April 28-29, 2014
Richard Stevens:
Bryan Ehlmann and I headed up to Guanella Pass (Clear Creek County) in search of White-tailed Ptarmigan and Owls.
We hiked the four miles round trip to the top of the Pass. Five Ptarmigan were found below the huge rock on the south-southeast hillside. American Pipits and several White-crowned Sparrows were heard.
Evidently, no Brewer's Sparrows have migrated up there yet? The Brewer's Sparrows that nest up there are most likely to someday be split and called Timberline Sparrows. They sound different and do look slightly different from the Brewer's Sparrows found on the plains.
Winds were quite fast 27 mph, gusts to 41 mph. Temperatures were in the 20s.
We camped at Kenosha Pass (Park County); no owls were heard during the night.
Winds increased to 31 mph, gusts to 53 mph the next morning. It started to snow late in the morning.
We briefly heard a Northern Pygmy-Owl up Michigan Creek Road (Park County) shortly after sunrise. Getting out of our warm sleeping bags an hour before sunrise was close to torture, however, necessary.
A Dusky Grouse displayed right on Michigan Creek Road (Georgia Pass) about 0.3 miles west of the traditional American Three-toed Woodpecker and Northern Pygmy-Owl location.
An American Three-toed Woodpecker was enticed to come out of the woods while we played a drumming recording (for only 20 seconds)! He was up the trail at 4.1 miles west of the Michigan Creek Campgrounds.
Snow started to fall faster and we decided not to drive south to the Park County Reservoirs (Antero, Eleven Mile Reservoir & Spinney Mountain Reservoir). More snow was predicted and we did not feel like driving on icy/snowy roads this afternoon.
Winds were 37 mph, gusts to 49 mph as we passed the road to Pine Valley Ranch Park (Jefferson). A search for Northern Pygmy-Owls and Flammulated Owls around the Park will have to wait for another day.
Richard Stevens:
Bryan Ehlmann and I headed up to Guanella Pass (Clear Creek County) in search of White-tailed Ptarmigan and Owls.
We hiked the four miles round trip to the top of the Pass. Five Ptarmigan were found below the huge rock on the south-southeast hillside. American Pipits and several White-crowned Sparrows were heard.
Evidently, no Brewer's Sparrows have migrated up there yet? The Brewer's Sparrows that nest up there are most likely to someday be split and called Timberline Sparrows. They sound different and do look slightly different from the Brewer's Sparrows found on the plains.
Winds were quite fast 27 mph, gusts to 41 mph. Temperatures were in the 20s.
We camped at Kenosha Pass (Park County); no owls were heard during the night.
Winds increased to 31 mph, gusts to 53 mph the next morning. It started to snow late in the morning.
We briefly heard a Northern Pygmy-Owl up Michigan Creek Road (Park County) shortly after sunrise. Getting out of our warm sleeping bags an hour before sunrise was close to torture, however, necessary.
A Dusky Grouse displayed right on Michigan Creek Road (Georgia Pass) about 0.3 miles west of the traditional American Three-toed Woodpecker and Northern Pygmy-Owl location.
An American Three-toed Woodpecker was enticed to come out of the woods while we played a drumming recording (for only 20 seconds)! He was up the trail at 4.1 miles west of the Michigan Creek Campgrounds.
Snow started to fall faster and we decided not to drive south to the Park County Reservoirs (Antero, Eleven Mile Reservoir & Spinney Mountain Reservoir). More snow was predicted and we did not feel like driving on icy/snowy roads this afternoon.
Winds were 37 mph, gusts to 49 mph as we passed the road to Pine Valley Ranch Park (Jefferson). A search for Northern Pygmy-Owls and Flammulated Owls around the Park will have to wait for another day.
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