Friday, July 5, 2019

Western Slope Trip (Chaffee, Saguache & Gunnison Ctys)


Rebecca Kosten: transcript of telephone call:


June 30, 2019

I met up with Terry Michaels and we swung by Banner Lakes Wildlife Area (Weld) on our way out of town.  It was too early in the morning to miss Denver's rush hour traffic.  A White-throated Sparrow and Spotted Towhee were around the windbreak for Pond #4.  No owls were found.

We drove Highway 285 south down to Hwy 24.  A detour to the three Park County reservoirs found no uncommon birds.  Winds were measured at 22-23 mph.

Trout Creek Pass (Park) added an American Three-toed Woodpecker to our new trip list.

A small flock of six Pinyon Jays flew around the parking area for Ruby Mountain (Chaffee).  

After dark, our "owl listening stations" were set up north of the Buena Vista Overlook.  Then we sat and listened for owls at a nearby location.  Eventually a Northern Saw-whet Owl was attracted to our recordings.  Later another Northern Saw-whet Owl was picked up on our "owl listening stations" recordings.

July 1, 2019

Terry and I drove around Buena Vista before heading into the mountains.  Two Lewis's Woodpeckers were observed along Pleasant Avenue.  Misses: no Western Screech-Owls were found this morning.

Then we headed up Marshall Pass (Chaffee).  While most of it can be driven in a regular car, we do recommend using a high clearance 4-wheel drive.  Marshall Pass goes through Chaffee County, enters Saguache County, returns to Chaffee and ends up back on Saguache County.

Having made this trek on over a dozen occasions over the years, we stopped at regular/previous marked waypoints.

Our bird count included three American Three-toed Woodpeckers, two Purple Martins and two Williamson's Sapsuckers.  The usual suspects such as Canada Jays, Clark's Nutcrackers, etc were also found.

At dusk, we found/saw two Flammulated Owls.  Both were at waypoint location from previous years!  A Northern Saw-whet Owl was found when we camped at O'Haver Lake.

July 2, 2019

Terry and I continued our Marshall Pass Survey today.  The first quarter of the trip was in Chaffee County.  Birds encountered included two American Three-toed Woodpeckers, a MacGillivray's Warbler, Broad-tailed Hummingbirds, and a Williamson's Sapsucker.

Terry thought he heard a Hepatic Tanager.  We searched almost two hours; however, whatever bird was not found.  Several pairs of Pine Grosbeaks and a flock of four Red Crossbills were seen during the search.

Back in Saguache County, we added four American Three-toed Woodpeckers, two Williamson's Sapsuckers and several Hermit Thrushes.  A colony of Purple Martins included two males and a non-adult male.

After dark, we again sat and played recordings.  One Northern Saw-whet Owl was spotted in a nearby evergreen.  Winds were quite strong which did not aid in our owling.

July 3, 2019

Terry and I explored Cumberland Pass (Gunnison) today.  We did not drive as far as hoped.  CR 76 was clear through Pitkin and the Alpine Turnoff.   Muddy roads became a problem after that.  We made it to Quartz Campground before running into snowdrifts.

From Quartz Campground we hiked (with snowshoes) the 3.9 miles (measured by GPS) to the Napoleon Pass Trailhead (10,695 feet).  Cumberland Pass Summit (11,600 feet) was another 4.1 miles.

With a round trip of 16 miles at hand, we decided not to climb Cumberland Pass and search for White-tailed Ptarmigans.  Would have liked to add a White-tailed Ptarmigan to our trip list, but good sense turned us around.

Nothing uncommon nor any target birds found today.  No owls heard along Cumberland Pass or at the Campground this evening.

July 4, 2019

Our trip finally was affected by the massive amounts of snow the mountains received this spring.  Our drive stopped at the Campgrounds, which are approximately 8.0 miles from the Cumberland Pass summit.  No way could we get to the Summit or bird Tincup and Mirror Lake.  Tincup is a good 5 miles north of the Summit; we were not up for a 13-mile one-way trek.

An attempt to drive or hike down Forest Road 769 (Middle Quartz Creek Trail) was limited by snowdrifts.  No uncommon or many birds were encountered in the short distance traveled.

Then we wandered up Alpine Tunnel Road (Forest Road 767).  Again, roads were closed to driving.  Snowshoes in hand we hiked in about 5 miles along Quartz Creek before stopping (elevation measured at 10,255 feet).  

Elevation was high enough for Boreal Owls or Northern Saw-whet Owls, a little high for Northern Pygmy-Owls.  None was found.  Elevation was too low to get above tree line for a White-tailed Ptarmigan search.

There was no attempt to continue to The Palisades and Alpine Tunnel.  High and loud winds prohibited hearing much tonight.

On the hike back to Cumberland Pass Road, we had a Northern Pygmy-Owl respond to our recordings.  Snowdrifts prohibited additional birding in the area.

July 5, 2019

Back on flat roads!  Terry and I drove Gunnison CR 38 an hour before sunrise.  We made it several miles into Saguache County before turning around.  On the way back, we found a female Gunnison Sage-Grouse and three young wandering along CR 38, north of CR 38a.

No additional Gunnison Sage-Grouse were observed along Gunnison CR 32 and we headed to the Neversink Trail.  No Least Flycatchers could be found; nesting here has been suggested, perhaps not confirmed.

In the afternoon, we hooked up with a friend who has had Western Screech-Owls and Yellow-billed Cuckoos on his ranch.  Regrettably, none was located today.

Late in the afternoon, we drove to the entrance of the Miller Ranch Wildlife Area.  The area is closed 2/1 to 9/1; we observed and heard nothing while walking along CR 7 & CR 7a.

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