Dear Cobirders,
I did my annual Nightjar survey route through the Boulder County
foothills last night (21 June) and had many more individual birds than
in previous years. I had a total of 7 Common Nighthawks and 5 Common
Poorwills along the 10 mile route, up from my previous high of 4
Common Nighthawks and 1 Common Poorwill last year. The best creature
of the night was a Mountain Lion. I initially heard something up the
hillslope at a listening stop that often has baby Foxes, so I pointed
my flashlight up the hill and wasn't surprised to see a pair of eyes
looking back. Shooing noises and shuffling feet failed to scare the
eyes away, which has been common with the Foxes, so I still didn't
think much as the eyes approached, in an inquisitive manner, to within
90 ft. As another car rounded a corner in the road, the animal was
fully illuminated and it became obvious that it was a Mountain Lion.
Considering how "interested" the Lion was in me (and how undeterred it
was by the passing car), I slowly walked backwards towards the car and
hopped in.
Notably absent once again along the route, were any Owl species. I've
only had 1 individual Owl, a Long-eared Owl, along this route, which I
feel is surprising.
Now for the request: As some of you already know, I'll be moving out
of Boulder soon and won't be able to do this route next Summer. If
anyone is interested in taking over the route for me, just contact me
off-list and I can give you details. If you are interested in doing a
Nightjar survey elsewhere in Colorado, check out:
http://ccb-wm.org/nightjar/nightjar.htm
For details about available routes and requirements. It's only a once-
a-year obligation and can be pretty fun.
Cheers,
Walter Szeliga
Boulder, CO
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