I've been able to take advantage of dry roads and nice weather lately. I had a couple very successful adventures in the last week and picked up some green avian targets for the year.
January 20, 2021
A Harris's Sparrow was frequenting a private residence in Littleton (JeffCo) and despite arriving in the early afternoon, to find no birds anywhere, a flock of White-crowned Sparrows showed up a few minutes later and the Harris's popped up! Talk about luck! I also had taken my camera (a first for a bike ride) and lucked out with a couple decent photos for the blog!
A sharp looking Harris's Sparrow!
Harris's Sparrow (Green year bird #75)
With the grand luck on the Harris's Sparrow, I decided to swing by the ball fields at Kipling and 285 (still in Litteton) to see if there were any Snow Geese around. Not a goose to be found, so I kept going north to Bear Creek Greenbelt to look for either of Winter Wrens that had recently been found between S Estes St and S. Kipling Parkway. After about 5 minutes or so, one Winter Wren made an appearance for a few seconds. The bird was not real cooperative, but I got off one photo that isn't totally blurry!
January 24, 2021
A Yellow-bellied Sapsucker had been making regular appearances at the Bear Creek Greenbelt, not too far from the wren spot. These birds can be hard to relocate as I think most of them cover a lot of ground during their stays here. I decided I needed to try for it since it was showing regularly. My family gave me 2 hours on a Sunday morning to ride up there and try my luck. On my way to the sapsucker spot, I'm riding through the prairie dog town along the greenbelt just west of Wadsworth and flush two Eastern Bluebirds. How'd I know I'd just start finding them without trying after several failed efforts, and eventually a successful trip, near my house along Lilly Gulch and Weaver Park!? That's birding! Anyway, I got to the sapsucker spot and luck would have it that Joey Kellner was looking at the bird! It doesn't get better than that! This was a new bird for my Jefferson County list (#301), so that was a nice little bonus.
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (phone-binoc photo, green year bird #77) Except
it does get better than that. After we enjoyed the sapsucker, Joey says
"You need northern shrike right? One was here about 20 minutes ago."
I had seen periodic eBird reports from here, but as I often say, "shrikes are
everywhere, and no where." I scan the field north of the sapsucker
spot for about a minute, maybe 90 seconds, and I see one flying away! No! Don't
fly away! Joey gets on the bird (phew) and it keeps going, but lands at
the top of the huge tree near the corner of Yale and S Estes. TOO FAR AWAY for
photos. I decided to ride my bike over and see if I can get a photo. Luckily the
bird stayed put for a couple minutes. I eventually got a reasonable phone-binoc
photo (below). I consider the shrike almost as good a green year bird, maybe better, than the sapsucker.
Shrikes take a lot of luck and require looking in the right place at just the right
time. I got lucky!
https://ebird.org/checklist/S79826813
Northern Shrike (Green year bird #78)
It was an incredible trip to Bear Creek Greenbelt, there were air high fives, and maybe one gloved fist bump with Joey. That's what birding is all about. Seeing birds, especially targets (especially this year), with friends and making some memories, even if we didn't plan to meet up. Even better yet, I was ahead of schedule! On my way home, as I was leaving the greenbelt to head towards home, I heard a bunch of crows raising a stink. I slowed down and saw them surrounding a grumpy looking Great Horned Owl (green year bird #79). I know I'll get a bunch of Great Horned Owls this year, but it is always nice to get a new green year bird. And I got home 20 minutes early, which is always a win (with my family)!
January 25, 2021
The head pain from the shingles was back and intense. It was grumpy, so I went for a walk at lunch time, constantly scanning the sky hoping for a goshawk that isn't there. However, I had a gorgeous Merlin circling over the south end of Clement Park! Green year bird #80! Merlin is an expected bird for my green year, but I may only see a couple, so that lifted my spirits quite a bit!
I'm looking forward to the next adventure. However, considering how much snow we got today (Jan 26), I may need a fat tire bike with studded tires! Or I could just relax and rest up for a few days. I cannot complain as I'm already at 80 species, with a lot of rarities checked off the list, and all while suffering the wrath of shingles and what will likely be a couple months of nagging, persistent pain.
Ugh. Sorry to hear about the shingles, but it looks like you're really powering through at to start the year. I only saw one Northern Shrike during my 2014 bicycle Big Year, so I know what a pain they are to locate! Keep it up!
ReplyDeleteThanks. Been feeling pretty good. Just gotta stay up on the pain meds :) Shrikes are so tricky. Everywhere and no where! I feel pretty lucky having gotten one already. Beats tons of miles in the cold cruising all the spots where the sometimes are!
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