December 5 and 6, 2009
Bryan Ehlmann:
December 5
Gary Weston, Richard Stevens and I went to Morgan County after at Snowy Owl report. We drove around for hours east of Riverside Reservoir never seeing any sign of a Snowy Owl.
Since we came so close to Jackson Lake State Park we detoured over to it. It was a good choice. A Black legged Kittiwake and dozens of Ring-billed and a California Gull were circling the west end of the reservoir.
Later we walked the Campgrounds from the Visitor's Center to the Boat ramp. A dozen Long-eared Owls were found without going deep into the woods. A flock of 23 Cedar Waxwings also contained 1 Bohemian Waxwing. The American Robin count was over 40, but no Varied Thrushes were found among them.
We returned north of Jackson and west to Riverside again not finding a Snowy Owl. Several flocks of one hundred+ Horned Larks were passed. Two of the flocks had at least one Lapland Longspur among them.
Crow Valley Campground didn't have any birds. Well, one Flicker was seen. We didn't find the resident Long-eared Owls or a Saw whet Owl at the windbreaks or cemetery. No Common Redpolls or rare sparrows, but we searched hard for them.
We were having such a good time that we decided to drive up to Cameron Pass and Gould. It was snowing lightly when we arrived, but winds were calm. One could hear a pin drop it was so quiet. Richard took us to two locations where Boreal Owls called. We didn't even have to play a tape.
December 6, 2009
We got a late start after going to bed around 4:00 AM. Several Gray-crowned Rosy Finches and one Brown-capped Rosy Finch, Pine Siskins, Mountain Chickadees, a pair of Pine Grosbeaks, a Gray Jay, many Dark-eyed Juncos and a Clark's Nutcracker were seen at the Colorado State Forest Visitor's Center.
Weather was deteriorating rapidly so we decided to get back to Denver. Most of the lakes we passed were mostly frozen; finding rare waterfowl was probably out of the question anyway.
We passed most lakes too early in the day for gulls to come to roost. So, we didn't expect much of them either.
Bryan Ehlmann:
December 5
Gary Weston, Richard Stevens and I went to Morgan County after at Snowy Owl report. We drove around for hours east of Riverside Reservoir never seeing any sign of a Snowy Owl.
Since we came so close to Jackson Lake State Park we detoured over to it. It was a good choice. A Black legged Kittiwake and dozens of Ring-billed and a California Gull were circling the west end of the reservoir.
Later we walked the Campgrounds from the Visitor's Center to the Boat ramp. A dozen Long-eared Owls were found without going deep into the woods. A flock of 23 Cedar Waxwings also contained 1 Bohemian Waxwing. The American Robin count was over 40, but no Varied Thrushes were found among them.
We returned north of Jackson and west to Riverside again not finding a Snowy Owl. Several flocks of one hundred+ Horned Larks were passed. Two of the flocks had at least one Lapland Longspur among them.
Crow Valley Campground didn't have any birds. Well, one Flicker was seen. We didn't find the resident Long-eared Owls or a Saw whet Owl at the windbreaks or cemetery. No Common Redpolls or rare sparrows, but we searched hard for them.
We were having such a good time that we decided to drive up to Cameron Pass and Gould. It was snowing lightly when we arrived, but winds were calm. One could hear a pin drop it was so quiet. Richard took us to two locations where Boreal Owls called. We didn't even have to play a tape.
December 6, 2009
We got a late start after going to bed around 4:00 AM. Several Gray-crowned Rosy Finches and one Brown-capped Rosy Finch, Pine Siskins, Mountain Chickadees, a pair of Pine Grosbeaks, a Gray Jay, many Dark-eyed Juncos and a Clark's Nutcracker were seen at the Colorado State Forest Visitor's Center.
Weather was deteriorating rapidly so we decided to get back to Denver. Most of the lakes we passed were mostly frozen; finding rare waterfowl was probably out of the question anyway.
We passed most lakes too early in the day for gulls to come to roost. So, we didn't expect much of them either.
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