Wednesday, October 17, 2018

Buena Vista to Jefferson, Colorado

October 5, 2018

Richard Stevens:

High at Jefferson, Colorado was only 46 degrees today.  Winds were 8-9 mph with gusts to 29 mph on the high plains of South Park (much less in the mountains).

Not wanting to be out on a weekend, I headed back toward Denver.  A brief stop at the Buena Vista overlook found two Pinyon Jays, a Juniper Titmouse and six Bushtits.

Ruby Mountain Park Area (Chaffee) added fourteen additional Pinyon Jays.

I made very brief stops to scope the three Park County Reservoirs near Hwy 24 & Hwy 285.  No scoters or loons were observed.  The Red-necked Grebe was not relocated.  High winds created high waves and made finding waterfowl quite difficult.

The detour up Georgia Pass Road (Park) was interesting.  Two American Three-toed Woodpeckers were found at their usual location.

A Dusky Grouse was found about 200 yards farther west (uphill).  A Northern Pygmy-Owl responded to a recording about 50 yards east (downhill) of the Three-toed Woodpecker pullover.

Closer to Denver, I detoured over to Pine Valley Ranch Park (Jefferson).  No owls were enticed to respond to my recordings.

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