Sunday, August 25, 2013

Radium Wildlife Area, Grand County

August 18, 2013


Richard Stevens

Local knowledge is always great to come across.  A rancher near Radium (Grand County) took us to his property and showed us the highlight of the day.  A Barn Owl was found in one of his abandoned buildings.  He said that a pair had at least two young this year.  We also were supplied with successes and failures of the past five years!

Two Grasshopper Sparrows were also a surprise!  This could be a first county record (will have to check upon returning to Denver).  At least one photo came out well enough for verification!

Radium Wildlife Area (Grand) was a gem.  This is a huge Wildlife Area that does not see many birders.  Additional visits would be highly recommended and fruitful.  We added a Black-throated Gray Warbler, Townsend's Warbler and Plumbeous Vireo to our day list.

We hung around until dark and did some owling.  We expected Northern Saw-whet Owls; only a Northern Pygmy-Owl was heard.

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