First of all, no participants or spotting scopes were blown over and it didn’t rain or snow.  Additionally, on the positive side, there were only a few people visiting the park on a Saturday morning, so it didn’t feel so overrun.  However, circumstances, i.e., the wind, did lead us to see fewer birds than might be expected in early April.  While we did get some of the usual suspects: Northern Flicker, Say’s Phoebe, Woodhouse’s Scrub Jay, Black-billed Magpie, Canyon Wren, Townsend’s Solitaire, and Spotted Towhee, a few others were apparently hunkered down out of sight: Rock Pigeon, Black-capped Chickadee, House Finch, and Song Sparrow.

Nevertheless, we had some good birds.  The real highlights of the day came from the raptorial contingent.  A pair of Red-tailed Hawks was seen soaring out over the Dakota Hogback – likely resident birds, but possibly migrants.  And a single high soaring Cooper’s Hawk was seen over the flank of Mount Morrison – this one more likely to have been a migrant moving north.  More obviously migratory were the eight Turkey Vultures passing overhead.  And, then, we had a Great Horned Owl sitting on its nest in one of the many available shallow caves in the cliff faces.  This particular nest site has been used numerous times through the years, and it was gratifying to see it still serving that purpose.  Nests in trees tend to only be used for a year or two as Great Horned Owls don’t build their own nests, instead using old Red-tailed Hawk, Black-billed Magpie, or squirrel nests until they fall apart.  This owl, presumably the female as they tend to do about 99% of the incubation and nestling care, was moving around and reaching down beneath herself so there’s a high likelihood that chicks were present.

Finally, the two main target species for the day were the large falcons.  Until the last couple of years both Prairie and Peregrine Falcons have nested at Red Rocks, the Prairie Falcons at Cave Rock near the south end of all the larger formations and the Peregrine Falcons on either Ship Rock or Creation Rock, the two huge rocks that flank the amphitheater.  The Second Colorado Breeding Bird Atlas, published in 2016, notes that nesting Prairie Falcons have apparently disappeared from the foothills south of Denver to Colorado Springs, and the last eBird record of Prairie Falcons nesting at Red Rocks was in 2019.  Overall, Prairie Falcons appear to be doing fine throughout the Rocky Mountain region, but locally there seems to be a significant impact from urbanization, fragmentation of foraging habitat, and lack of protection of nesting habitat from recreationists.  It’s also possible that competition with Peregrine Falcons could be a factor, but that may be a slight effect compared with some of the larger issues.  On the other hand, the Peregrines seem to be holding their own at Red Rocks and we got to see one perched up high on Ship Rock.

Following our time at Red Rocks we stopped by to check on the possible nesting Golden Eagles in Bear Creek Canyon.  We saw nothing, which is beginning to be a bit disconcerting.  On January 31 I saw two eagles nest building there, and there’s a report of an eagle on the nest from late March, so perhaps all is well, but I wish that we were seeing more activity.

Good birding, Chuck

Red Rocks Park 06/04/2024
14 species
6 participants

Turkey Vulture  8
Cooper’s Hawk  1
Red-tailed Hawk  2
Great Horned Owl  1
Northern Flicker  4
Peregrine Falcon  1
Say’s Phoebe 3
Woodhouse’s Scrub-Jay  3
Black-billed Magpie  6
American Crow  2
Common Raven  2
Canyon Wren  2
Townsend’s Solitaire  1
American Robin  8
Spotted Towhee  5