N. Flickers roosting in Tunnel Drive tunnels

I tried unsuccessfully to post this last night but the blogspot system wouldn't take it. Yesterday the high temp in Canon City rose to a balmy 70 degrees F!! This is back to normal as in past winters we would get awful cold days but would rebound to the 60's or 70's to give us a break.

I took a hike, literally, up Tunnel Drive trail which is a great birding and scenic location on the west end of Canon City. Rufous-crowned Sparrows, a rarity in Colorado, are resident here. Ladder-backed Woodpeckers and Greater Roadrunners have been seen there in the past and just recently a Golden-crowned Sparrow was reported below the trail. I enjoy hiking up the trail in winter as I have seen more than 10 American Dippers in the Arkansas River that lies from 200-500 feet below this 2 mile trail. Unfortunately because it is a the mouth of the Royal Gorge, this steep canyon acts as a wind tunnel sending strong winds down the trail and upping the windchill.

So yesterday afternoon the chinook winds that warmed the area had died down I hiked up the trail. It was so nice I did so without my coat (and I'm a real whimp for being cold). Since it was late in the day I only made the first mile of the trail so only saw 3 American Dippers. However, what was really interesting was that I flushed 3 Northern Flickers in the tunnels that the trail goes through. Two of the flickers were on the ceiling and one was on a wall. As I have flushed a few flickers in these tunnels in the past, I feel pretty sure they are using them for sheltered roosting areas.

Also of interest were 15 Common Goldeneye that went at least a half mile into the Royal Gorge canyon. Due to the recent big snows that have melted on top of the west slope water being moved down the river to the reservoirs (this is standard procedure to fill the reservoirs in winter), there was deep enough water for them to dive--something that hasn't been possible in this stretch of the river for some time due to the drought.

I also saw one Rufous-crowned Sparrow at 5:15 pm, which is fairly late for this species (tho I have seen them late in the day on a few occasions in the past).

SeEtta

Waterfowl gather at shrinking open water areas

After 3-4 inches of snow yesterday, the big arctic front that was predicted is descending on Colorado and bringing several more inches of snow. There are only 2 ponds with open water in the Canon City area and the waterfowl were gathering at them today.

One private pond had about 8 Common Mergansers, a bird that I have seen more on the Arkansas River this winter than at local ponds. Of course there will be more ice on the river with the temps down to 3 degrees F tonight. There were 3 scaup species, one of which I could id as a Greater Scaup but one slept and the third was diving repeatedly so I couldn't confirm the id.

The other open pond had a very large congregation of waterfowl with about 25 Common Goldeneye, several Redheads and Northern Shovelers, some Coots and at least 30 dark geese. However, as I drove away at least another 30 dark geese were flying in to spend the night. I hope that the density of waterfowl helps keep water open.

Then I was surprised to find a Wilson's Snipe, busily feeding in a ditch tailwater (the water being returned to the river by irrigators or a ditch company, often mistaken as a stream).

SeEtta

Waterfowl

So far two local ponds continue to have some open water that is keeping some waterfowl around. There have been a good number of Common Goldeneye here this winter, including about 50 that were on Sell's Lake near the Canon City Riverwalk today. There were only 8 Northern Shovelers today though there have been up to about 20 in the past week or so at this small pond. (The Northern Shoveler in this photo is one that allows sharing shot by Mike Baird.)

A single Common Merganser was on Sell's Lake, a species that I have seen on the Arkansas River more than ponds lately. There were only 3 Canada Geese, though more would likely fly in before dark. And there were the requisite American Coots.
SeEtta

More Pueblo Reservoir birding

As I had an appointment with an endondist today in Pueblo, I again stopped by the Pueblo Reservoir. I am still not able to walk much, and due to warm temps that melted the snow there is a lot of mud that I wouldn't want to walk in anyway. So did some car birding.

At the North Marina I saw several dozen Common Mergansers, intersperced by about 10 Common Goldeneye. There were the requisite American Coots and the coots were walking up the ramp over a hundred feet from the water, apparently searching for food (though there is some open water around the North Marina, there is a lot of ice there and further out into the main reservoir body. And there were 8-10 Ring-billed Gulls there but no Lesser Black-backed Gulls as I have been told are often at this location in the afternoon.

At the South Marina and the southeast portion of the lake by the ice were hundreds and hundreds of gulls.
SeEtta

Pueblo Reservoir and Eagle Day

I stopped by the Pueblo Reservoir this afternoon on my way to a doctor's appointment. Thought there is ice on the reservoir, much of it is open and there are multitudes of birds taking advantage of this. I didn't have much time but saw a number of Common Goldeneye (though I have seen posts showing Barrow's Goldeneye as well) in addition to the hundreds and hundreds of gulls. Those that I could identify were Ring-billed Gulls, common here in the winter.

Eagle Day, an annual event held at the Pueblo Reservoir, will be held on Saturday Feb 3. The event’s co-sponsors are the Colorado Division of Wildlife (DOW), Lake Pueblo State Park, Pueblo Zoo, Greenway Nature Center of Pueblo, The Pueblo Raptor Center, Aquilla Power Company and the Arkansas Valley Audubon Society (my Audubon chapter). Events at the day-long event include live bird demonstrations, bird watching classes, wildlife viewing stations and the release of three hawks that were nursed back to health by the Pueblo Raptor Center.

All of the activities are free and open to the public, but vehicles must have a valid Colorado State Parks pass to access activities on the north side of the park. A Park’s Pass is not required to attend activities at the Park Headquarters Building on the south side. Most exhibits and indoor events take place at the Headquarters Building. There will be free boat rides on Lake Pueblo for eagle viewing, on the hour every hour depending on weather.

This photo is one I took of "Hali", a Bald Eagle at the Pueblo Raptor Center.

SeEtta