Birding Mt Evans and Reynolds Park

August 3, 2013

Richard Stevens:

I accompanied six birders up to Mt. Evans (Clear Creek County) to search for Ptarmigan and Rosy Finches.  Several of them wanted to see the view from the top of Mt. Evans first.  This turned out to be quite fortuitous.

While taking in the view, I found a White-tailed Ptarmigan walking below the western ridge at the top.  Lucky encounter as sightseeing is a touristy thing and I seldom go along with it.  In addition, we did not have to spend "hours" walking the fields east of Summit Lake (where I usually find Ptarmigan after a long hike).

The short walk to the northwest corner of Summit Lake found 3 Brown-capped Rosy Finches on the grassy and rocky hillside above the lake.

Broad-tailed & Rufous Hummingbirds were flying around the Echo Lodge.  Regrettably, no Calliope Hummingbirds were among the horde.

We could not find American Three-toed Woodpeckers at Echo Lake Campgrounds and decided to take the back roads over Squaw Pass to Jefferson County.

I chose Reynolds Park as it offered opportunities to see both Three-toed Woodpeckers and Dusky Grouse.  A male Williamson's Sapsucker was working the trees near the Old Service Road and north of Raven's Roost & Elkhorn Trails.

Unfortunately, a torrential downpour interrupted our search and we had to abandon further attempts to find Three-toed Woodpeckers, Dusky Grouse or Northern Pygmy-Owls.