Other Colorado Wildlife

Of course, we saw more birds than Grouse and Ptarmigan. In fact, I added 11 life birds on the trip. Todd got 4 which is good for him. We found iconic western species including 100+ Western Meadowlarks singing their R2D2 songs.

Western Meadowlark

And beautiful Stellar's Jays in the mountains.

Stellar's Jay

We found this Yellow-headed Blackbird in the marsh.

Yellow-headed Blackbird

And this little Rock Wren.

Rock Wren

On the lake, we saw 100+ American White Pelicans. They are pretty easy to spot but not usually close enough for a photo like this.

American White Pelican

Here is one of the life birds for me. McCown's Longspur which is a tiny sparrow-like bird that runs around in the grass. Very difficult to spot unless it runs across the dirt road like this one did.

McCown's Longspur

It is always a joy to find Rough-legged Hawks. This one perched on a fence post.

Roughie

Of course, there were other critters too. We were surprised to spot this Red Fox wandering along the side of the mountain road. Look at the long fur - alot different than the foxes in our yard.

Red Fox

Furry Fox

It is the big game that was really cool. Like these Bighorn Sheep.

Bighorn Sheep

Chewing on Grass

And the Pronghorn too. These were the animals that I really wanted to see. We saw a few that were very far away or close but then bolted when they saw us (Pronghorn are the fastest animal in North America) but these 2 didn't seem to mind our cameras snapping photos.

Pronghorn

Pronghorn

Burning Daylight

Thank goodness for daylight savings time. Otherwise, I would have probably missed out on 3 birds this week.  First, I went back to that cattle/horse farm in Salem county down by the Cowtown Rodeo to look for the Yellow-headed Blackbird right after work on Wednesday.  I have been here 3 other times looking for the Crested Caracara and the YHBB (Yellow-headed Blackbird) and have busted every time.  Well, I finally had success thanks to a couple of ladies who were scanning through the thousands of blackbirds and found it.  There were a thousand birds.  Our bird was "behind the horse" (not kidding). This is our view.

Yellow-headed Blackbird

I had a bonus that day when a thousand Snow Geese flew in and landed in one of the fields.  While scanning the flock looking for anything unusual, 2 terrific things happened. First, the Crested Caracara flew above the geese right through my binocular view.  Then, I heard a Meadowlark and then saw him popping around in the grass in front of the geese.  Pretty cool!  I didn't get a very good photo of the Caracara, but I did get goot photos of the Meadowlark.

Eastern Meadowlark and Snow Geese

 These are pretty birds with a great song too.  Here is the best photo that I have of one.

Eastern Meadowlark

Thursday after work, Patty and I took a mad dash to Asbury Park to try to see a Pacific Loon that was reported there by a very reliable source - Scott Barnes from the NJ Audubon.  He gave us great directions and also great tips on how to differentiate the Pacific Loon from the Common Loon.  It only took us 20 minutes to find the Pacific Loon.  Unfortunately, the bird was too far offshore for a good photo. We had to use scopes to identify the bird.

As if that wasn't enough for the week, an email came in on Friday stating that a Tufted Duck was being seen at Parvin State Park - once again in Salem County NJ.  Once again, I dashed out of work and was rewarded with a life bird and another bird to add to the Big Year list.  It was also a great learning experience for identifying ducks that all look very similar.  Check out this photo. There are 3 different species of ducks in this photo - Ring-necked Duck on the left, Tufted Duck in the middle, and Lesser Scaup on the right.  They all look alike at first glance but take a closer look.  The Tufted Duck has the tufts of feathers on the back of his head which is the obvious tip but also notice the bright white sides and black back.  The Ring-necked Duck should really be called Ring-BILLED Duck since it has that fancy bill but is also has gray sides (and no tuft).  The Lesser Scaup has a gray back and rounded head. 

Ring-necked Duck, Tufted Duck, Lesser Scaup

Here is another photo showing which 2 species?

Tufted Duck, Ring-necked Duck

 But wait, there's more.  Remember back in December when I saw the Western Tanager in Cape May Courthouse (Hanging on the Corner)?  Well, it doesn't count for the contest since I saw it in December and never bothered to go look at it again in January before it disappeared.  Guess what?  Another one just showed up in Cape May Point at someone's bird feeder!

Western Tanager

Osprey

Here is a recap of my day today:  Dog field at 7:15, packed up and out the door by 8:30, picking up a server from a firehouse at 9:30, coaching a playoff hockey game at 11:15 (W), playing a hockey game at 12:45 (L), eating lunch at 2:30, viewing the Western Tanager in Cape May at 4:15, taking a photo of my FOY Osprey and Blue-winged Teal at 4:45, searching for a gull at 5:30, home by 7:30, and writing this at 10:00.  Oh, did I mention that we have company staying with us this weekend?

2 Memories of the Same Day

2 sisters are at the same place at the same time, doing the same thing on the same day - together, all day and yet be storing very different data in their brains.  Here is an example. Di and I went to Palmyra Cove birding today. Below are 2 accounts of the same day. 

Diane:

I was up early but Linda was already gone to walk the dogs.  Linda made eggs and toast for breakfast.  I had scrambled and Linda had fried.  Then we went to Palmyra Cove for some birdwatching.  I drove the Mini because I wanted to get cheap Jersey gas while we were there. Linda took me the back way all through Abington, Cheltenham past the cemetery, and Philly to the Tacony-Palmyra Bridge - which was open and kept us sitting there for 15 minutes.  That reminded us of the time that we were late going to our grandmother's house when she lived in Cinnaminson and we got stuck at the bridge opening.  When we arrived and told her that the bridge was up she said that she knew.  We asked how she could know that the bridge was up and she said "because I called"  "Called who?" "Called the bridge.  When you were late, I thought the bridge might be up, so I called.  The man said that it just went down so I assumed you would be here soon."  That's Mom Mom for you.

Anyway, we finally got to Palmyra Cove and the police stopped us to say that we had to park in the overflow lot.  We parked and made funny, inappropriate comments about the other people in the parking lot then headed on to the trails. We saw some birds and walked for almost 2 hours. I had to find a bench to rest because my feet and back started to hurt. Then we decided to leave but I had to go to the bathroom in the nature center.  It's really nice inside.  We went to Wawa for the cheap Jersey gas, fountain Diet Cokes and sandwiches to take home for lunch.  I sent Linda in to order me a Wawa premium turkey, lettuce, tomato, pickles, little mayo on wheat, no toast; Lays Kettle Cooked chips with salt and vinegar, and a fountain Diet Coke.  When we left the Wawa, we passed the Savoy Caterers which used to be the Woodbine Inn where I used to go clubbing when I was in high school (don't tell my Mom) with my friends.  Linda said to pull into the Savoy because she saw some gulls in the creek behind the parking lot so we pulled in and decided to eat our sandwiches and look at the gulls.  How funny is that.

Linda:

Di didn't get out of bed until after I took the dogs to the field for a walk so we got a late start birding.  To make matters worse, the bridge was up and delayed us even more.  Then we couldn't get a parking spot in the main lot.

We finally got on the trail and immediately rung up 10 easy species. Then, Di saw something different which turned out to be male and female Eastern Meadowlark.  What a find!  We also got a great look at Swamp Sparrow, Fox Sparrow, White-throated Sparrow (male in great plumage) and Eastern Towhee.  We didn't get Spotted Towhee that has been at the park all winter but we did get Golden-crowned Kinglet.  We ate lunch behind the Savoy to look at gulls but they were just Ring-billed, nothing unusual.

So, months or years from now we'll see a Meadowlark and I'll have to remind Di that she saw one that day when we went to Palmyra Cove.  And we'll see a sign for some Savoy diner somewhere in the world and she'll remind me about the time we sat behind the Savoy-that-used-to-be-the-Woodbine in Jersey eating our sandwiches which were Wawa premium turkey, with cheese which she didn't want ( I ordered it wrong) and gave to me, lettuce, tomato, pickles, little mayo on wheat; Lays Kettle Cooked chips with salt and vinegar because she likes them occassionally, and a fountain Diet Coke. Remember?