Saturday, November 21, 2009

Guanella Pass

November 18, 2009

Bryan Ehlmann:

Jacob Washburn, Amy Davenport, Terry Michaels and I ventured into the Colorado tundra and went up Guanella Pass this morning. We didn't know what to expect after last weekends snowstorm. Fortunately, the road was mostly clear with a few snowy and icy patches. Once the sun comes out, the snow evaporates rather quickly.

We don't know what the fuss is all about in a Ptarmigan search. Within five minutes of getting out of our car we found two Ptarmigan below, the large rock about 40 yards east of Guanella Pass road. This rock is approximately 150 yards south of the parking lot at the summit.

All kidding aside, we know how lucky we were to not have to search hours for the elusive bird. We scoped the hillsides on both sides of the road but found no additional birds.

On the way back to Denver, we detoured over to Pine Valley Ranch Park. Our search for Three-toed Woodpeckers and Northern Pygmy-Owls came up negative. We did see 2 Hairy Woodpeckers on the hillside south of Pine Lake. A few White-breasted and Pygmy Nuthatches were up the Buck Gulch Trail. We only went as far at the Strawberry Jack Trail.

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