Wigwam Creek flows east out of the Kenosha Mountains in the Lost Creek Wilderness Area and joins the South Platte River just upstream from Deckers.  For almost all of its twenty-two mile length it flows through part of the huge area decimated by the Hayman Fire in 2002 – one of Colorado’s largest forest fire at 138,114 acres.  There are islands of original montane forest habitat that the fire jumped, but much of the area is almost a moonscape of huge granite outcroppings and burned snags.  Willows have returned along the creek and the hillsides have some healthy shrubs such as currant and gooseberry.  However, regeneration of conifers has been very slow and there is an abundant proliferation of non-native weeds.

So, why did we choose to go to this apparently somewhat uninviting habitat?  The fact is that the openness of the area can be appealing to a variety of swallows, bluebirds, and sparrows, and then, in combo with the large diameter snags, it can attract two woodpecker species that are uncommon in our part of Colorado.  Lewis’s Woodpecker tends to prefer ponderosa pine and piñon-juniper woodlands of the southern part of the state and is often associated with burn areas.  The Red-headed Woodpecker is an eastern species and Wigwam Creek is about as far west as it gets.  It, too, prefers open habitat – primarily deciduous woodlands, but can also be found in burned wildland areas.  Interestingly, both these species belong to the genus Melanerpes the members of which tend to have a characteristic “kwir” or “chur” call.

As for our day, we started at the Cheesman Canyon parking lot along Wigwam Creek – thick with willows and alders. As in the past here, we had a few great birds including Gray Catbird, Lesser Goldfinch, and MacGillivray’s Warbler.  A conundrum bird for us was an Empidonax flycatcher seen at a distance that we tentatively identified as a Willow Flycatcher (light gray back and head, blocky head, mostly white front, large bill), but we lacked confidence in doing so.  The members of the Empidonax genus all look very similar, and multiple attributes are needed to confidently identify them.

Continuing up the dirt road that parallels Wigwam Creek we made multiple stops and found a good variety of birds, including our two targeted woodpecker species.  Other highlights included several Olive-sided Flycatchers, some Evening Grosbeaks, Red Crossbills, and Lazuli Buntings.  Interestingly, we struck out on a few sparrow species seen here on other years, and we missed both Western and Mountain Bluebirds which have been plentiful at other times.  The big surprise for the morning was getting to hear (but not see) a Northern Saw-whet Owl calling across the valley from us.

Good birding, Chuck

Wigwam Creek, July 22
40 species
10 participants
 
Mourning Dove  11
Rufous Hummingbird  1
Broad-tailed Hummingbird  8
hummingbird sp.  4
Turkey Vulture  3
Northern Saw-whet Owl  1
Lewis’s Woodpecker  4
Red-headed Woodpecker  3
Northern Flicker (Red-shafted)  5
American Kestrel  2
Olive-sided Flycatcher  11 
Western Wood-Pewee  1
Dusky Flycatcher  1
Willow Flycatcher  1 
Cordilleran Flycatcher  5
Warbling Vireo  10
Steller’s Jay  3
Common Raven  1
Mountain Chickadee  2
Tree Swallow  1
Violet-green Swallow  14
White-breasted Nuthatch  1
Pygmy Nuthatch  5
House Wren  1
Gray Catbird  3
American Robin  6
Evening Grosbeak  5
Red Crossbill  5
Pine Siskin  2
Lesser Goldfinch  2
American Goldfinch  11
Chipping Sparrow  19
Song Sparrow  9
Green-tailed Towhee  1
Spotted Towhee  1
Western Meadowlark  4
MacGillivray’s Warbler  1
Yellow Warbler  2
Yellow-rumped Warbler  2
Western Tanager  5
Lazuli Bunting  3