Hummingbirds, along with White-breasted
Nuthatches, Western Tanagers, Dark-eyed Juncos, and Hairy
Woodpeckers, among others.
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Female Broad-tailed Hummingbird
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Western Wood Pewee
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Flycatchers were also quite common; I was able to find many
Cordilleran, several Duskies, and this Western Wood Pewee. I
was fortunate to see one Cordilleran Flycatcher feeding
young.
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On to page 2
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