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INSTITUTE FOR FIELD ORNITHOLOGY

2005 IFO Bird Community Ecology: Colorado's Tundra to Prairies Report

Instructor: Ted Floyd . 10-14 June 2005 . Boulder, Colorado

Capsule Summary: Beautiful scenery, wild weather, great birds. Details follow.

Day 1. Friday, 10 June 2005. We met at 2:00 p.m. at the Boulder Best Western, where we dispensed fairly quickly with four preliminary matters: introductions; a brief lecture by Ted Floyd on the causes of variation in bird community structure; some comments on the outlook and philosophy of the workshop; and a brief overview of the logistics for the workshop.

Steller's Jay. Photo by Bill Schmoker.

After wrapping up the preliminaries, we headed out to Gregory Canyon, a striking formation just four minutes west of the Best Western. It was cloudy and cool here; a heavy afternoon shower had recently concluded. Our goal in Gregory Canyon was to get oriented to the basic birdlife of Boulder and to try to observe some interesting bird behavior and ecology. As we began the short walk from the parking area to the main trailhead complex, we observed typical foothills species such as Common Grackle, House Finch, Broad-tailed Hummingbird, Spotted Towhee, American Robin, Black-headed Grosbeak, Pine Siskin, and Lesser Goldfinch. An interesting sight was a Warbling Vireo sitting on and singing from its nest. Continuing toward the trailhead, we added Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Brown-headed Cowbird, Black-capped Chickadee, Common Raven, Turkey Vulture, Violet-Green Swallow, Western Wood-Pewee, House Wren, Gray Catbird, and Bullock's Oriole.

We finally made our way to the trailhead (a whopping 1,000 feet from where we had parked the van). Here we heard a persistently singing MacGillivray's Warbler. It just would not come out the shrubbery, though, and only a few participants were able to catch glimpses of it. And here we heard our "best" bird of the workshop, and indeed one of the best birds of the spring in Boulder County: a vagrant Wood Thrush, singing intermittently from somewhere in the vicinity of the Amphitheater Trail, off to the south a little ways. We also saw a waterlogged raptor, doing its best to look like a drowned rat, perched on a high outcropping. Joyce Eggert proposed that it was a Cooper's Hawk—and she was right. We angled behind the bird, where we could see its characteristic tail; and we later saw the bird, diagnostically so, in flight, too.

We worked our way along the Gregory Canyon Trail for a few hundred feet, hearing canyon species such as Plumbeous Vireo, Cordilleran Flycatcher, Western Tanager, and Mountain Chickadee. We saw distant American Crows and Common Ravens, too, and discussed the various subtle marks that add up to field distinction between these two similar-looking all-black birds. On the way back, as we got back out into the trailhead area, we were treated to superb views of the MacGillivray's Warbler—perched right out in the open and singing its head off—that had eluded us earlier.

Rocky Mountain National Park. Photo by Bill Schmoker.

Next, it was up the steep Amphitheater Trail, bordered on both sides by lush broadleaf vegetation. The Amphitheater Trail has an uncanny knack for producing June rarities (case in point: that Wood Thrush from 30 minutes earlier), and we were soon listening to the singing of an Ovenbird, an uncommon species in Colorado. Several participants heard Dusky Flycatcher here, and all enjoyed excellent looks at a foraging-and-singing male Virginia's Warbler. A Yellow-breasted Chat proclaimed loudly and eerily from an impenetrable thicket below us, while Chipping Sparrows and Steller's Jays vocalized from the drier pinewoods beyond us. High overhead, 4 White-throated Swifts joined the ever-present Violet-green Swallows. As we worked our way back down to the trailhead, we were treated to a comical sight: one birder after another, chugging up the steep trail, in hot pursuit of the Wood Thrush. News travels fast in this cell-phone-and-internet era.

On the walk from the trailhead back down to the van, we heard a singing Lazuli Bunting. We also looked back, at the scenery: thick mists wrapping around the high spires on either side of the canyon; Turkey Vultures, alternately visible and invisible in the mists; a pair of Common Ravens atop a prominence; and even a surprising Osprey cutting through the fog. On the drive back to the hotel and dinner on our own (Noodles was a popular destination), we observed the first House Sparrows for the workshop. Woohoo!

Day 2. Saturday, 11 June 2005. We were in the van and on the road a few minutes before 6:00 a.m., en route to Rocky Mountain National Park. On the drive up U.S. 36, through fairly dry ponderosa pine woodlands, we saw roadside Western Bluebirds and Mountain Bluebirds. We detoured in the tourist trap of Estes Park—good for bathrooms, coffee, Yellow Warblers, Cedar Waxwings, Cassin's Finches, and a singing White-crowned Sparrow.

Our plan had been to start off up on the tundra. But there was a problem: Trail Ridge Road was closed, due to heavy snowfall the day before. So we started out in the Endovalley area—a productive high-elevation forest-and-clearing complex. In the aspen-and-pine woodlands near the campground, we noted species such as Black-billed Magpie, Northern Flicker, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Yellow-rumped Warbler, White-breasted Nuthatch, American Goldfinch, and Red-breasted Nuthatch. Along the stream below us, we saw pairs of Mallards and Green-winged Teals, a few Red-winged Blackbirds, and a Spotted Sandpiper.

Rocky Mountain National Park. Photo by Bill Schmoker.

We worked our way along the edges of a large willow-and-alder thicket, where we came across Lincoln's Sparrow (many singing), Song Sparrow (in close with a Lincoln's Sparrow, affording a nice comparison), Wilson's Snipe (several were singing down in the wet depressions, and one perched spectacularly atop a tall spruce way out in the middle of a large clearing), and Wilson's Warbler (we saw and heard many). Retracing our steps, and now emphasizing the pinewoods avifauna, we heard Hammond's Flycatcher (there were Duskies in the general vicinity, too, offering good comparative study), Olive-sided Flycatcher, Red-naped Sapsucker, Red-tailed Hawk, and Tree Swallow (with hordes of Violet-green Swallows). We wound up our visit to the Endovalley area by walking the short distance to the not-yet-recovered site of a devastating 1982 flashflood. We got great looks at Green-tailed Towhee here, but American Dipper had to be consigned to the heard-only category.

We got back into the van and headed to our lunch destination: the end of a boardwalk that extends out into a beaver pond. During lunch (box lunches from Shakes Alive of Estes Park), we were accosted by a small gang of Steller's Jays, and we heard singing Golden-crowned Kinglets in the tall spruces along the edge of the pond. And then it was back into the van, for an attempt at Trail Ridge Road. As we neared tree-line, we saw several Clark's Nutcrackers swooping and diving about the steep cirque below us and to our right.

White-tailed Ptarmigan. Photo by Elise Becker.

We were in luck! Trail Ridge Road had just been reopened. The drive up onto the tundra was spectacular, with freshly fallen snow all around us and a thick gray cloudbank looming ahead. We "threaded the needle" (by driving through a dramatic rock cut) and emerged in a snow squall. A few minutes later, we are at the Alpine Ridge Trail, where the snow was picking up and where a marvelous White-tailed Ptarmigan (thanks, Joyce!) was sitting pretty, plain as day, on a little outcropping just beyond the trailhead. We wound up getting superb looks at this bird and its presumptive mate. We saw the birds in flight, we heard them cackling and squealing, and we admired them as they ambled through the snowfields. We hiked in a ways along the trail, finding many Horned Larks and a few American Pipits, plus a briefly glimpsed Peregrine Falcon. We had an out-of-place White-crowned Sparrow here, too, far from any emergent woody vegetation. And more than anything else—more perhaps than even the ptarmigans—we gawked at the scenery: a little maelstrom of snow flurries one moment, searing sunshine the next, jagged mountain peaks all around all the time.

On the drive back down from the tundra, we stopped off at huge roadside parking area, full of humans and human-fed critters, among them our first Dark-eyed Juncos of the workshop. Clark's Nutcrackers were delightfully (although no doubt unecologically) abundant here, and there were several Steller's Jays, too. On the drive out of the park and back into Boulder, in the sunny lowlands, we added Canada Goose, American Kestrel, Blue Jay, and Western Kingbird to the list.

After dinner on our own (Noodles was once again a popular destination), we were treated to a talk and discussion by Dr. Nick Komar, a vertebrate ecologist with the Centers for Disease Control in Fort Collins, Colorado. Nick is an expert on West Nile Virus, and he presented interesting data on the effects of West Nile Virus on the birds of northeastern Colorado. Extensive discussion—both after and during Nick's talk—attested to the general level of interest in the topic and the speaker.

Clark's Nutcracker. Photo by Bill Schmoker.

Day 3. Sunday, 12 June 2005. We were on the road by 6:00 a.m., this time for the Mesa Trail, which traverses the staggeringly diverse foothills of El Dorado Canyon in southern Boulder County. While assembled in the parking area, we got to see and hear by-now-familiar species such as Yellow-breasted Chat, House Wren, Bullock's Oriole, Broad-tailed Hummingbird, Warbling Vireo, Western Wood-Pewee, Black-capped Chickadee, Yellow Warbler, and Lesser Goldfinch. As we began our way up the Mesa Trail, the clouds gave way to partial clearing. We heard and eventually saw a singing Blue Grosbeak. We also observed many Lazuli Buntings, along with one bunting that appeared to be an Indigo × Lazuli Bunting hybrid. Mourning Doves cooed in the distance, and we saw several Rock Pigeons—which are actually wilderness birds in the area, nesting high among the cliffs of El Dorado Canyon. A behemoth Great Blue Heron winged its way, high overhead, here, too. As the habitat started to open up, we heard Western Meadowlark, Vesper Sparrow, and Lark Sparrow. And then, under bright sunshine, we were treated to a dashing male Peregrine Falcon, carrying prey (a long-tailed bird of some sort), powering in from the east and heading toward the Flatirons. We would have several more sightings of this bird (or birds?—the species nests locally), including the (another?) male up on a tall snag where he was ripping to pieces some hapless victim.

We were getting up into the pines now, and it was getting overcast again. We were in the domain of the Chipping Sparrow and Spotted Towhee now. Time for a cookie-and-water break, and time to press on—toward beautiful Western Tanagers, singing MacGillivray's and Virginia's Warblers, numerous but unseen Plumbeous Vireos and Cordilleran Flycatchers, and a calling Hairy Woodpecker. And on the walk back down, along the steep Homestead Trail, in a cool mist, we finally got killer looks at Plumbeous Vireo and Cedar Waxwing. Along the way, we heard and briefly saw some Bushtits, uncommon but apparently invading breeders in the region. And still farther down the trail, we saw and then heard a pair of Red Crossbills passing overhead. We also found a very tardy White-crowned Sparrow, back down near the trailhead.

We lunched at Snarf's, a hole in the wall in downtown Boulder—oddly deserted on this summer weekend day. Admittedly, a rainy weekend day. But the weather held out during our lunch break, and we were able to eat outside. Our lunchtime birds: Common Ravens, about as characteristic of Boulder as you can get; and several White-throated Swifts, rarely seen in downtown Boulder. Probably, the overcast weather had driven the birds into town to hunt for insects.

These are not birds. Photo by Bill Schmoker.

After lunch, it was onto Walden Ponds, an always-productive wetland-and-woodland complex just east of the city. Walden Ponds is famous for its mosquitoes, but we were fortunate to have a light breeze and very light rain here. So the biting insects weren't much of a problem at all. Our first destination at Walden Ponds was Cottonwood Marsh, which supplied us with nice studies of Double-crested Cormorant, Yellow-headed Blackbird, European Starling (at last!—kinda nice to have to wait so long for this one), Pied-billed Grebe (singing wildly), Eastern Kingbird, Killdeer, Virginia Rail (seen by a few, heard well by all), Common Nighthawk (a male roosting in plain daylight on a bare branch), and Belted Kingfisher. Looking out over the marsh, we were well pleased with our haul of all six expected swallow species: Tree, Violet-green, Barn, Northern Rough-winged, Cliff, and Bank. The birds were swarming just above the water's surface—characteristic for swallows during bouts of cooler weather and precipitation.

Next, we completed a partial tour of the extensive series of ponds and dikes that make up the Walden Ponds complex. Some odds and ends: several Downy Woodpeckers (including one ferrying food to a nest hole), a calling Willow Flycatcher (probably a late migrant), a well-viewed Great Horned Owl sitting in an old cottonwood, a locally uncommon Orchard Oriole, and a calling Common Yellowthroat. On our drive from Walden Ponds back to the hotel, we stopped briefly at the Legion Park overlook, where we could see down onto the surface of Valmont Reservoir. Here, in the rain, we briefly glassed some distant Western Grebes and American White Pelicans.

For our late-afternoon presentation, Ted Floyd discussed long-term, large-scale changes in the populations and communities of birds that currently call Colorado home. The primary focus of the presentation was on the highly dynamical and often unstable nature of bird populations here or anywhere. Following some discussion, we dispersed for dinner on our own.

Day 4. Monday, 13 June 2005. Today's destination was the Pawnee National Grassland, nearly two hours from Boulder, after you factor in the obligatory coffee-and-bathroom break. So we left especially early this morning, being on the road by 4:34 a.m. It was windy as we left Boulder. It was really windy at our rest stop. And as we got out onto the grasslands, it was knock-you-down windy. The top reading that we came up with—courtesy of a Brunton anemometer—was 46.5 miles per hour. But we suspect that there were many higher gusts, as we had the contraption going only occasionally. The combination of high winds and only mild temperatures conspired to make it feel downright cold out there. The result was that our group of eleven was all decked out in hats, gloves, and winter coats for the entire day—even though it was June, and we were out in arid grassland. Surprisingly enough, given the conditions, we actually managed to find most of the specialties of the Pawnee, along with several surprises.

South Mesa Trail. Photo by Bill Schmoker.

Our first stop was down in a low swale west of Weld County Road 77. Here we saw numerous Lark Buntings, actually trying to skylark in the strong winds. Horned Larks and Western Meadowlarks were numerous here, too, and a few Common Nighthawks were about. We were also pleased to see three American Avocets in the ephemeral ponds beyond. Driving west, we picked up several McCown's Longspurs along the road. And a little farther west, at an abandoned homestead in the middle of nowhere (and it was really windy here!), we saw (and a few folks heard) several Brewer's Sparrows. Continuing the auto tour, we picked up a single roadside Chestnut-collared Longspur, plus several more McCown's Longspurs, and a wind-tossed Swainson's Hawk. We had cookies and water at the ostentatiously named but hopelessly modest Prairie View Community Center, and then decided to cut our losses: We would head south, cutting the auto tour way short, and instead giving more time to Crow Valley Campground. We got some good birds along the way: a handsome Loggerhead Shrike made a quick dash for cover, a beautiful Ferruginous Hawk landed out in the open, and an uncommon Cassin's Kingbird devoured a grasshopper.

Our prairie schooner made its way over to Crow Valley Campground, where we paused for lunch. We had the whole place to ourselves. Amazingly, we found a sheltered kitchen and bar here, from which Bill Schmoker served up designer fruit sodas, sliced organic avocado, and a smorgasbord of sandwiches, munchies, and the like. After lunch, we putzed around the campground. It was still windy, but we were well protected amid the tall trees. Right away, we found a trio of Brown Thrashers, near the western limit of their range here in the campground. Next was a quite uncommon Ash-throated Flycatcher, brought to our attention by Jennifer Michaels. We would see the Ash-throated repeatedly during our hour or so in the campground. Other flycatchers here included Western Wood-Pewee, Western Kingbird, and a lone Say's Phoebe that sidled right up to a kingbird perched on a low wire. As were winding down in the campground, Bill Schmoker spotted a Northern Mockingbird, an uncommon species for the area. Some other odds and ends from Crow Valley Campground: Orchard and Bullock's Orioles, whinnying Downy Woodpeckers, and just one Lark Sparrow.

The winds were diminishing a little on the drive back to Boulder—enough so to justify a stop at a large prairie dog colony west of Crow Valley Campground. With a little bit of searching here, we were able to get the scopes on several Burrowing Owls. And there were the usual, ever-present Horned Larks on the premises, too, of course. Our last bird of the day: a fly-by Ring-billed Gull in the agricultural districts of western Weld County.

For the "classroom" component of the day's activities, Bill Schmoker led a discussion of the many "citizen-science" opportunities for the field ornithologist in Colorado. Bill focused on the work of Rocky Mountain Bird Observatory, Colorado Field Ornithologists, and eBird. John Toolen contributed some perspective on Colorado's forthcoming "second-generation" Breeding Bird Atlas project, and workshop participants discussed some of their own experiences on the citizen-science front. We wound down the long day with dinner at Turley's, a mildly offbeat and tres-Boulder restaurant downtown. A special treat was a visit from the flirtatious Hannah M. Floyd, Boulder County's youngest bird lister—but also one of the most competitive, already with nearly 250 species in the county in just her first eight months of life.

Day 5. Tuesday, 14 June 2005. According to our itinerary, the only activity of this, the last day of our workshop, was to be a 6:30 a.m. continental breakfast at the hotel. But several of the workshop participants had the brilliant (?) idea of meeting at 3:45 a.m. for owls and nightjars in the hills west of Boulder. The first birds of the "morning" were, interestingly enough, Violet-green Swallows—lots of them—flying about, unseen but loudly calling, in the dark. We were soon hearing Common Nighthawks, and soon thereafter Common Poorwills. We dipped on the owls, but the lovely dawn chorus was compensation. Some highlights: Western Wood-Pewees giving their seldom-heard dawn song (seldom, because most folks aren't up early enough), a hillside full of sputtery-voiced Green-tailed Towhees, an effervescent Lincoln's Sparrow, loudly trilling Dark-eyed Juncos and Chipping Sparrows giving us a good lesson in "somewhat drier" vs. "somewhat looser" songs, sweet-voiced Vesper Sparrows, melodiously tootling Townsend's Solitaires, jabbering Pygmy Nuthatches, loudly declaiming MacGillivray's Warblers, and many others.

Most of the time, from the field ornithologist's perspective, the early-morning hours are more notable for their auditory than for their visual component. But this morning, it was the birds seen that were more memorable than the birds heard. The real star was a male Red Crossbill, flying across a sunlit clearing so that the sun brightly illuminated his brick-red underparts. As he flew across, he gave a display flight (rarely seen). Then he landed, still singing, atop the nearest ponderosa pine, his all-red plumage suffused all over with early-morning sunshine. Excellent supporting performances were delivered by Western Bluebirds and (especially) Mountain Bluebirds, both of them determined to perch as close to us as possible, and always with the lighting as favorable as possible. We got back to the hotel at 6:30 on the nose—just as the hotel staff was opening up the breakfast area.

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