October 20, 2009
Richard Stevens:
At 3:00 am, Bryan Ehlmann and I decided to hike into the Colorado Forest from the end of CR 41 (the main road into the Colorado State Forest, it passes Michigan Reservoir and turns west at Ruby Jewel Road.
From the locked gate, the road continues for a mile to the junction of the North Fork Yurt Trail. The next 4.5 miles have produced Boreal Owl sightings in the past. We heard two and were able to see one of them at 2.6 miles from the trailhead.
The hike was such a pleasant one. No wind, we could hear the sounds of the forest quite well. Dark shadows of spruce and subalpine trees against a dark sky (which is never completely dark). Quite a few birds called and sang. We heard Pine Siskins, Cassin's Finches, a woodpecker, etc. The heavy breathing of an Elk barging through the woods was quite interesting. Bears could still be out, but this sounded more like an Elk?
During the afternoon we checked out Walden Reservoir, Delaney Butte Lakes and Lake John Wildlife Area without finding many birds. No Rosy Finches could be found in Walden. No Greater Sage-Grouse were found at the Arapaho National Wildlife Refuge.
Richard Stevens:
At 3:00 am, Bryan Ehlmann and I decided to hike into the Colorado Forest from the end of CR 41 (the main road into the Colorado State Forest, it passes Michigan Reservoir and turns west at Ruby Jewel Road.
From the locked gate, the road continues for a mile to the junction of the North Fork Yurt Trail. The next 4.5 miles have produced Boreal Owl sightings in the past. We heard two and were able to see one of them at 2.6 miles from the trailhead.
The hike was such a pleasant one. No wind, we could hear the sounds of the forest quite well. Dark shadows of spruce and subalpine trees against a dark sky (which is never completely dark). Quite a few birds called and sang. We heard Pine Siskins, Cassin's Finches, a woodpecker, etc. The heavy breathing of an Elk barging through the woods was quite interesting. Bears could still be out, but this sounded more like an Elk?
During the afternoon we checked out Walden Reservoir, Delaney Butte Lakes and Lake John Wildlife Area without finding many birds. No Rosy Finches could be found in Walden. No Greater Sage-Grouse were found at the Arapaho National Wildlife Refuge.
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