10 best birding spots in and around Denver/Boulder

The culture of coolness is predicated on cannibalism. It feels as if everything has been done before, and our inane tendencies toward flashing fads build upon a widening circle of recycled relevance. This relevance seems to play out as a cyclical run of backlashes: irony giving way to earnestness, dumpster-diving giving way to homemade crafts, 40s giving way to hot yoga classes, trucker caps giving way to fedoras and then back again. Urban imagery yields to pastoral scenery as we move gently from T-shirts with silhouettes of boom boxes to T-shirts with silhouettes of birds and beasts without noticing the shift in aesthetics.

Given the whirlpool logic of relevance, bird-watching is probably due its day in the spotlight, and we at The A.V. Club have been into bird-watching ever since carrying a scope and field guide could get you beat up. In preparation for the smug satisfaction we’re bound to experience as soon as Urban Outfitters starts stocking National Audubon Society Field Guides, we are sharing the 10 best birding spots in the Denver/Boulder area, along with suggested soundtracks to further ensconce the experience in cool vibes.

10. City Park
What you’ll see: Duck Lake, located on the southeastern portion of City Park, is a migratory stop for the double-breasted cormorant, a medium-sized grey seabird that fills the trees on the one-acre island and dives for fish in the lake.
What you should listen to: Tap into your old industrial records, because double-breasted cormorants are like the nerdy goth kids of the bird kingdom, as elegant and awkward as a Nitzer Ebb song.


9. Barr Lake State Park
What you’ll see: Barr Lake State Park, located about 20 miles northeast of Denver, is ringed with wetlands and home to a wide variety of waterfowl. In the summer, the marshy cattail flats are choked with the creaking calls of yellow-headed blackbirds and flashes of their shocking yellow plumage darting among the reeds.
What you should listen to: Yellow-headed blackbirds are aggressive breeders, and crowd out the smaller red-winged blackbirds for nesting sites. Their brazen determination to dominate the breeding scene is appropriately coupled with The Breeders’ ode to summer.


8. Waterton Canyon
What you’ll see: The South Platte River makes its grand entrance onto the Great Plains via Waterton Canyon, southwest of Chatfield Reservoir. The steep canyon walls are home to the canyon wren, a prim-looking little bird that will surprise you with the volume of its cascading whistle as it flits about the rocky slopes.
What you should listen to: Canyon wrens are well-dressed little birds; they are very sleek and compact, but as previously stated, their loud cries will betray an inner power that makes them seem larger than their diminutive stature would otherwise have you believe. You know, like Prince.


7. South Platte River Trail system
What you’ll see: Given the extensive trail system that runs along the South Platte River as it makes it’s way east through the Denver metro area, the diversity of wildlife you can encounter within this urban corridor is surprising, and no wildlife sighting along the South Platte seems more out of place than that of a white pelican. Strong association with seafaring ships will cause uninitiated birdwatchers to rub their eyes in disbelief, as if somebody dumped some nautical props from a Long John Silver opening ceremony into the channelized, urban stretch of Denver’s riverine landmark.
What you should listen to: White pelicans are graceful birds, but they look goofy. Their long bills and tussled head plumage give them the appearance of affable dipshits, and nothing will accentuate that feeling more than an accompaniment by Roger Miller.


6. Mt. Falcon Park
What you’ll see: Mt. Falcon Park not only provides great views of metro Denver from its vantage in the foothills of Jefferson County, but it’s also the perfect place to watch Swainson’s hawks soaring on thermals, scanning for prey in the meadows that dot the mountainside.
What you should listen to: A raptor on the hunt is a fierce and majestic thing, and those lucky enough to see a hawk dive in and grab an unsuspecting field mouse will know the rush of adrenalin that shoots through every stoner kid hearing Blue Cheer’s version of “Summertime Blues” for the first time.


5. Castlewood Canyon State Park
What you’ll see: Another bird you might not expect to see skulking around the forested plains east of Denver is the wild turkey, but the ground-dwelling game bird is a year-round resident of Castlewood Canyon State Park, southeast of Castle Rock.
What you should listen to: During mating season, male wild turkeys spar for dominance and take part in an elaborate mating ritual that involves a whole lot of strutting and a whole lot of gobbling, similar to the “daggering” dance you see in a Major Lazer video.


4. Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge
What you’ll see: Commerce City may appear to be nothing more than a vast tract of belching factories and industrial wastelands, but the area is dotted with very important waterfowl and bald eagle habitat. The Arsenal is home to a growing population of our nation’s mascot, as efforts to establish bald eagles on the land have met with success.
What you should listen to: You can’t find a symbol of American virtue as pervasive as the eagle and its stoic visage. Calm and menacing, full of threatening wisdom and the power to eviscerate its prey within the deathly grip of its talons, as beautiful and portentous as a Maserati crescendo.


3. Chatfield Reservoir State Park
What you’ll see: A migratory traveler that frequently stops along the woodland riparian habitat surrounding the reservoir, the western tanager is a strikingly colorful bird that looks like it would feel more at home in the Panamanian jungle than in the temperate forests of Colorado.
What you should listen to:  The western tanager is an easygoing little critter, and its flight pattern is a slow and steady one. The songbird pauses frequently on branches and digs the scene fully before moving on, as mellow and colorful as Aterciopelados.

2. Rocky Mountain National Park
What you’ll see: Although more than 280 species of birds have been observed in the park, the thrill of seeing a common summer resident justifies the trip. The soft buzz of the broad-tailed hummingbird as it darts through woodland meadows is the sound of tranquility radiating throughout the Rocky Mountain summertime.
What you should listen to: The broad-tailed hummingbird is hard to spot in motion, and you’re more likely to hear it than see it as it flashes by you, as fleet and direct as the dueling guitar lines of Speedy West and Jimmy Bryant.

1. Anywhere
What you’ll see: To paraphrase assumed bird-watching aficionados Insane Clown Posse, to experience the joys of the natural world around you, “open up ya mind, and peep the giraffe.” A pair of eyes and a little bit of free time is about all you need to enter into bird-watching. Heck, you don’t even need both eyes. One will suffice.
What you should listen to: The act of bird-watching can be a palliative that works to offset the malaise of a stressful day, and the concept of flight is one that has inspired humanity for millennia. Pausing to observe birds going about the obligations of their biology is a mindful way to create perspective in your own machinations, and the varied calls of the birds that are all around you fill the world with its very own symphony.

Every Friday, The A.V. Club will bring you a different list of ten of Denver/Boulder’s (and occasionally, the whole state’s) top attractions, memories, and things to experience, to help point you toward what’s awesome and unique about living in the most rectangular state in the nation.