Listing Through Life

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Friday, May 21, 2021 — 1:20 pm

Pueblo County, Colorado — Chico Basin Ranch (Headquarters Pond)

By this point in the day, it had gotten hot, the wind had picked up, and the birds had mostly disappeared. I strolled around the pond one more time, mostly to get in my miles for the day.

This Bullsnake was crawling slowly through the grass and brush along the pond. As I got closer to take photos, it froze in place over a root of a large cottonwood. When I backed off, it continued on its way. I watched it move in pretty much a straight line for about 15 yards until it disappeared into a pile of logs. It was in view for about five minutes.

Bullsnakes often grow to six feet or more, but this one was closer to four-feet long. They are considered a subspecies of the Gopher Snake. Bullsnakes are constrictors and not venomous. They can be aggressive, but this one seemed sluggish and didn’t coil or strike or even vibrate its tail. Perhaps it had just emerged from hibernation.

I very much wanted to bird today but rain was forecasted everywhere in Colorado from Denver south. So I went north of Denver. I’d been to Walden Ponds once before and enjoyed it, and an American Bittern has been seen there regularly lately. I woke up very early, so early that I arrived at the park near Boulder by 7:30.

I met three older women (they were probably about my age) who directed me to where the bittern has been hanging out. I wandered over to the pond in question and scanned. I wasn’t seeing anything, but then I heard that weird pumping sound they make. I soon located it not far off in a corner of the pond.

I took my time and wandered all over the place even though I wasn’t seeing a ton of birds. I did, however, spot a skunk.

A Brown-headed Cowbird demonstrating how it got its name. They hang around cows to grab any insects the cows scare up.

I’m still not confident i.d.ing empidonax flycatchers that aren’t singing. I showed this photo to the guy who runs the bird-banding station at Chico Basin Rance, and he said it’s a Dusky Flycatcher, which I thought it might be.

This young turkey came from who knows where and landed about 20 yards ahead of me on the path. It foraged right past me, then turned around and followed me for about 50 yards. it was far too tame for its own good.

While I was getting stuck in the mud at Chico Basin on Tuesday, somebody found a Scissor-tailed Flycatcher at Clear Spring Ranch. I drove down there on Wednesday morning but didn’t find it. My search delayed my arrival at Cañon City until 10:00. There were birds around this day, but it certainly wasn’t a migration wave. On the way home, I walked the 4-mile trail at Aiken Canyon and saw very little (except some guy carrying the skull of an elk with the antlers (and quite a bit of fur) still attached. He’d gone off trail and found it up in the hills.

Wood Ducks at Clear Spring Ranch

Black-headed Grosbeak at Cañon City.

Black-chinned Hummingbird at Aiken Canyon. I’m still searching for the shot where the purple on the throat glistens.

On Thursday, I went back to Chico Basin. Unlike Tuesday, when I was alone, there were other birders all over the place.

The Black-throated Gray Warbler was still there, and being much more cooperative.

The Northern Waterthrush was still there too. They bob their tails so consistently that it’s tough to get a photo that isn’t blurred a bit — with my camera anyway.

My first Colorado Tennessee Warbler was also hanging around, although not quite as cooperative.

Gray Flycatcher near Rose Pond

I was scanning the far side of the pond when I saw a Wilson’s Phalarope and … something else. The other bird looked brown, and it was swimming when I first saw it. When it climbed up on some reeds and then waded back in the water, I was able to see it was a Sora. Not a great photo, but considering I was 80 yards away, not bad either.

Swainson’s Thrush

The Prairie Warbler was still at Bell Park, although far to high in the cottonwoods for a photo. While I was looking for it, I heard the unmistakable “song” of a Least Flycatcher and was soon able to track it down—also high in the trees.

In the past month, I’ve spotted at least 15 porcupines sleeping in trees. I imagine they’ve been easy to see all along and I’ve just learned what to look for. It’s funny how observation is a learned skill.

There’s a tiny little pond at Chico Basin (which birders refer to by the clever name of “the small pond”). Small though it is, it hosts a healthy population of giant Bullfrogs.

Weird day. It snowed last night, and the forecast for today was rain and snow. I initially considered going to Cañon City, but then I saw online that a birder predicted a fallout in the Rocky Ford/La Junta area based on the weather pattern. I didn’t want to go that far, but I decided to head in that general direction — as the crow flies, Chico Basin Ranch is about halfway between my house and Rocky Ford.

It was misting when I arrived, and the road was muddy and slick. I made it to headquarters to discover I was the first birder there. In fact, for as long as I was there (until 2:30 or so), I was the only birder there. My feet got wet immediately and stayed that way all day. The drizzle was on/off, but never so heavy that it made birding miserable apart from frozen hands.

One of the first birds I spotted was my third-ever Black-throated Gray Warbler.

Soon after, I saw my first Colorado Northern Waterthrush. With two warblers in the bag early, I thought the day was shaping up nicely but I only saw Yellow, Audubon’s, and Common Yellowthroat after that.

Cliff Swallows

A flock of 15 Marbled Godwits flew over the pond and landed on the far side near a couple Willets.

I tried to drive to Rose Pond, but I hadn’t gone far before I found myself at a standstill. The muddy road at this point was bottomless. For the next five minutes or so, I was basically stuck. At times, I didn’t think I was going to make it out. I rocked my car back and forth and finally got my wheels off the road into the prairie. I was still facing the way I had been going, and when I tried to pull back on the road and turn around, I got stuck again. Another five minutes of back and forth and I finally got my wheels in the grass and drove back to Headquarters Pond through the prairie along the road.

Clay-colored Sparrow

I walked to Rose Pond. There wasn’t a lot going on. I did find a young Indigo Bunting feeding around the sage not far from the pond.

As I walked along the muddy path by the shore, a bird flashed by going faster than I could follow. So fast, in fact, that it could only be a falcon. It circled and landed in a tree not far away, allowing me to identify it as a Peregrine Falcon.

It flew off after maybe 5 minutes. I saw it later as I walked back toward Headquarters Pond. It was flashing low over the prairie back toward Rose Pond.

On my way to the banding station, I spotted two Black-tailed Jackrabbits chasing through the cholla. One took off running. The other froze.

I stopped at Fountain Creek to walk a couple miles in the continuing drizzle to get in my walking for the day. I ended up with 84 species, one of my best days in Colorado, if not my best. Nine of them were new for the year, one new for the state.

Great Horned Owl at Fountain Creek

After my long drive on Tuesday, I stuck (somewhat) closer to home on Wednesday. I began at Cañon City Riverwalk. I saw my first-of-the-year Black-chinned Hummingbird and Black-headed Grosbeak, but apart from Yellow-rumped Warblers, things were pretty dead. The Great-horned Owl was on its regular nest, joined now by two young.

I hiked the Tunnel Drive Trail. As I said to some other birders I met there, “It’s not a good place to bird, but it’s a good place to be.” As usual, the birds were scarce and hard to find. I did see a herd of 9 Bighorn Sheep, however.

And the cactus were in bloom.

After lunch at Big Burger World, I went to Brush Hollow. I finally saw the Pinyon Jays that others report there from time to time. They weren’t in the wildlife area itself, but off on a side road nearby. I was just about to give up looking when I heard their odd laugh-call. I got out of the car and found two perched on top of pinyon pines. I wasn’t terribly close, and the light was terrible for photography, but hey … any sighting of a Pinyon Jay is a good one.

There wasn’t a lot happening at the reservoir itself. I should know because I walked all the way around it to get in my miles. It’s not a hike I’d like to make if the temperature had been much higher, but a pleasant breeze made things bearable on this day.

I ended the day with 50 species. 4 new for the year — a pathetic total for May, but the weather was perfect, and I got in 10 miles of walking.