Sunday, October 9, 2016

Last Trip to Mt Evans 2016

October 2, 2011

Today Terry Michaels and I led eight additional birders (two cars) for our last trip to Mt Evans Byway.  Mt Evans Road has been closed at Summit Lake for a month now.  After today, the road closes at Echo Lake.  It is about a 7 mile hike to Summit Lake from the closure gate.

A walk to the northwest corner of Summit Lake found three Brown-capped Rosy Finches flying overhead.  Several times, they landed on the rocky/grassy hill above us.

Then we split into two groups.  My group found two White-tailed Ptarmigan on the east side of Mt Evans Road at 600 yards from the Summit Lake Parking Area.

As I was calling Terry's group on our radios, Terry called that they had found two Ptarmigan along the east side of Summit Lake.

A walk down the Captain Trail at the Echo Lake Campgrounds added a male American Three-toed Woodpecker to our trip list.

We searched for Pine Grosbeaks around the western and southern sides of Echo Lake.  No Pine Grosbeaks were found; however, a female American Three-toed Woodpecker was along the line of telephone poles 50 yards southwest of Echo Lake.

At least three Barrow's Goldeneyes remained of the eleven that summered on Echo Lake!

After returning to Denver, Terry and I detoured to the Rocky Mountain Arsenal (Adams).  We did not find the Common Loon reported earlier in the day.  An Osprey flew over Lake Ladora.  It dove and was successful in catching a fish for dinner.

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