Listing Through Life

Bird # 488 — Cassin’s Sparrow

Posted on April 1, 2018 by Roger

aimophila (from aimos, thicket, and philos, to like) cassinii (named for John Cassin, American ornithologist)

Sunday, April 1, 2018 — 9:40 am

El Paso County, Colorado — DeGroot Road

As far as I know, I’ve never been anywhere at the right time of year where seeing a Cassin’s Sparrow was a possibility. They hang out on dry grasslands in Texas, New Mexico, Western Kansas and Eastern Colorado. They’re also nomadic and are often absent from areas where they were common the previous year. I figured I’d have to make a trip to southeast Colorado some summer.

But this week, they were reported in large numbers in the cholla and grass flat lands along Hanover Road in southeast El Paso County. I arrived in the general area around 8:30 am and drove back and forth along the roads with my windows open, listening for the distinct song of the Cassin’s Sparrow. I saw some cool birds — Loggerhead Shrike, Ferruginous Hawk, Curve-billed Thrasher — and heard a steady chorus of Western Meadowlarks, but no sparrows.

I headed south on DeGroot Road to look for a Burrowing Owl that was seen there a couple days ago. I’d only gone about a quarter mile off Hanover Road when I heard a Cassin’s Sparrow.

It was beyond the fence a ways. After looking in vain for several minutes to see if I could see it skylarking (which the guides say the species does), I resorted to a recording of the bird on my phone.

Within seconds, the bird landed on a cholla just beyond the fence.

It flew back and forth to different perches for the 10 minutes I was there, and often sang while perched on the fence itself.

At one point it flew down to the ground and walked about in the grass. It then flew up right toward me and only banked when it got about two feet away. It landed on the road next to my car and looked for the singing “sparrow.” I didn’t want to disturb it anymore, so I quit playing its song after a couple minutes. It flew back to the fence and sang six or seven times before flying off.

It wasn’t an overly-exciting bird to look at, but I sure got good looks. The photo above shows the speckled back that is its most distinguishing feature.

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Royal Gorge Route

Posted on March 31, 2018 by Roger

We rode the train through the Royal Gorge. It was pricey, but we could have spent a lot more money than we did. Even the hamburgers were $20, so we went foodless.

Before we took off, I climbed up on a nearby bridge to get these shots of our train at the Canon City station.

We went coach, which meant we had to share our set of seats with two other people. They turned out to be a guy from Denver and his German girlfriend. We engaged in some desultory conversation at the start of the ride. Out of nowhere, the guy said to me, “You look like an engineer. I’ll bet you drive a Volvo.”

As soon as we began moving, I left my seat and went out to the open car. I never returned. A guide was standing by to tell people what they were seeing along the way, but for the first couple miles, it was just me, so we had a pleasant conversation.

Looking up at Tunnel Drive Trail on the ledge above the river. I’ve walked it twice — once the week before our train ride and again just this morning. If you look closely, you can see at least one person walking the trail.

Notice the raft in the distance. I rafted the gorge back in 2002.

Canon City used to get their water from the west end of the gorge. The remains of their pipeline still can be seen dilapidating along sides of the cliff. The remains of the intake for the system can be see on the left. The house was where the caretaker lived. I asked the guide why they sourced the water here instead of from the river right in town. He said there is alkali in the gorge and they didn’t have a way to filter it out until recently. The guide kept repeating that the pipeline was built in 1908, “the year the Cubs won the World Series.” I wanted to tel him he needed a new shtick, but I never got around to it.

My wife came out and joined me halfway through and rode with me the rest of the way — as did most of the other people on the train.

That’s the Royal Gorge Bridge overhead. We walked across it the day before.

Crossing the hanging bridge.

I spotted a small flock of Bighorn Sheep on the way west and pointed them out to the few other people on the car. On the way back, there was only one, but she got her picture taken by several hundred people.

If you haven’t yet had enough gorge, here’s a video I took of the outbound trip. It’s in three parts.

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Museum of Colorado Prisons

Posted on March 30, 2018 by Roger

There are several state and federal prisons in and around Canon City. It probably wouldn’t take me long to find out why, but I haven’t bothered yet. Anyway, there’s one right next to downtown that’s still in use — except for the part that now houses a museum. That’s the part we toured.

The exhibits are displayed in the old cells and in the hallway down the center. We were also allowed downstairs to see the old kitchen and laundry room.

It’s a pretty macabre place. There are photo ops in cells and prison-uniform aprons and socks in the gift shop, but there were also displays about violent and sick prisoners that weren’t at all fun. I won’t bother posting those — except this one.

There were also displays about wardens, escapes, riots, prison life, and labor and crafts done by prisoners. It was rinky-dink and depressing at the same time. We’re glad we went once, but we feel no need to return.

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Royal Gorge Bridge and Park

Posted on March 30, 2018 by Roger

I rafted through the Royal Gorge back in 2002. I saw the suspension bridge high overhead and the crowds of people lining the train tracks along the bottom of the gorge. But it wasn’t until Easter weekend that we made the hour drive to visit.

It cost us $23 to get in. I found out from the ticket lady that the incline railway down to the river was shut down. There had been a fire in 2013 that wiped out everything in the park except the bridge itself. They’re slowly rebuilding, but the incline isn’t expected to be up and running for another five years or so. They haven’t lowered the price any.

We had beaten the crowds, so we headed right for the aerial gondolas. We crowded into a car with a friendly family of six from Virginia. The ride only took about eight minutes, but it offered impressive views of the gorge, the bridge, and the surrounding landscape.

Most people were taking the gondolas one way and then walking back across the bridge, but since we could ride as often as we wanted, we just turned around and rode back. This time we had our car to ourselves.

We walked over to the bridge. At an overlook on the north side of the gorge, we saw a Peregrine Falcon circle past just above eye level and close.

Here’s a little Royal Gorge humor that I thought was actually pretty funny.

After riding the gondolas and walking across on the bridge, we stepped into the theater and watched a movie about the gondolas and the bridge (and the railroad and the fire). I dashed up to an overlook and took a couple panoramic photos.

We then walked back across the bridge.

Looking west into the gorge. The hanging bridge that carries the train tracks though the gorge was built because there wasn’t enough room for the railroad and the river. The beams were anchored into the walls, and the outside of the tracks were hung over the water. Since then, more footings have been built underneath so that only 10% of the weight hangs from the beams. The other structure in the right foreground is the bottom of the old incline. The wire is part of a system put in place a few years back to keep the bridge from swaying in the wind.

We ate an expensive and mediocre lunch in the cafeteria and debated whether to ride the gondolas again. But the park had filled up, and we knew we’d be crowded in with a lot of other people, so we decided against it.

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Tunnel Drive Trail

Posted on March 24, 2018 by Roger

Route 50 curves away from the Arkansas River just west of Canon City. This isn’t surprising, because the river cuts through the Royal Gorge just west of town. Right where the road curves, there’s a trailhead for the Tunnel Drive Trail, an old railroad bed that has been carved into the hillside above the river. There’s a 100-yard climb from the parking lot, but then the trail flattens out for the rest of the two-mile length. Three tunnels have been carved through the rock near the start of the trail.

I arrived mid-afternoon and took the last parking spot in the small lot.

As I climbed the initial slope, a Rock Squirrel observed from a point of rocks above the trail.

Looking east toward Canon City.

The tunnels were just around the first bend. There were two short ones close together.

And then a little further on, a longer one.

There was usually, but not always, other hikers visible somewhere in front or behind me. The hills along the river got higher the further west I walked.

The Royal Gorge Route train crawled past below me, heading back to the station. I’d already made reservations to take the trip the following weekend.

About two-thirds of the way up the trail, I spotted a small flock of Bighorn Sheep on the hillside above me. They were all rams. I watched for about 10 minutes, but they soon passed out of my sight. At the end of the trail, there was an exposed section of old pipe leftover from the railroading/gold mining days, but I have no idea what it was used for.

I looked for the Bighorn Sheep on my way back. To my surprise, they had come out into the open again much closer to the trail. There were at least eight.

They came within probably 50 yards and spent about as much time looking at me as I did looking at them. A guy in a colorful biking outfit came by and watched them with me for several minutes. When he took off, the sheep spooked and ran up the hill a ways.

On the way back, I spotted a Rufous-crowned Sparrow (below), several Say’s Phoebes and a Rock Wren.