Wednesday, June 27, 2012

Yet Another Trip to Mt Evans

June 23, 2012

Richard Stevens:

I accompanied Jack and Megan Zimmerman into the foothills today.  Our first stop was Summit Lake at Mt Evans (Clear Creek County).  Within an hour wait, two Brown-capped Rosy Finches were observed flying around the rocks at the northwest corner of the lake.

We hiked the field east of the main road and Summit Lake entrance for about 2 hours.  No Ptarmigan were found.  Getting desperate, we hiked the hillside at the southeast corner of Summit Lake.  Here we enjoyed success as John found a lone White-tailed Ptarmigan wandering around.

We did the tourist thing and drove to the top of the mountain.  Marmots and Pica rambled along the road.  No Ptarmigan were found.  A few Horned Larks, American Crows and Common Ravens were the only birds seen.

Our trip continued through Evergreen to Lair 'O Bear Park.  An American Dipper was observed east of the observation platform (south of the parking area).

We continued to Pine Valley Ranch Park hoping to find a Northern Pygmy-Owl or American Three-toed Woodpecker.

No owls, an American Three-toed Woodpecker was found drumming along the Strawberry Jack Trail at 30 yards southeast of the Buck Gulch Trail.

We hung around until dusk; no Northern Pygmy-Owls called.

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