Sunday, March 11, 2007

Search for Mountain Birds

Four of us went birding in the mountains this morning. We first searched for Rosy Finches and Grosbeaks around Dillon; found only a few. Two Barrow's Goldeneyes were on the Blue River Water Treatment Plant in Silverthorne.

We rushed up to Kremmling. Three species of Rosy Finches visited feeders in town. Not much else was around and we hurried back to Loveland Pass. We did observe 2 Rough-legged Hawks and a Golden Eagle along Highway 9 on the drive back to Loveland Pass. Fortunately, the day was much better than yesterday when the area reportedly received 7 inches of snow.

After about 2 hours on Loveland Pass, we found 2 White-tailed Ptarmigan about 50 yards below the Sniktau Trail and perhaps 1000 yards east of the Parking Area at the summit.

Note: One reason to rush; if you are not familiar with Colorado’s traffic, returning from the mountains on the weekends should be “considered” before 2:00pm. Any week of the year, traffic returning to Denver greatly increases after 2:00pm.

Later in the afternoon, we returned to the eastern side of Rocky Mountain Arsenal. The Northern Saw-whet Owl found yesterday was not in the same tree. If anyone happened to find it, please let me know?

A drive around the DIA Owl Loop did not find any Burrowing Owls again!

No comments: