This morning I wandered around the Bear Creek Greenbelt.  I saw dozens of American Robins, some of which were eating juniper berries, but I didn’t spot any waxwings.

American Robin bathing

American Robin doing an American Dipper impression

American Robin bathing

Here’s a female Common Goldeneye (with orange-tipped bill!), and Canada Geese for scale.

Common Goldeneye

I saw several Hooded Mergansers.

Hooded Merganser (adult male)

Hooded Merganser (adult female)

Hooded Merganser (adult female)

Hooded Merganser (immature male)

Finally, here’s a Great blue Heron standing along the bank of Bear Creek:

Great Blue Heron

Here’s an immature Bald Eagle I saw at Mt. Olivet Cemetery:

Bald Eagle

Later that morning I joined a Denver Field Ornithologists field trip, led by David Suddjian, to the Clear Creek Trail and the Wheat Ridge Greenbelt.  

Here’s an immature Cooper’s Hawk we saw:

Cooper’s Hawk

Waterfowl were plentiful.  Here’s one thing I learned:  the tip of a female Common Goldeneye’s bill isn’t always orange:

Common Goldeneye

A Townsend’s Solitaire stopped by my bird bath today . . . but with its intact big toe on its left foot, it’s not the same individual as the other day.

Townsend’s Solitaire

Also, a male Cassin’s Finch came to the feeder today, along with House Finches.  These are very wary birds.  They take off as soon as I open the door, no matter how softly.

Male Cassin’s Finch (below) and male House Finch (above)

Today after work I met a friend not far from the Lilley Gulch Recreation Center.

A Red-tailed Hawk landed on a post near some grasses.

Red-tailed Hawk on post

It flew up . . .

Red-tailed Hawk on take-off

 . . . and landed at the edge of the grasses, where it stomped around a bit.

Red-tailed Hawk

We expected it to fly away with a meal.  Instead, it took off again . . .

Red-tailed Hawk on take-off

. . . and alighted on a high perch placed specifically for raptors.

Red-tailed Hawk

It was a remarkably tolerant hawk.  We watched it for almost half an hour.  It was still perched when we walked away.

Red-tailed Hawk

Just after dawn I walked alone in the Bear Creek Greenbelt for an hour and forty minutes.  It was cool, temperatures in the upper 20s.   I saw 27 species of birds, including the ones below:

Hooded Merganser (female)

Hooded Merganser (male)

Red-tailed Hawk (seen west of Estes)

Red-tailed Hawk (seen east of Estes)

And once I got back home, I saw a flock of Bushtits in my back yard.  Here’s one:

Bushtit (female)

Later, the yellow-feathered Downy Woodpecker stopped by the deck for some suet:

Downy Woodpecker

Today I joined a Denver Field Ornithologists trip, led by David Suddjian, to Park County to try to find Rosy-Finches.  After a bit of a search, we found six Brown-capped Rosy-Finches in the town of Como.

Brown-capped Rosy-Finches

There’s an irruption of Bohemian Waxwings in the Front Range.  Today I went out to the High Line Canal, just west of I-25, and watched a flock 100 strong, with a dozen or so Cedar Waxwings and numerous American Robins.

Bohemian Waxwing

This morning the Townsend’s Solitaire stopped by my bird path for another drink.  I say the Townsend’s Solitaire because it, like the one I photographed the other day, is missing part of its middle toe on its left foot.

Townsend’s Solitaire

Later in the morning I co-led, with David Suddjian, a Denver Field Ornithologists trip in the Bear Creek Greenbelt.  For the first time in weeks and weeks, I saw a Belted Kingfisher perched above the pond that never freezes:

Belted Kingfisher (female)

A couple of birds I saw in the Bear Creek Greenbelt today:

Cooper’s Hawk

Common Goldeneye

Here are some birds that stopped by my backyard today:

Townsend’s Solitaire

Downy Woodpecker (the yellow-feathered individual who has been frequenting the backyard for weeks now)

Cassin’s Finch (bottom left) with House Finches