Monday, June 9, 2008

Back to the Mountains

June 9, 2008

Richard Stevens:

Paul Stein and headed to the mountains in search of a few target birds. The weather was fantastic. Cool 50 degree temperatures and little wind. Unfortunately we missed a couple of "hard to find" species.

Our first stop of the day was Genesee Mountain Park (Jefferson County). A male Williamson's Sapsucker was drumming on one of his favorite poles (the telephone pole at the northwest corner of the group picnic area building). Within 10 minutes, a female Williamson's Sapsucker showed up.

We drove to the top of the park for the view. Another male Williamson's Sapsucker came to the dead tree north of the flag pole! A pair of Red Crossbills made a short appearance as did 2 White-breasted Nuthatches and a Downy Woodpecker.

We continued west and made a brief drive through the small mountain town of Silver Plume (Clear Creek). Three Band-tailed Pigeons were in a dead tree east of Woodward and Cherokee Streets. No Rosy Finches were around the rocks on the north side of town. A couple of Mountain Chickadees and White-crowned Sparrows visited feeders underneath the rocks.

In Silverthorne (Summit) we stopped by a friend's home. He still had about 20 Gray-crowned Rosy Finches and 4 Brown-capped Rosy Finches visiting his feeders. We also added Pine Siskin, Pygmy Nuthatches, White-breasted Nuthatches, Red-breasted Nuthatches, Mountain Chickadees, Black-capped Chickadees, Evening Grosbeaks, Pine Grosbeaks, Clark's Nutcrackers, Downy Woodpeckers, and a Hairy Woodpecker to our trip list.

Next we thought we would try a spot near Red Cliff and Turkey Creek Road where White-winged Crossbills were reported last year. We explored a bit but did not find any. The area did add a MacGillivray's Warbler and Wilson's Warblers to our trip list.

Our next stop was to be A.M. Bailey Bird Sanctuary. Our vehicle could not get up to the parking area. Last winter/spring snows have left several spots that we could not traverse.

We turned back south and drove to Spruce Creek Subdivision (south of Breckenridge). Again the road was quite muddy and not passable. The road up to Argentine Pass was also snow covered and we did not try it.

We did explore the Montezuma Area but did not get far without snowshoes (and did not think it worth our time to try and find a place to rent any). After dark I played tapes in locations (St. Johns & Hunkidori Trailheads) where I had found Northern Saw-whet Owls, Northern Pygmy-Owls, and Boreal Owls in the past; without success.

Finally we tried the switchbacks on highway 119 toward Rollinsville. Again in the past, Northern Saw-whet Owls and Northern Pygmy-Owls have been seen. We managed to hear a Northern Pygmy-Owl for about 10 minutes, but never put a spotlight on the bird.

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