Trip Registration

Here is a special "Patch Birding" excursion to bird in Aurora with our Guest Guides, DFO members Cynthia Cestkowski and Debby Miller. Read more about them and their patch just below. We'll look for birds in Aurora on a 3-mile round trip walk at Red-tailed Hawk Park, and along the Piney Creek Trail to the Ponderosa Preserve (restricted access). Red-tailed Hawk Park is a neighborhood park with open space and riparian elements, a wetlands boardwalk, and Piney Creek running through it.  We will walk the Piney Creek trail through the park and south to Ponderosa Preserve, 60 acres of Aurora's own piece of ponderosa pine forest. This is a restricted access open space with no trails. 

We can hope for a nice cross section of nesting season birds, and good migrants, too. We will look for Western Bluebirds at the preserve. Most walking will be along paved paths, but at the preserve we will be off trail on somewhat steep slopes. Wear protective hiking shoes as burrs, needle grass and cactus needles are abundant.  Bring drinks and snacks. We will conclude with a simple potluck lunch at Red-tailed Hawk Park. Register online or contact the leader.

 From our Guest Guides:

"We are Cynthia Cestkowski and Debby Miller, City of Aurora Open Space and Natural Resources (OSNR) volunteers. We manage bird counts at many Aurora areas and visit RTHA Park to Ponderosa often. 

We count birds here throughout the year and it is one of our favorite locations.  With a small creek, cattails, large cottonwoods, and a prairie dog town, it is a great place to listen and see the change in variety of birds through the seasons.  When we arrive at the Ponderosa Preserve, the habitat changes and we walk into a quiet isolated area.  The birds change here, too, and the area always yields Blue Jays, Pygmy Nuthatches and Townsend's Solitaires.  Our favorite part is climbing up the hill and going through the fence - an adventure!  And the view is not bad either! "