Just Our Nature: Pawnee National Grassland

Showing posts with label Pawnee National Grassland. Show all posts

January Birding

Brrrr... it has been particularly windy this January. But we've gotten out a few times, primarily in order to check out some birds not usually seen around Colorado.

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Snowy Owl east of Barr Lake; a little too far for a decent picture

At least two Snowy Owls have been seen in the vicinity of Barr Lake State Park in Denver this winter. This is more evidence of the irruption of this species into more southerly areas that has been noticed in several states this year. We did find our young "Snowie," a new species for our life list! But he was so far away that without a tip from another birder down the road, we might not have found him. We were able to more clearly appreciate him with the help of yet another birder's spotting scope. The owl sat perfectly still out in a field the whole time we watched, with only his head turning now and then.

Can you spot the bird that's different? (the Blue-morph Snow Goose)

Earlier that day we walked along the south side of Barr Lake and spotted Bald Eagles galore and a few Snow Geese, including what we believe to be the blue morph or "Blue Goose." Around the nature center were songbirds, most notably American Goldfinches on the feeders. We'll have to go back and walk the entire 8.8 mile trail.

On another day we drove out to Nunn, CO where, for the first time, we didn't see any Burrowing Owls. We did enjoy seeing a flock of Horned Larks and we also saw our first Eurasian Collared Dove. We then went on to Pawnee National Grassland where we saw very little bird activity, even at the Crow Valley Recreation area. But we did see some Pronghorns and a coyote.

Horned Lark near Nunn, Colorado

Another wayward bird, the Long-tailed Duck had been spotted at Denver City Park and we got a good look at him this past Sunday. In spite of terrible wind gusts, Mike managed to hang onto our camera and get some nice shots of the duck formerly known as Oldsquaw, and his Duck Lake cohorts. We especially enjoyed seeing several Hooded Mergansers up close.

Long-tailed Duck (M) at right with Common Goldeneye on left

Hooded Merganser (male)

Speaking of life lists, we have been reading two birding books this month -- The Big Year and Kenn Kaufman's Kingbird Highway. What fun to compare what we were doing in 1973 with the hitchhiking adventures of a teenage birder!

We have been tracking sightings on the iBird app for iPhone and updating our Bird Brain software to manage our life list as well as start a new list for 2012. As I type, we are at a meager 57 species for the year, but we have high hopes of increasing that number greatly with our upcoming trip to south Texas.

Pawnee Buttes Trail


Mike at the trailhead with the Pawnee Buttes in the background

On our second trip to Pawnee National Grassland of the year, we decided to visit the more easterly section and hike out to the Pawnee Buttes. This remote area was a welcome contrast from the traffic and crowds in Estes Park for the Long's Peak Scottish-Irish Highland Festival and parade.

We chose a route along Route 14 past Ault, then north at County Rd 103 to Keota. From there we zig-zagged northwest across more county dirt roads until we turned off of County Rd 110 to take the southern approach of the loop road to the Pawnee Buttes Trailhead.

[Click on a picture to see a larger version of it.]


We probably didn't see a dozen people all day

Spotting a restroom and parking area, we pulled off at what we thought was the trailhead. We were greeted by small herd of Angus and Black Baldy cows with heifers finding some shade in behind the structure. Finding no sign of a trail, and running out of wisecracks to amuse ourselves about the cows that peeked around the corner of the restroom and generally stared us down, we drove on a little further. The actual trailhead was just around the next bend in the road.


Northern Harrier swooping by

Expecting the Buttes to rise out of total grassy flatness, we were happy to discover the surrounding terrain to be varied and interesting. The wind turbines of Cedar Creek Wind Farm spread across the horizon to the north of the buttes, a jarring juxtaposition of modern with an ancient and otherwise unadulterated landscape. On the trail, a short walk through flat grasslands led up to a sizable and long rocky outcropping, fairly narrow in places, that we hiked up and across, before descending the other side to go out to the Buttes.

The western butte often appears larger, but from the base, they look about the same height. With good reason -- they are within a foot of the same height, about 300 feet above the main elevation of the grasslands. We walked the half mile trail that separates the two buttes, spotting various birds, insects and a few horned lizards along the way. The occasional breeze kept us reasonably comfortable in the increasing afternoon heat, and we were glad to be hiking in September rather than the heat of summer!


Wind turbines at the Cedar Creek Wind Farm


Lots of grasshoppers along the way

After a total of 4 miles of hiking, we were back at the car eating the lunches we'd picked up in Loveland (Subway for Mike, Big City Burrito for Susan). Refueled and rehydrated, we continued along the loop road, passing a few campers and 1 or 2 other trailheads, until we reached the Pawnee Butte Overlook.

Inspired by this new perspective and a desire to see more buttes, we followed a trail towards a knifelike rocky point to the north. The out and back was about 1 1/2 miles mostly along the cliff edges. We watched the sun setting and the moon rising before calling it a day.


Evening light on the Buttes at Moonrise


Long shadows

P.S.
I forgot to mention earlier that we saw tiny Horned Lizards frequently along the trail. Too cute!

Pawnee National Grassland

The main attraction for us in visiting Pawnee National Grassland was to see Burrowing Owls, but the best owling was on our way home at a site somewhat east of Pawnee, near the town of Nunn, Colorado.

Burrowing Owl

The grasslands are criss-crossed with dirt roads, and the advice to not go without a map is well advised. On the way in, we did a double-take at the odd looking Guinea Fowl, foraging around someone's farm.

Pawnee National Grassland roads

Guinea Fowl

Flocks of Lark Buntings were a treat to follow, as was the striking Western Kingbird. We also picked up a new bird for our Life List, the McCown's Longspur. We'd never seen Sand Lilies before, but since then we've noticed them blooming on Little Prospect Mountain in Estes Park.