Today I took part in a Denver Field Ornithologists field trip to Rocky Mountain National Park.  The target bird was a White-tailed Ptarmigan.  Success!

White-tailed Ptarmigan with one of her two chicks

Other notable sightings include a dozen or so Red Crossbills, plus this juvenile Lincoln’s Sparrow:

Lincoln’s Sparrow

We saw black bears, moose, elk (a hundred head strong along Trail Ridge Road), and marmots . . . but no pika today.

Consolation marmot pictures:

Marmot

Marmot

Marmot

This morning I took part in a Denver Field Ornithologists field trip, led by David Suddjian, to Singing River Ranch in Clear Creek County.  It was much quieter than we had hoped for.  A few of the sights:

Rufous Hummingbird

Three views of a Cordilleran Flycatcher (in shade):

Cordilleran Flycatcher

Cordilleran Flycatcher

Cordilleran Flycatcher

Chipmunk

Also–I forgot to put up a post for July 29, 2022.  That evening I took part in a Denver Field Ornithologists field trip to David Suddjian’s yard to view hummingbirds.  We saw a dozen or more Broad-tailed Hummingbirds, two or three Rufous, and one Black-chinned.

Broad-tailed Hummingbird

Rufous Hummingbird

We’ve had several juvenile Spotted Towhees hanging out in our back yard, along with at least one adult.  Here are three views:

Spotted Towhee

Spotted Towhee

Spotted Towhee

It’s that time of the year in the Bear Creek Greenbelt . . .

American Bullfrog

. . . when the dawn chorus of birds has put away the songbooks  . . .

Widow Skimmer

. . . and nature-seekers turn their attention . . .

Western Painted Turtle

 . . . to other seasonal inhabitants of the greenbelt.

And making things challenging, the City of Lakewood has just closed down the Bear Creek Trail from Estes Street to Kipling Street in order to widen it.  The City has also closed down trails from nearby neighborhoods that access this stretch of the Bear Creek Trail.

This morning we saw three of the juvenile Cooper’s Hawks in the “magic tree” (a bramble in a field that’s next to Kipling St.)  in the Bear Creek Greenbelt.  Here are two of them:

Cooper’s Hawk (juvenile)

Cooper’s Hawk (juvenile)

A little to the east, the fourth sat by itself in a different tree.  This was after one of the adult Cooper’s Hawks had dropped off prey several minutes earlier.  The juvenile consumed it on the ground, then flew up and posed for a picture.

Cooper’s Hawk (juvenile)

We heard a couple of Gray Catbirds this morning (though not the Yellow-breasted Chat).

Gray Catbird

While walking back home, we saw an American Robin eating berries.

American Robin

This morning I joined Chuck Aid with Evergreen Audubon for a birding trip to Stony Pass at Wigwam Creek.

We got far-off looks at Lewis’s Woodpeckers.  And closer looks at Red-headed Woodpeckers:

Red-headed Woodpecker

Red-headed Woodpecker

And even closer looks at Red-naped Sapsuckers, which were checking on sapwells they’d drilled into willows:

Red-naped Sapsucker (female)

Red-naped Sapsucker (female)

Broad-tailed Hummingbirds were nearby, hoping to get in on the action at the sapwells.

Broad-tailed Hummingbird

We heard plenty of Western Wood-Pewees and Olive-sided Flycatchers (“Quick!  Three beers!” they sing).  Here’s one of the latter:

Olive-sided Flycatcher

We also saw juvenile birds . . . and evidence of juvenile birds.

Western Bluebird bearing a fecal sac away from a cavity nest

Here’s a juvenile Pine Siskin seeking shade on the ground:

Pine Siskin

All four juvenile Cooper’s Hawks were in the same tree this morning in the Bear Creek Greenbelt:

Cooper’s Hawks (only the one, at the bottom right, has prey)

Glamour shots:

Cooper’s Hawk (juvenile)

Cooper’s Hawk (juvenile)

Cooper’s Hawk (juvenile)

Cooper’s Hawk (juvenile)

And for those who are not squeamish:

Cooper’s Hawk with prey

All four juvenile Cooper’s Hawks were visible in the Bear Creek Greenbelt this morning.  One was in the field west of the nest tree, exploring a downed tree.

Cooper’s Hawk

There aren’t many Mallards to be seen these days, and certainly no males in breeding plumage.  But in the pond that never freezes I saw eleven Mallards, comprising a few adult females, several mostly grown ducklings, and one wee duckling.

Mallard duckling

The Black-chinned Hummingbird was on the magic tree:

Black-chinned Hummingbird

And, as yesterday, I couldn’t help tarrying by these blue flowers:

Insect on chicory

Western Honey Bee on chicory

Bee on chicory

This morning on my walk in the Bear Creek Greenbelt one of the first birds I saw was a youngish Red-tailed Hawk, surveying a field from atop a pole.

Red-tailed Hawk

The four juvenile Cooper’s Hawks were conspicuous.

Cooper’s Hawk

Here’s one with a meal:

Cooper’s Hawk with prey

A Black-chinned Hummingbird was on the magic tree:

Black-chinned Hummingbird

Nearby was a Yellow-breasted Chat, visible all too briefly:

Yellow-breasted Chat

Also nearby several House Wrens were making a ruckus in a single shrub.  Here’s one:

House Wren

Walking back home, I couldn’t help stopping by a collection of blue flowers.  It seemed each flower was attended to by a flying creature.

Insect on chicory

Bee on chicory

Nearby a female Red-winged Blackbird with food hopped on a wire:

Red-winged Blackbird

I saw a couple of Say’s Phoebes, one of the most common flycatchers in the greenbelt (the other one being a Western Wood-Pewee).  One was being harassed by a Broad-tailed Hummingbird.  The other had a berry in its beak . . . unusual because virtually all of its diet is animal matter, mostly flying or terrestrial insects.

Say’s Phoebe

Here are the juvenile Cooper’s Hawks that were out in the Bear Creek Greenbelt this morning (I saw all four, but since they fly around so much, I’m not positive that these four photographs are of four different individuals):

Juvenile Cooper’s Hawk

Juvenile Cooper’s Hawk

One of them was in the “magic tree”–in the field west of the nest tree.

Juvenile Cooper’s Hawk

And they were vocal, demanding breakfast!

Juvenile Cooper’s Hawk

Here’s a muskrat in Bear Creek:

Muskrat

In the afternoon, after work and after the rains, my better half and I took the dog for a walk in the greenbelt.  

The Black-crowned Night Heron was in its usual spot:

Black-crowned Night Heron

An adult Cooper’s Hawk was in its usual spot, too–high in a tree northwest of the nest tree.  The juveniles were along Bear Creek.

Cooper’s Hawk

Cooper’s Hawk

Cooper’s Hawk demanding dinner