Way to go, Chris! Doug Swartz and I did a Big Day by bike on the 14th as part of the Fort Collins Audubon Society Birdathon. We well understand the challenges you faced (we also had to deal with a tire puncture) and the rewards.
Doug and I purposefully limited ourselves to the Poudre River corridor in order to bring attention to local efforts to get it designated by National Audubon as an Important Bird Area. Our purpose-driven itinerary gave us a good hook for Birdathon fundraising but being in essentially the same habitat all day long limited our species count to 84. We also spent a long time watching a mixed flock of 500-1000 swallows because we decided that was more fun that trying to maximize our species count. But that meant we were there when a Peregrine Falcon came. Watching a Peregrine hunt swallows was just breathtaking!!! Aerial acrobatics at their best. I echo your recommendation that people give Big Day by Bike a try! John Shenot Fort Collins, CO On Tuesday, May 17, 2016 at 9:00:48 AM UTC-6, Chris Rurik wrote: > Hello all -- > > On Saturday I made my first attempt at a Big Day on Bike. My route was > basically St. Vrain Mountain - Allenspark - Old St. Vrain Road - Lyons - > Longmont - Union Res - Sandstone Ranch, with lots of additional stops > thrown in. In the weeks leading up to it I had no time for scouting and > very little time for e-scouting, so I just went for it. > > No rare birds, but lots of highlights: > > - Sunrise in the mountains. First bird Brown Creeper, second bird > Townsend's Solitaire, then I heard an irregular tapping and found a > Williamson's Sapsucker! The hot start continued with Cassin's Finch, all > three nuthatches, singing Ruby-crowned Kinglets, etc. A calm gray morning. > > - Just below Ferncliffe I hit another great batch of birds: Brewer's > Blackbirds, Mountain Bluebirds, a Red-naped Sapsucker, Vesper Sparrow, > White-crowned Sparrow, and more. > > - Then the mist descended again and I feared for my day. Bombing down St. > Vrain Canyon was wet and frigid. The few times I was able to detect a bird, > it was near-impossible to see through my binoculars. I did manage a Dusky > Flycatcher. Since I wasn't pedaling much in the downhill wind chill, my > feet turned into blocks of ice. > > - Hall Ranch and Old St. Vrain Road. I got warmed up again and the > colorful birds came quickly: Western Tanager, Lazuli Bunting, Black-headed > Grosbeak, American Dipper, Plumbeous Vireo, BG Gnatcatcher, Western > Bluebird, Bullock's Oriole, etc. etc. With some additional care along the > road I found Lincoln's, Clay-colored, Lark, Song, and Brewer's Sparrows, > Swainson's Thrush, Gray Catbird, Cedar Waxwing. This was probably my > favorite birding spot all day. > > - Working the small reservoirs and agricultural areas west of Longmont I > managed Eastern Kingbird, Belted Kingfisher, Wilson's Warbler, GBH, Barn > Owl, Savannah Sparrow, Loggerhead Shrike, and a few other new birds. > > - McIntosh Lake, which I had scheduled just for a quick scan, turned out > to be clutch with Western Grebe, another Dusky Flycatcher, Redhead, all > three teals, and a Least Sandpiper with an impressive number of Spotteds. > > - Union Res. was largely a bust with significant heat waves, but some Bank > Swallows were cruising around near the S entrance. At this point I had no > idea how many birds I had seen nor if it was worth trying bird my last > planned stop... > > - At Sandstone Ranch I loaded my bike into the car and got to leisurely > bird with Mimi. We found three species new for the day: Green-tailed > Towhee, Wild Turkey, and Wood Duck. > > - I had been sick as a dog on Wednesday night, so I was glad to be feeling > great on my bike. The day left me energized, not exhausted! > > > A few lessons for future biking big days: > > - This is awesome. I love being outside all day, no car to hide me from > the elements and birdsong. I'll definitely be doing more big days on my > bike. Hugely encourage others to try. > > - Several factors limited my success: lack of scouting, lack of targets > (i.e. I didn't really know if I should stay in a certain place and try to > dig out more species), slowing down throughout the day to meet up / bird > with Mimi, and often only having one set of eyes and ears. > > I must hugely thank Mimi for driving me to the start point and > accompanying me throughout much of the day. What a grand day it was. > > Oh yeah! A species total: 101. > > Chris Rurik > Denver CO > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to cobirds+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to cobirds@googlegroups.com. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/cobirds/f710be06-d754-41c4-a777-bc9563ea5e4d%40googlegroups.com. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
