Listing Through Life

Bird #487 — Western Screech-Owl

Posted on March 24, 2018 by Roger

megascops (from mega, great, large, and scops, owl) kennicottii (named for Robert Kennicott, American naturalist)

Saturday, March, 24, 2018 — 12:45 pm

Canon City, Colorado — Arkansas Riverwalk Trail

After striking out in five tries for the Western Screech-Owl at Clear Springs Ranch earlier this year, I didn’t hold out much hope for this bird that has been reported off and on all winter in Canon City. But I had a free Saturday, and there were no other exciting birding options so I decided to head down.

I parked near the train depot and headed east. I had two pieces of information: I knew the owl had been seen west of South Raynolds Avenue, and I had downloaded some closeup photos of the owl in the hole where it liked to hang out.

I wandered slowly, keeping my eyes on the cottonwoods. And there were a lot of them. The trail soon opened up into a park and split into three paths as it passed through a wooded area. I walked for about two miles on the path closest to the river and enjoyed some beautiful weather but very few birds. I’d gone all the way to South Raynolds when I spotted another birder, a man probably in his 70’s.

He saw my binoculars and nodded. So I asked, “Do you happen to know where the screech-owl has been seen?” He did. He pointed through the woods to a blue outhouse, then went into copious detail about where the tree was relative to the porta-potty. He was kind and gracious and gave me every bit of information he had. He also said that he thought the owl only hung out there in the winter, so he didn’t figure my chances were very good.

I thanked him heartily and headed over. I also didn’t figure my chances were very good because owls are never where they’re supposed to be when I look for them.

But as I got close to the outhouse, I looked where I had been told to look. And there was the owl. A couple people walked by on the trail, and I directed my attention elsewhere to keep the location hidden. It’s very unlikely that anyone would spot it who wasn’t an experienced birder or who hadn’t been told where to look. I’m not sure where that leaves me. I might have found it — I was planning on sticking around long enough to walk all the trails. But it was very easy to miss. (The arrow wasn’t there in real life.)

I hung around for about 20 minutes and never saw it move or open its eyes. I walked up and down a couple yards to get some different angles, but I didn’t leave the path to try to get closer.

Screech-owls are strictly nocturnal. The only chance to see them in the daytime is to find one roosting in a cavity like this. And as far as I know, they only roost like this on sunny days. I took some video, but since the owl didn’t move, the movies just look like the photos, except shakier.

In all my years of birding, I’ve never seen an Eastern Screech-Owl, which is more common than the western species. I heard one in Arkansas one May back in the early 80’s, but never again in all our trips down there. Of course, most of my birding was pre-eBird, which made it less likely that I’d hear about one. Another factor, I think, is that, while the western species is less common, it’s easier to find because its habitat occurs in isolated chunks — at least along the eastern edge of the Rockies.

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Colorado Railroad Museum

Posted on March 17, 2018 by Roger

The Colorado Railroad Museum is tucked between hills in an industrial section of Golden. The place was hopping on a warm and sunny Saturday afternoon.

It’s not huge or fancy, but I had a good time. The old station has a small museum in the basement with a model railroad layout.

The red caboose-looking cars above are a bunkhouse (interior at lower left) and a cooking car for railroad crews.

I could have had a ride on one of the “Galloping Geese” and regretted that I didn’t pay the $4 to do so. Here’s what the web site says about them.

Three of the original seven Galloping Geese can be found at the Museum. Created from a freight box mounted on an automobile frame, the “Geese” allowed RGS to continue passenger and freight service to remote parts of southwestern Colorado. Geese were less costly to build and operate than traditional steam passenger trains. Designed to self-balance on uneven mountain track, the swaying back half of these cars look like geese waddling down the line; hence their popular name.

There was an outdoor model railroad garden in full swing.

I was able to enter many of the cars on the property (minus two that were reserved for kids’ birthday parties). Here’s the outside and inside of two cabooses.

The green car in front of the bottom picture above is a mail car. They had it set up inside to look authentic (lower right, below). When I saw the mannequin with the paper, my immediate thought was “I can make a hat, or a broach, or a pterodactyl.” The rest of the photos (clockwise) are a test weight car used to check the accuracy of track scales; the inside of a business car, one of the old Pikes Peak Cog Railway engines; and a railway telegraph office.

The turntable is authentic. It’s balanced so that two men can turn it by pushing the black and yellow handle on the left. The roundhouse is a reproduction where restoration work takes place.

The museum was a bit hit or miss about signage on the outside equipment, and the grounds are a lawsuit waiting to happen. But I’m glad I went and would happily go back again sometime.

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Bob’s Atomic Burgers

Posted on March 17, 2018 by Roger

I spent the morning at Rocky Mountain Arsenal and the afternoon at the Colorado Railroad Museum in Golden. Somewhere along the way, I’d added Bob’s Atomic Burgers to my list of restaurants to check out, so I headed there for lunch in between my bigger adventures.

I cleverly managed to arrive just after the St. Patrick’s Day parade finished. The town was packed, and the line at Bob’s was out the door and down the sidewalk. But I was there.

It’s a pretty grubby-looking place with a slow ordering system. It took me 45 minutes at least from the time I got in line until I got to the register, and then another 10 minutes to get my food. When you place your order, they give you the name of some pop culture character/person. When your food is ready, they call out the name. I heard Andre the Giant, Elvis, Bozo the Clown. I think it’s supposed to be funny. I was Natalie Portman.

I’d asked for a cheeseburger and fries. When I got to my car to eat it, I discovered my sandwich was sans cheese. After the long wait and the incompetent system, I was primed to be unhappy. But the burger and the fries were both really good.

Just don’t go on a parade day.

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Rocky Mountain Arsenal

Posted on March 17, 2018 by Roger

I spent Saturday morning walking and driving around Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge.

And now that I take a closer look, I think the deer I took the close-up of is a White-tailed Deer that faked me out because he was hanging with Mule Deer.

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Dr. Lester L. Williams Fire Museum

Posted on March 9, 2018 by Roger

I never pass up on an opportunity to see old vehicles. I don’t even know why I find them fascinating, but I do. This small museum houses a couple old firetrucks and some even older wagons. It’s only open on weekdays, so we hadn’t been able to see it on any of our weekend adventures. We wandered by after leaving the Broadmoor.

The museum takes up one room in a fire station. The four vehicles are (clockwise from upper left), a 1945 American LaFrance Pumper; a 1926 Ahrens-Fox Pumper; a 1898 Metropolitan Steamer, and an 1898 Hose and Chemical Wagon. As far as I know, all four were used in Colorado Springs.

Display cases housed a variety of fire-fighting equipment, most of it unlabeled.

The most interesting bit for me and worth the price of admission (it was free) was a display on fire marks, which I had somehow never heard of. While you’re learning about them, enjoy the creative use of capital letters and sentence structure.