August 5, 2014
Richard Stevens:
At 5:00 am, I met Oklahoma birder Terry Underhill and we arrived at Mt Evans Summit (Clear Creek County) a half-hour after sunrise.
We could not find the 15 White-tailed Ptarmigan that Bruce Montagne (of Michigan) found down the west side of the gravel pullover/parking lot, just downhill of the paved parking lot at the top of Mt Evans Road. Many American Pipits and a Mountain Sheep were there.
We walked around the field east of the Summit Lake Parking lot for about 1.5 hours before finding two White-tailed Ptarmigan. The Ptarmigan were east of the orange metal sign (road damage); not the electric sign of same message.
Then we hiked to the northwest corner of Summit Lake. Time for a rest, we sat and waited about an hour before eight Brown-capped Rosy Finches flew around the rocky hillside. They briefly landed a couple of times.
Many hummingbirds came to the three feeders hanging on the Echo Lodge. Most were female Broad-tailed Hummingbirds with a few adult males. Half a dozen Rufous Hummingbirds, again mostly females also visited. One female Calliope Hummingbird was harassed each time it tried to drink some the nourishment.
No American Three-toed Woodpeckers were found at the Echo Lake Campgrounds. We then hiked downhill along the Captain Mt Trail and found a male American Three-toed Woodpecker drumming (about 20 yards from trailhead).
It started to rain rapidly. I could only briefly find one Barrow's Goldeneye on Echo Lake.
Heading back toward Denver, we detoured to Mt. Falcon Park (Jefferson County). The rain had stopped the park was quite birdy. Dozens of Mountain Bluebirds, Western Bluebirds, Pygmy Nuthatches and a few Red-breasted Nuthatches, White-breasted Nuthatches and Mountain Chickadees were between the upper parking lot and restrooms. One female Western Tanager was south/below the parking lot.
I then walked the Parmelee Trail south from the restrooms. A Green-tailed Towhee family, many Lark Sparrows and a Lincoln's Sparrow were added to additional bluebirds and Chipping Sparrows. A Dusky Grouse was downhill/south of the yellow metal sign (downhill people yield to uphill traffic).
Richard Stevens:
At 5:00 am, I met Oklahoma birder Terry Underhill and we arrived at Mt Evans Summit (Clear Creek County) a half-hour after sunrise.
We could not find the 15 White-tailed Ptarmigan that Bruce Montagne (of Michigan) found down the west side of the gravel pullover/parking lot, just downhill of the paved parking lot at the top of Mt Evans Road. Many American Pipits and a Mountain Sheep were there.
We walked around the field east of the Summit Lake Parking lot for about 1.5 hours before finding two White-tailed Ptarmigan. The Ptarmigan were east of the orange metal sign (road damage); not the electric sign of same message.
Then we hiked to the northwest corner of Summit Lake. Time for a rest, we sat and waited about an hour before eight Brown-capped Rosy Finches flew around the rocky hillside. They briefly landed a couple of times.
Many hummingbirds came to the three feeders hanging on the Echo Lodge. Most were female Broad-tailed Hummingbirds with a few adult males. Half a dozen Rufous Hummingbirds, again mostly females also visited. One female Calliope Hummingbird was harassed each time it tried to drink some the nourishment.
No American Three-toed Woodpeckers were found at the Echo Lake Campgrounds. We then hiked downhill along the Captain Mt Trail and found a male American Three-toed Woodpecker drumming (about 20 yards from trailhead).
It started to rain rapidly. I could only briefly find one Barrow's Goldeneye on Echo Lake.
Heading back toward Denver, we detoured to Mt. Falcon Park (Jefferson County). The rain had stopped the park was quite birdy. Dozens of Mountain Bluebirds, Western Bluebirds, Pygmy Nuthatches and a few Red-breasted Nuthatches, White-breasted Nuthatches and Mountain Chickadees were between the upper parking lot and restrooms. One female Western Tanager was south/below the parking lot.
I then walked the Parmelee Trail south from the restrooms. A Green-tailed Towhee family, many Lark Sparrows and a Lincoln's Sparrow were added to additional bluebirds and Chipping Sparrows. A Dusky Grouse was downhill/south of the yellow metal sign (downhill people yield to uphill traffic).
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