Thursday, November 29, 2007

Mountain Birding

November 28, 2007

Julian Rodriguez and I headed up to Guanella Pass (Clear Creek County) in search of White-tailed Ptarmigan.

We made several stops along the way. First we drove around Silver Plume to see if any Rosy Finches were around town; none were. Then we searched for Evening Grosbeaks at their usual location in Georgetown; they were! A flock of 11 Red Crossbills were feeding at the Georgetown City Park. Again I audio taped the birds to compare their calls with my master recordings later.

Luck was with us at Guanella Pass. It only took about 20 minutes to find a dozen White-tailed Ptarmigan. The birds have been on the hill to the southeast of the upper parking area during my last four trips up there. Once in awhile, it is nice to not have to search for hours to see them.

We continued south from Guanella Pass to Grant, then east through Bailey to Pine Valley Ranch Park (Jefferson).

American Three-toed Woodpeckers were a little more difficult to find than the Ptarmigan today. We had no luck along Buck Gulch Trail and had to take the Strawberry Jack Trail up to the Parkview Trail. Just north of the intersection, a female American Three-toed Woodpecker was working a Ponderosa Pine.

Several flocks of Pygmy Nuthatches, 2 Red-breasted Nuthatches, and 1 White-breasted Nuthatch were observed along our trek. A couple of Hairy Woodpeckers were found along the Strawberry Jack Trail.

Once we returned to Pine Lake, we decided to search for an American Dipper along the creek. We struck out on them, but had the good fortune to hear a Northern Pygmy-Owl calling. The owl was on the hillside north of the Narrow Gauge Railroad down by the western gate!

We made one last stop, Mt. Falcon Park (Jefferson). A quick hike down to the Old Castle did not turn up any Blue Grouse today. Julian did pick up one last lifebird as a Townsend's Solitaire called constantly around the lower parking area.

Weather was interesting all day. We ran into snow several times. Fortunately, winds were mild even up on Guanella Pass.

Our worst problems were driving in the traffic after dark back in Denver.

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