In 2021 when the covid situation was cooling down we planned a trip to Denver to meet a friend. I wanted to utilize this situation to do some birding as well. Colorado has some birds which I wanted to see. Had compiled a list and noted down some birding spots that I wanted to visit and dedicated a day for the same.
My first birding of the trip started when we were in Colorado Springs. We visited Garden of Gods to look at the majestic mountains and especially at Dusk or Dawn. The mountains looked beautiful. Looking at the ebird report for this place I found there was a nesting pair of Prairie Falcons. Also White-throated Swifts, Vaux's Swift and Violet-green Swallows were reported near these cliffs nesting. When we were there near the parking lot I saw my first Black-billed Magpie, beautiful bird. I found few more magpies when walking around in the park. I saw a Spotted Towhee carrying some bugs to a nest close to the cliffs. There were couple of deer's walking around without worrying about people. Infact they were so close you could touch them, it was strange. I did see quite a few White-throated Swifts flying in and out of the holes on the cliffs. Saw couple of Violet-green swallows flying too. But did not see the Vaux's swift.
Black-billed Magpie |
Woodhouse's Scrub-Jay |
Spotted Towhee |
Prairie Falcon |
Violet Green-swallow |
White-throated Swift |
I had listed down to visit the Pawnee Grasslands to see the Longspurs and the Buntings there. Based on the ebird reports I shortlisted this place. I came down very early in the morning. It's a pretty vast grassland. I was hoping to see some raptors as well here. When I came into the grasslands the first bird I saw were the Lark Buntings. The male and female Buntings could be seen everywhere. The other bird I saw the most were Horned Larks. They were in the grasslands and sometimes on the road too. Saw a lone Brewer's sparrow which I wasn't sure at the beginning, I had seen one during my Arizona trip but wasn't expecting to see it again here. The other birds that I was hoping to find were Mountain Plovers and the Burrowed Owls, I could not find either of them. Maybe I should have stopped and walked few trails but I did not know of any walking trails here. I also saw couple of Grasshoppers Sparrow which were on my wish list. I did not see many raptors here. The only ones I saw were few Red-tailed Hawks. I did see few Common Nighthawks resting on these fence poles. I was also lucky to find both male and female Thick-billed Longspurs(earlier called McCown's Longspurs). I saw some birds which were on my wish list but did miss some birds.
Lark Sparrow |
Western Meadowlark |
Bullock's Oriole |
Lark Bunting |
Brewer's Sparrow |
Horned Lark |
Western Meadowlark |
Common NightHawk |
Thick-billed Longspur |
Thick-billed Longspur(Female) |
Lark Bunting |
Say's Phoebe |
Grasshopper Sparrow |
Lark Bunting(Female) |
After visiting Pawnee grassland drove down to Staunton State Park. I wanted to see the Mountain bluebirds and the Mountain Chickadee here. There were reports of the Clark's Nutcracker as well here. So wanted to try my luck with them. I did see only one Mountain Chickadee here which was flying all over the place. Saw multiple White-breasted Nuthatches along with Pygmy Nuthatches.
Mountain Chickadee |
White-breasted Nuthatch |
Eastern Bluebird |
Pygmy Nuthatch |
White-crowned Sparrow |
Canada Goose(goslings :-)) |
After this me and my friend visited the Barr Lake. This is his favorite birding spot during the winters when you can see lot of Bald Eagles. When we went we did see lot of Cave Swallows, Pelicans and Cormorants. Saw couple of House-Wrens carrying food to their nests. There were couple of Eastern and Western Kingbirds. My main target here was to see the Western Grebes. We did get to see 4 Western Grebes swimming across the lake. As a bonus got to see the Bald Eagle too which was far but took a shot for my records.
House Wren |
Cave Swallow |
Western Kingbird |
Tree Swallows |
Bullock's Oriole |
American White Pelican |
Bald Eagle |
Western Grebe |
Western Wood Pewee |
Pine Siskin |
Longhorns |
Yellow-bellied Marmot |
Prairie Dogs |
White-tailed Jack Rabbit |
Pronghorns |
Striped Ground Squirrel |
Elk |
I ended my Denver trip with lot of fond memories. One of the best places to visit in the States and would recommend everyone to visit the same.
Birds seen during the day :
- Canada Goose
- Broad-tailed Hummingbird
- Killdeer
- Great Blue Heron
- Cordilleran Flycatcher
- Black-capped Chickadee
- Mountain Chickadee
- Tree Swallow
- Violet-green Swallow
- White-breasted Nuthatch
- Pygmy Nuthatch
- House Wren
- Mountain Bluebird
- Hermit Thrush
- American Robin
- Eurasian Collared-Dove
- Turkey Vulture
- Red-tailed Hawk
- Say's Phoebe
- Loggerhead Shrike
- Horned Lark
- Thick-billed Longspur
- Grasshopper Sparrow
- Brewer's Sparrow
- Lark Sparrow
- Lark Bunting
- Western Meadowlark
- Bullock's Oriole
- Rock Pigeon
- Mourning Dove
- Common Nighthawk
- Chimney Swift
- White-throated Swift
- Prairie Falcon
- Western Kingbird
- Woodhouse's Scrub-Jay
- Black-billed Magpie
- American Crow
- Cedar Waxwing
- White-crowned Sparrow
- Spotted Towhee
- Northern Shoveler
- Western Grebe
- Double-crested Cormorant
- American White Pelican
- Northern Harrier
- Bald Eagle
- Eastern Kingbird
- European Starling
- House Finch
- Red-winged Blackbird
- Brewer's Blackbird
- Common Grackle