On my way back from a trip to the Denver area over the week-end, I stopped at Cheyenne Mtn State Park where I saw a Rufous-morph Red-tailed Hawk on a ponderosa and a Golden Eagle high up on the mountain. Lots of Mountain Bluebirds and one Western Bluebird worked a prairie dog town on the road into the park. Further down H115 I stopped briefly at Ft Carson's Turkey Creek Ranch where posts last summer reported large numbers of Lewis's Woodpeckers. I did find 3 Lewis's in the remnant cottonwood gallery and heard a Great Horned Owl call spontaneously. At Penrose I turned off to check Brush Hollow Res which has a good amount of water and 1 white-headed gull (not even one duck).
Yesterday I checked a couple of places in Florence at the beginning of the snow and was surprised to refind the pair of immature Harris's Sparrows I found 6 weeks ago feeding along CR119 east of town. I have checked this area many times since I first found these birds without success. They are in an rural area without bird feeders but where cattle are fed so there is seed from hay and lots of weed seeds. Though I found them with White-crowned Sparrows they flew off together. I have uploaded photos of the Harris's Sparrows, one of the Lewis's, and some other birds onto my BirdsAndNature <http://BirdsAndNature.blogspot.com>blog. While I was in Denver for a meeting I drove past the Denver Zoo and was surprised to see many Double-crested Cormorants already nesting and apparently on eggs. I haven't seen any of this species on nests down here yet and the Great Blue Herons have just begun rebuilding their nests. I also visited the Butterfly Pavilion in Westminster for the first time and had a blast--what a great experience for nature lovers to walk among over a thousand free-flying tropical and some Colorado butterflies. For those like me who don't live in the Denver area, the Butterfly Pavilion is just a short way off H36 between Denver and Boulder, and well worth the effort. SeEtta Moss Canon City http://BirdsAndNature.blogspot.com -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/cobirds?hl=en.
