Grouse Birding Trip May 4 to May 9

May 04

The real tour started today. Our first stop was Genesee Mountain Park. We happily found 2 male and 2 female Williamson's Sapsuckers. One pair was near the group picnic area. The other pair fluttered about at the top of the road (near the flag pole).

Our next stop was the summit of Loveland Pass. Here we were greeted with blowing snow and 70 plus mph winds. Our search for White-tailed Ptarmigan was not successful. It was quite difficult to use scopes to look at the hillside east of the Hwy 9.

Some of the 15 birders were able to see a small flock of Brown-capped Rosy Finches.

Feeders in Silverthorne were visited by few birds. While we experienced blizzard conditions on Loveland Pass, down in Silverthorne, it was sunny and calm. The highlight birds were Evening Grosbeaks.

At Windy Gap Reservoir (Grand County) we found many waterfowl. A pair of Barrow’s Goldeneyes was picked out of many Common Goldeneyes, Mallards, Gadwalls, Ring-necked Ducks, and American Coots. A few American White Pelicans were also observed. Dozens of California Gulls and a few Ring-billed Gulls flew around the reservoir.

We stopped at the Arapahoe National Wildlife Refuge Visitor’s Center. No birds, but we did see a female Moose.

A drive along the first 2 miles of the self guided auto tour added a Swainson's Hawk, Willets, American Avocets, Vesper Sparrows, and a Sage Thrasher to our trip list.

It was snowing again when we reached Jackson County. We had a few hours to kill and decided to checkout the Colorado State Forest Visitor’s Center feeders. Many birds were visiting them. We found a dozen Brown-capped Rosy Finches and 2 Black Rosy Finches.

Our birds included Cassin's Finches, Pine Siskins, Steller's Jays, a Gray Jay, Common Grackles, and Brewer's Blackbirds.

Our birding day ended by watching 5 or 6 Greater Sage-Grouse in the middle of a blizzard. One of the males briefly (only about 15 seconds) displayed, but gave up in the snowstorm.

May 5

At first light we waited at the 20 road lek for Sharp-tailed Grouse to show up. They arrived late; we were able to get good looks at 9 birds. While we waited, 2 Greater Sage-Grouse boomed on the east side of 20 road.

Several Chipping Sparrows, Spotted Towhees, and Vesper Sparrows also came by during our stay.

Our next stop was Oxbow Wildlife Area. On the trip over we stopped several times. Once a Ferruginous Hawk soared along the ridge north of hwy 318. A second time, a Prairie Falcon was also seen doing the same thing.

Once at Oxbow, we quickly heard a flock of Pinyon Jays flying back and forth between the firs on the north side of highway 318. While watching them, Peter Weber found an early Black-throated Gray Warbler calling along the roadside.

We hiked into the Wildlife Area about 0.5 miles. Several Sage Thrashers popped up and gave us great views. The prize however was when a couple of Sage Sparrows also perched on the Sagebrush allowing us super looks!

From here we headed west to Rangely and then south toward Fruita. We detoured west to M.80 Road (a known location for Scott's Orioles). We found a couple of Green-tailed Towhees and Gray Flycatchers during our search for an oriole. Eventually, a Scott's Oriole was also found.

Our last stop during daylight was Cameo. Unfortunately, none were found this evening.

After dark a few of us decided to look for owls on the Grand Mesa. No Northern Pygmy-Owls were found this night at Powderhorn Ski Area (seen on my previous trip up there). We then headed toward Spruce Campgrounds where Northern Saw-whet Owls and Boreal Owls were found on my last trip. Fortune was not with us; before we drove halfway to the campgrounds we were turned around in another blizzard. Snow covered roads made traction tricky and all decided we should turn around.

May 6

At first light we parked at the southern entrance to the Colorado National Monument. Quickly several Black-throated Sparrows and Gambel's Quail were found singing and moving around the Sage.

At the first picnic area inside the entrance we found several Ash-throated Flycatchers, Rock Wrens, and Canyon Wrens. A couple of Black-chinned Hummingbirds buzzed by while we searched for the flycatchers.

A stop at one of the overlooks added a Gray Vireo to our trip list. Once at the campgrounds we found several Black-throated Gray Warblers, Juniper Titmice, Pinyon Jays and Bushtits.

After seeing a Bewick's Wren at the northern entrance we headed south toward Montrose and the Black Canyon Gunnison National Park. We detoured into Escalante Canyon (Delta) and found several Chukars about 4.1 miles west of Hwy 50. The field around the old cabin added Mountain and Western Bluebirds to our trip list.

We ended our birding day at the Black Canyon Gunnison National Park. Again it was snowing quite hard. Two Dusky Grouse did come out of the woods and display for us. Unfortunately, we did not hear or see any Northern Pygmy-Owls this night.

May 7

At first light we sat in the blind at the Waunita Hot Springs Lek. Twenty three Gunnison Sage-Grouse put on a nice show for us.

As we later passed through Canon City, we stopped at a friend’s house. Here all were able to see a couple of Scaled Quail. The prize here was however a pair of Curve-billed Thrashers feeding 2 young.

Our next stop was Lake Cheraw (Otero). Birding was slow here, but we were able to count 2 Snowy Plovers, 2 Least Sandpipers, and a pair of Black-necked Stilts.

Our final stop of the day was the Fort Lyon Wildlife Easement. Black Rails called at both sites (1.8 miles east of CR 16 & JJ and CR 16 & HH).

May 8

I had decided to skip the Campo Lesser Prairie-Chicken lek because only one Lesser Prairie-Chicken had been visiting the site for the last 10 days. Instead we sat at the eastern Elkhart Lek in Kansas. Seventeen birds were observed displaying here; this made the extra drive quite worthwhile.

Dozens of Lark Buntings were observed performing their mating flight. Many Vesper Sparrows were also about. My heart got going when one birder said he heard a Henslow's Sparrow. Unfortunately we were not able to put binoculars on the bird. Several Grasshopper Sparrows were also in the area.

We headed to Cottonwood Canyon back in Colorado. On the way, several Burrowing Owls and a Long-billed Curlew were found along Baca County Road M, just east of Highway 385.

Cottonwood Canyon is always worth a visit. We found the usual birds: Canyon Towhees, Eastern Phoebes, Say's Phoebes, Rufous-crowned Sparrows, Mississippi Kites, Rock Wrens, Canyon Wrens, Chihuahuan Ravens, Red-tailed Hawks, and Blue Grosbeaks. I was able to also find a male Ladder-backed Woodpecker.

Heading north we stopped at Lamar Community College (Prowers). Birding was slow here. A male Northern Parula and Bay-breasted Warbler were added to our trip list.

Our last stop of the day was Bonny Reservoir (Yuma County). Our target bird, Common Poorwill was easily found along CR 4, just before the Kansas border. We also located an Eastern Screech-Owl just north of the most eastern Hale Pond. One or two Long-eared Owls were heard at the Hale Windbreak.

May 9

Again out at first light, we watched 9 Greater Prairie-Chickens at the CR 45 Lek. Many Vesper Sparrows and a Wild Turkey were also seen.

A stop at Red Lion Wildlife Area was superb. We all got good looks at an Upland Sandpiper. Several Spotted Sandpipers were around the ponds east of the wildlife area.

We swung around to Jumbo Reservoir where a male Baltimore Oriole was found at the southwest corner. The breeding plumage Common Loon was found along the north shore.

Birding was slow in Sterling and we continued west to the Pawnee National Grasslands (Weld). We skipped Crow Valley Campgrounds (heard it was slow) and headed to CR 96 (west of CR 77). Many McCown's Longspurs were found but only three of us saw a Chestnut-collared Longspur.

Our next stop was the field north of CR 94 & CR 63. Two Mountain Plover were eventually located along the gravel road heading north.

Since we still needed a better look at Chestnut-collared Longspurs we drove north to CR 114 and Hwy 85. This time we ran into a tremendous rainstorm. The gravel roads were turning to mush. All four vehicles made it to Hwy 85 & CR 114 just as the rain stopped. A quick hike in the field to the southeast added 5 Chestnut-collared Longspurs to our trip list.

Our last stops of the day were Lower Latham Reservoir and Beebe Draw Ponds. A few Long-billed Dowitchers and the Ross's Goose were seen south of Lower Latham Reservoir. A Black-necked Stilt, Long-billed Dowitchers (unfortunately no Short-billed Dowitchers), Spotted Sandpipers and Wilson's Phalaropes were spotted here.

We said our goodbyes as the sun set to a colorful western sky.