TOP 10 SPECIES
Top 10 lists are voted upon by the participants at the completion of
each tour.
This was our fourth tour to Colorado and it was better than ever: lots of specialty birds, a few rarities, a much higher species total than ever, and some very nice mammals, which is normal. One of our participants put in a lot of time identifying wildflowers, resulting in a nice list to use on future tours, and a lot of enjoyment for us.
We had a bit of time to kill while picking up our people at Denver International, so we birded the nearby extensive grasslands and agricultural areas. Among the multitude of Western Meadowlarks, Lark Buntings, and Horned Larks, we watched the antics of a large Burrowing Owl colony and found a nice surprise--Short-eared Owl on the airport fence. Barr Lake was quite rainy, but it produced our first Bullock's Orioles, Eastern and Western Kingbirds, and our only Clark's Grebes and a few Black Terns. At the end of the tour we returned and found an Orchard oriole nest with young. Lower Latham Reservoir gave us our only American Bittern.
Our stay in Greeley provided easy access to the Pawnee National Grasslands with its 750,000 acres of pristine habitat. One of our participants MAY have seen a Chukar along Hwy 14, but she could not be quite certain with the fast, speedy look. We saw a hen with young very near there two years ago. The Mountain Plovers were much easier to identify, as were the Grasshopper Sparrow, several singing Dickcissels, and the Cassin's Sparrows. Crow valley Campground held its usual array of roosting Common Nighthawks and a male Orchard Oriole. The grasslands themselves produced the usual large numbers of McCown's Longspurs. Although we found but a few Chestnut-collared Longspurs, the views were excellent. We saw our first of several Ferruginous Hawks, along with many Swainson's Hawks. While finding Eurasian Collared-Dove in Greeley, we lucked into a Red-headed Woodpecker that we relocated the next morning. The adult Black-crowned Night-Heron attempting to eat a dead, half-grown chick that had fallen from a nest was interesting indeed.
On our way to Estes Park a few quick stops produced the first of several American Dipper nests, a soaring Golden Eagle, a Richardson's Canada Goose (likely candidate for a split), and our first Lazuli Buntings and White-throated Swifts. While I was checking into our Estes Park motel, one of our folks found a Prairie Falcon perched on a nearby transmission tower. She thought it was a set-up, but I honestly did not know it was there. The upper reaches of Rocky Mountain National Park were good for 2 White-tailed Ptarmigan, 5 Brown-capped Rosy-Finches, and a total of 6 Pine Grosbeaks. Williamson's Sapsucker and MacGillivray's Warbler performed nicely, but we could not find the Blue Grouse that people had been seeing all day along Cub Lake Trail--our only wild grouse chase of the tour. Instead we watched a pair of Green-tailed Towhees feeding young at point blank range, through the scope. In a single evening we saw small herds of Mountain Goats and Mountain Bighorn Sheep, hundreds of American Elk, and several Coyotes.
En route to North Park, Walden, and Arapaho NWR we found 4 Barrow's Goldeneye at Windy Gap, always a good bird for a group of Eastern birders. The Greater Sage-Grouse put on a good show, as did the 4 Moose and the White-tailed Jackrabbits. We filled in our waterfowl (duck and goose) list, with a total of 18 species. Lake John had masses of birds, including 2 Franklin's Gulls, a Marbled Godwit, 13 White-faced Ibis, and several Snowy Egrets. The nesting Eared Grebes, California Gulls, and American Avocets are always a big favorite. On a cool early morning an adult Avocet appeared to have 6 legs--2 were the adult's, the other 4 belonged to the 2 chicks, snuggled up under its belly, staying warm. Soon after the 6-legged Avocet, a Badger put on a great show very close to the van as it attempted to dig up Richardson's Ground Squirrels. It was a life mammal for everyone in the van.
Our next major stop was 14,264-foot Mount Evans. We found several more Brown-capped Rosy-Finches--it's hard to get enough of that bird. Two of us climbed the final 200+ feet to the summit, then we began our drive down--in thunder, lightning, hail, rain, and heavy fog! No one said much as I paid close attention to the road. There was a cumulative sigh of relief as we reached lower ground. Red Rocks Park was excellent--Lazuli Bunting, Yellow-breasted Chat, Virginia's Warbler, Prairie Falcon (killer look on a rock ledge), and many additional new and interesting species. We added a singing Red-eyed Vireo and Indigo Bunting at Chatfield State Park, along with an adult Bald Eagle eating a Carp. Genesee Park gave us our only Western Bluebirds and a newly-fledged Brown Creeper, nesting Williamson's Sapsuckers, spectacular views of Western Tanagers, and a Tassel-eared Squirrel. The bridge near our motel in Idaho Springs hosted yet another American Dipper nest, our fourth of the tour.
Next year's tour is scheduled for the same dates, 21-30 June 2005. Come help us look for the White-tailed Ptarmigan, Brown-capped Rosy-Finch, and the other 180+ species.
COLORADO
June 1999
We just returned from 10 incredible days in the mountains, tundra, and grasslands of Colorado. The sagebrush birds treated us well: we saw several Greater Sage-Grouse, including a scope view of a female on a nest, an elusive Sage Sparrow, and numerous Sage Thrashers. The tundra birds were also cooperative, with three White-tailed Ptarmigan at Estes Park and a male Brown-capped Rosy Finch on Mount Evans. Prairie Falcon and Mountain Plover put on a good show, as did the displaying Common Snipe, the irresistible Burrowing Owls, numerous Red-naped Sapsuckers, several American Dippers, and a couple of knock-out looks at MacGillivray's Warbler. And the mammals were superb: Mountain Bighorn Sheep, Mountain Goat, Swift Fox with her young, Pika on the tundra, Snowshoe Hare, and a female American Elk giving birth to her calf. This tour is scheduled again for June 2001.