Sunflower Fiends

Chickadees are not shy when raiding my dry sunflowers even though they know I'm not far away.

St. Vrain Greenway eastern trail heads are open

The two new trail heads (TH) on the eastern part of the St. Vrain Greenway have been open for a while now.  I'm not sure if the City announced this or not but I mentioned them back in January while they were under construction, and it's good to see them being  used.

The first new TH you'll encounter going east from Longmont is the 119th St TH.  It has a restroom, a water fountain, two covered picnic tables, and a parking lot.  Yes, the water fountain is working. 

119th Trail Head.  That's the old Longmont Sugar Factory in the background

A nice touch at this TH is the area they've built to sit along the river and perhaps watch the ducks.

About 1.3 miles further east, at Weld County Road 1, there is another new TH.  This one is simply a parking lot and a picnic table; no facilities.

St. Vrain Greenway Trail Head at Weld County Road 1

Surprisingly still around, next to this TH, is the dead tree that has been seen in here before.

Heading back west to Longmont, you'll see a cluster of swallows nesting under the CO-119 bridge.  

And out of nowhere, a freshly painted birdhouse along the river.  Wonder where it came from?

Birdfeeder FAIL!

I have more than a few squirrels in my neighborhood and was intrigued when I saw an article online about building a $10 birdfeeder that would keep Rocky the Squirrel away.

I went ahead and built it (mainly out of PVC pipe)  and strung it up from a tree in mid-November.  It looked funny but what the heck, if it works that's fine with me.  The neat design uses zip-ties as the perch:  strong enough to hold a small bird but not enough to support the weight of a squirrel.  It's four feet long, and slippery, making it impossible for Rocky to slide down if he/she wants a shot at the holes where the seed is dispensed. 

The good news is that Rocky (and friends) couldn't get close to the bird seed, despite trying many times with all kinds of gymnastic moves.   The bad news is that the birds never got interested in the feeder!  I was encouraged when I saw a bird or two on the feeder the very first day but that's been about it, as far as I've ever seen.  At first I thought it was our warm November and December that was keeping the birds disinterested, and that they would flock to the feeder as soon as the first cold snap or snow storm came though.  Nope.  A few of those came and went with no visible signs of birdfeeding activity.   Oh, and I have plenty of birds around.  They arrive promptly if I put seed on the ground. 

It will be coming down soon, two months after going up.  I can only conclude that this design works for some parts of the country but not mine.

Sunrise at the Oasis

Geese, ducks, and gulls gather at a non-frozen section of Golden Ponds:

Raptor's Delight

A golden eagle (I believe) sits high above the prairie dog colony today, over by the Rec Center.


Wishing my portable camera could have zoomed in more closely! Clicking on the picture will get you a closer look.

Want to know your raptors better? This past week, the Greely Tribune declared Weld County "raptor central" of Colorado, and published a nifty guide. Unsure of the Greeley Tribune's web retention policy, so let's see how long this link lasts.

It was a Swainson's Hawk

Thanks to a similar picture in today's Times-Call, and a quick confirmation from Longmont's expert birder Bill Schmoker, the bird in last week's posting is not a Peregrine Falcon; it is a Swainson's Hawk.

Signs of Spring, Part 2

Another sure sign of Spring in Longmont: first grackle of the Spring heard and spotted this morning high up in a cottonwood tree. Eight days earlier than last year.

Having said that, check out the forecast for early next week:

MONDAY AND MONDAY NIGHT
MOSTLY CLOUDY WITH A 40 PERCENT CHANCE
OF RAIN AND SNOW. MUCH COOLER. HIGHS IN THE UPPER 40S. LOWS IN THE
MID 20S.

TUESDAY AND TUESDAY NIGHT
MOSTLY CLOUDY. A 20 PERCENT CHANCE OF
RAIN SHOWERS AND SNOW SHOWERS. HIGHS IN THE MID 40S. LOWS IN THE
UPPER 20S

Not that I'm complaining because we need the H2O !

More from the Owl Cam

More from the Owl Cam.

Sometimes the nesting owls:


will leave for five or ten minutes in the middle of the night (perhaps on a hunting trip?), revealing what they are incubating:

It's Owl time on the Xcel Energy's OwlCam

Looks like there is some activity now at the Owl nest, over at the Xcel Boulder facility

Boulder Reservoir and Coot Lake

A trip through the Boulder Reservoir today, on a very warm day!

Coot Lake, near Thomas Watson Park:


Boulder Reservoir:


A hawk calmly sits above all the activity of a bike race, going on below. I'll post an update when I identify this stately bird.

Springtime in Longmont: Grackles have returned

It must be Spring because I heard (that unmistakable rusty-hinge call) a common grackle for the first time this morning in suburban Longmont. Thirteen days later than last year when I saw one on March 15. As reported here, I noticed them fully vacated right around Halloween; a break of about five months (~149) days from Colorado

Let's see how a few of them have spent their winter vacation in Texas:

• Ft. Worth Hires Hawks to Solve Pesky Grackles
  
  
• Austin Grackle Invasion
  
  
• Grackles Fill the Sky in Waco
  
  

In other words, just their normal holiday down south!

Robins are all-year residents in Longmont

A Longmont old-timer told me a few years ago that he never saw Robins here in the winter, back in the 50s and 60s. Traditionally we have always heard of Robins arriving in the Spring so we assume that they always migrate but even the map on this page shows them living year-round all the way up to southern Montana and western New York. Someone asked Johnny St. Vrain about this in the Times-Call last year and the reply explained that Robins can stay in Longmont year-round now because of the additional suburban berry-producing plants available to them now.

They don't eat seed and there is no worm supply in the winter, so they're left to finding winter berries and fruits.

Pictures below are from today's snow storm, where a flock of robins are eating the fruit from a Flowering Crapapple tree.