Bryan Ehlmann: Hello cobirders,
Over the next three weeks I will be leading the CoBus summer birding tour. Sue and I are the core of the group and we will be joined at times by up to 7 other birders including Richard Stevens, Rebecca Kosten, Gary Weston, Jerry Petrosky, a few other Colorado birders and a couple of out of state birders.
Unfortunately the format of this blog doesn't allow chronological order of our trip. See Parts 1, 2, 3, and 4 below.
July 27
Our little tour was splitting up for a couple of days. We planned to turn north to Montrose and Delta Counties while the Weston group returned to Lake City and Mineral County.
Ehlmann group:
Our stops today included Cimarron Wildlife Area and Fish Creek and Silver Jack Reservoirs. Campgrounds included Big Cimarron, Beaver Lake, and Silver Jack. Unfortunately High Park Lake and Buckhorn Lakes Park were beyond the amount of time we had.
The usual mountain species were recorded in good numbers. We found both Evening Grosbeaks and Pine Grosbeaks at the campgrounds. We waited until dark at Cowboy Reservoir which is very interesting to get to, even in a 4 wheel drive jeep. A Northern Pygmy-Owl or two answered our recordings.
A Northern Saw-whet Owl called west of Beaver Lake. Another Saw-whet Owl was found just south of Big Cimarron. The Fish Creek Reservoirs were also interesting to get around. We hoped for a Flammulated Owl but had to settle for two Northern Pygmy-Owls.
On the way up we stopped at several potential Long-eared Owl locations, without success. Big Cimarron Ranch looked to have good habitat for Long-eared Owls, but we could find no one around to ask for permission to search.
Weston group:
Our interests led us back to Lake City, Hinsdale County. Our itinerary was to bird Engineer Pass to Ouray, then return tomorrow to take the North Fork cutoff to the Las Animas fork to Silverton. Parts of these roads definitely require a high clearance 4 wheel drive vehicle. Some experience in 4 wheel driving is very helpful.
Engineer Pass Road which runs along Henson Creek has several interesting stops. Whitmore Falls is a short downhill hike; but the trek back up is strenuous. We didn't know if it would attract Black Swifts, returned near sunset, found no Black Swifts.
We counted birds to Engineer Pass' summit and beyond to the North Fork Cutoff, then returned back to Capitol City (once hoped to be the Capitol of Colorado, of course never happened).
The prize of the day (night) was a Boreal Owl calling near Yellowstone Gulch north of Capitol City. This is in Hinsdale County. It was the only owl we had tonight.
July 28
Ehlmann group:
Our main focus today was to be Black Canyon of Gunnison National Park in the late afternoon. We took the northern route up highway 92 toward the National Park. Birded Mesa Creek Campgrounds and detoured up to Gould Reservoir in Montrose County and Crawford State Park in Delta County.
Later we returned hwy 92 to hwy 50 and west to Black Canyon of Gunnison National Park. Sue found an American Dipper along the river at the East Portal. We asked around and kept our eyes open for Long-eared Owls but found none. They have been reported to nest in the park.
Dusky Grouse were seen crossing the road at several points as we drove to the west end of the South Rim Drive. We hiked to Warner Point where Northern Pygmy-Owls were seen back in April. We didn't find any there, but heard one about halfway back to the parking lot. We stopped at most of the overlooks and got no response to our owl recordings.
On the way back to Crawford we again stopped at Gould Reservoir and Crawford State Park. We did get a response from a Northern Pygmy-Owl at Crawford State Park. For the most part, owls were quiet tonight.
Weston group:
After camping and getting a few hours of sleep, we drove south down the North Creek cutoff and continued toward Silverton by way of the Las Animas Fork (which runs along the Las Animas River). Instead of driving all the way to Silverton, we took the Stony Pass Road at Howardsville. This road goes along the Rio Grande River to Pole Creek Trailhead. The crossing at Pole Creek can be potentially very dangerous to vehicles. It can be very deep even in the middle of summer. We opted to not continue from that point, but turned around.
We didn't see too much potential in owling and backtracked before dark to Engineer Pass. After dark we continued west to Ouray. Our only owl of the night was a Northern Saw-whet Owl near Poughkeepsie Gulch Road.
Over the next three weeks I will be leading the CoBus summer birding tour. Sue and I are the core of the group and we will be joined at times by up to 7 other birders including Richard Stevens, Rebecca Kosten, Gary Weston, Jerry Petrosky, a few other Colorado birders and a couple of out of state birders.
Unfortunately the format of this blog doesn't allow chronological order of our trip. See Parts 1, 2, 3, and 4 below.
July 27
Our little tour was splitting up for a couple of days. We planned to turn north to Montrose and Delta Counties while the Weston group returned to Lake City and Mineral County.
Ehlmann group:
Our stops today included Cimarron Wildlife Area and Fish Creek and Silver Jack Reservoirs. Campgrounds included Big Cimarron, Beaver Lake, and Silver Jack. Unfortunately High Park Lake and Buckhorn Lakes Park were beyond the amount of time we had.
The usual mountain species were recorded in good numbers. We found both Evening Grosbeaks and Pine Grosbeaks at the campgrounds. We waited until dark at Cowboy Reservoir which is very interesting to get to, even in a 4 wheel drive jeep. A Northern Pygmy-Owl or two answered our recordings.
A Northern Saw-whet Owl called west of Beaver Lake. Another Saw-whet Owl was found just south of Big Cimarron. The Fish Creek Reservoirs were also interesting to get around. We hoped for a Flammulated Owl but had to settle for two Northern Pygmy-Owls.
On the way up we stopped at several potential Long-eared Owl locations, without success. Big Cimarron Ranch looked to have good habitat for Long-eared Owls, but we could find no one around to ask for permission to search.
Weston group:
Our interests led us back to Lake City, Hinsdale County. Our itinerary was to bird Engineer Pass to Ouray, then return tomorrow to take the North Fork cutoff to the Las Animas fork to Silverton. Parts of these roads definitely require a high clearance 4 wheel drive vehicle. Some experience in 4 wheel driving is very helpful.
Engineer Pass Road which runs along Henson Creek has several interesting stops. Whitmore Falls is a short downhill hike; but the trek back up is strenuous. We didn't know if it would attract Black Swifts, returned near sunset, found no Black Swifts.
We counted birds to Engineer Pass' summit and beyond to the North Fork Cutoff, then returned back to Capitol City (once hoped to be the Capitol of Colorado, of course never happened).
The prize of the day (night) was a Boreal Owl calling near Yellowstone Gulch north of Capitol City. This is in Hinsdale County. It was the only owl we had tonight.
July 28
Ehlmann group:
Our main focus today was to be Black Canyon of Gunnison National Park in the late afternoon. We took the northern route up highway 92 toward the National Park. Birded Mesa Creek Campgrounds and detoured up to Gould Reservoir in Montrose County and Crawford State Park in Delta County.
Later we returned hwy 92 to hwy 50 and west to Black Canyon of Gunnison National Park. Sue found an American Dipper along the river at the East Portal. We asked around and kept our eyes open for Long-eared Owls but found none. They have been reported to nest in the park.
Dusky Grouse were seen crossing the road at several points as we drove to the west end of the South Rim Drive. We hiked to Warner Point where Northern Pygmy-Owls were seen back in April. We didn't find any there, but heard one about halfway back to the parking lot. We stopped at most of the overlooks and got no response to our owl recordings.
On the way back to Crawford we again stopped at Gould Reservoir and Crawford State Park. We did get a response from a Northern Pygmy-Owl at Crawford State Park. For the most part, owls were quiet tonight.
Weston group:
After camping and getting a few hours of sleep, we drove south down the North Creek cutoff and continued toward Silverton by way of the Las Animas Fork (which runs along the Las Animas River). Instead of driving all the way to Silverton, we took the Stony Pass Road at Howardsville. This road goes along the Rio Grande River to Pole Creek Trailhead. The crossing at Pole Creek can be potentially very dangerous to vehicles. It can be very deep even in the middle of summer. We opted to not continue from that point, but turned around.
We didn't see too much potential in owling and backtracked before dark to Engineer Pass. After dark we continued west to Ouray. Our only owl of the night was a Northern Saw-whet Owl near Poughkeepsie Gulch Road.
