24 June - 8 July 1995
by Don Henise
Robyn and I completed two weeks in Colorado at the end of June and beginning of July. Our course took us from Denver counterclockwise through the western part of the state. Towns that we visited included Greeley, Loveland, Grandby, Dillon, Aspen, Montrose, Gunnison, Ouray, Cortez, Durango, Silverton, Alamosa, Canon City, Colorado Springs, Woodland Park and Castle Rock. We visited the following parks and natural areas; Pawnee National Grasslands, Rocky Mountain Park, Maroon Bells, Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Monument, Mesa Verde National Park, Monte Vista National Wildlife Refuge, Great Sand Dunes National Monument, Russell Lakes State Wildlife Area, Temple Canyon Park, Colorado Springs State Wildlife Area (Hanna Ranch) and Bear Creek Park.
This was our second trip to Colorado, but the first time on the
western
side of the Continental Divide in that state. In 15 days we drove
2500 miles and recorded a total of 168 bird species, 8 of which were
life
birds. Below, I've composed an annotated list of the interesting
species we saw (from an easterner's viewpoint of course).
Eared Grebe, Podiceps nigricollis
2 distant birds at Lower Latham Reservoir,
Greeley
Several at MonteVista NWR
Western Grebe, Aechmophorus occidentalis
Lower Latham Reservoir
Timnath Reservoir, Fort Collins
Lake Grandby
Blue Mesa Reservoir
Clark's Grebe, Aechmophorus
clarkii
* Life bird
Timnath Reservoir, Fort Collins
Thanks to BIRDCHATter Todd Tracey who
suggested
Timnath and then met us
there for a day of birding in the Pawnee
Grasslands.
We had close looks
at the grebes, with great comparisons with
the Western's.
American White Pelican, Pelecanus erythrorhynchos
2 circling over Lower Latham Reservoir
White-faced Ibis, Plegadis chihi
Lower Latham Reservoir
Monte Vista NWR
Russell Lakes SWA
Cinnamon Teal, Anas cyanoptera
Lower Latham Reservoir
Timnath Reservoir
Monte Vista NWR
Swainson's Hawk, Buteo swainsoni
Rocky Mountain Arsenal (Barr Lake Loop in
Lane)
Pawnee NG
Monte Vista NWR
Hanna Ranch
Ferruginous Hawk, Buteo regalis
possible immature bird at Pawnee NG
Hanna Ranch - another immature - we're still
waiting for a good look at
an adult
Golden Eagle, Aquila chrysaetos
Black Canyon - adult soaring and then landing
at nest
Poncha Pass - adult
Near Woodland Park - adult
Prairie Falcon, Falco mexicanus
Pawnee NG - poor look at a bird flying away
Castle Rock - nesting on Castle Rock!
Blue Grouse, Dendragapus
obscurus
*Life bird
Early one morning along the south rim road
at the Black Canyon Monument
we saw three different males, each sitting
up on a rock at the edge of
the road as if ready to display. On
of them even partially inflated
his throat sacks and gave a few hoots - This
was on July 1st!
White-tailed Ptarmigan, Lagopus leucurus
Our number 1 Colorado nemesis bird.
I include it here because we did
HEAR one. We spent several hours on
the Ute trail in RMNP without any
sign. The next day we went to Loveland Pass
and had a ptarmigan respond
to our tape. As we were scanning across
the tundra trying to locate
the source, Robyn caught it out of the corner
of her eye fly up and
over a ridge never to be seen or heard again,
despite several more
hours of searching. In light of the
recent thread on tape use, I might
add that the alternative to using a tape is
to tramp all over the
fragile tundra attempting to flush a
bird.
We stayed on existing
trails and periodically played the ptarmigan
call. Colorado had
experienced unusually high snowfall and a
cold spring, so there was
still quite a bit of snow on the tundra.
Maybe most of the Ptarmigan
were still at lower elevations. At any
rate we didn't count this bird
even though ABA will now let us. Somehow
hearing a ptarmigan just
wasn't satisfying to us. Robyn's not
even counting the glimpse that
she got of the flying bird.
Gambel's Quail, Callipepla gambelii
Peach Valley southeast of Delta while
following
(unsuccessfully) Lane's
directions to Sage Sparrow.
Virginia Rail, Rallus limicola
As we drove up to Timnath Reservoir, Todd
Tracey, who was waiting for
us there, signaled us to look in front of
his car. There on the road
was a Virginia Rail, Todd's lifer!
Sora, Porzana carolina
Lower Latham Reservoir
Manitou Lake
American Coot, Fulica americana
South of Durango
Monte Vista NWR
Mountain Plover, Charadrius montanus
Pawnee NG along road 122 on the western loop
described by Lane (page 20)
American Avocet, Recurvirostra americana
Lower Latham Reservoir
Monte Vista NWR
Russell Lakes SWA
Marbled Godwit, Limosa fedoa
Lower Latham Reservoir
Wilson's Phalarope, Phalaropus tricolor
Lower Latham Reservoir
Monte Vista NWR
Franklin's Gull, Larus pipixcan
Lower Latham Reservoir
California Gull, Larus californicus
Lower Latham Reservoir
Manitou Lake
Barn Owl, Tyto alba
Hanna Ranch - we had been directed to this
nest in a dirt bank in 1990
and checked it out again and there they were
five years later,
still using the same hole.
Burrowing Owl, Speotyto cunicularia
Sitting on the fence a t Rocky Mountain
Arsenal
Common Poorwill, Phalaenoptilus nuttallii
Temple Canyon Park, Canon City - 3 birds
calling
at dusk
Black Swift, Cypseloides niger *Life bird
Ouray - this was supposed to be an easy bird
in Ouray, but the weather
didn't cooperate with us. It was
unusually
cool and damp throughout
our trip, but the morning we first went to
Ouray it was overcast and
raining. Needless to say, very few
White-throated
Swifts were even
flying that morning. We spent several
hours in the vicinity of Box
Canyon Falls and saw at most 5 White-throated
Swifts. The next day we
decided to try Ouray in the evening (we were
staying in Montrose about
40 miles to the north) since swifts are more
active in the evening.
When we arrived in Ouray in the afternoon
it was raining again so we
decided to do our laundry. Finally
sometime
after 6 pm, it started to
clear and swifts started flying.
Eventually
we were able to pick out
the different flight style of the Black Swifts
and were even able to
follow them in the scope for a good view.
The Black Swifts have more of
a fluttering flight - you can actually seen
the wingbeats - compared to
the quick flight of the White-throated Swifts.
White-throated Swift, Aeronautes saxatalis
Common near any rock cliffs
Black Canyon
Mesa Verde NP etc.
Broad-tailed Hummingbird, Selasphorus platycercus
Common everywhere except in the grasslands
and scrub land of the
southwest.
Rufous Hummingbird, Selasphorus rufus
*just as good as a life bird
In Durango, we stayed for three days with
some friends we had met 3
years ago on a birding trip to Southeast
Arizona.
On July 4th their
first Rufous of the season - a male - arrived
just in time for us to
see it. The only Rufous we had seen
before was a female that was in
northeast Maryland 2 winters ago.
Lewis' Woodpecker, Melanerpes lewis
Durango, coming to our friends' feeder - I
was surprised that this was
the only Lewis' we saw on the trip
Red-naped Sapsucker, Sphyrapicus nuchalis
Endovalley Picnic Area - RMNP
Williamson's Sapsucker, Sphyrapicus thyroideus
*Life
bird
Along Bear Lake Road RMNP - again thanks to
directions from Todd Tracey
we were able to observe a male and female
feeding their young at a
nest hole. Later we saw a male just
beyond the alluvial fan at
Endovalley at the edge of the aspen grove.
McClure Pass - a female
Northern "Red-shafted" Flicker, Colaptes auratus
Fairly common in the western part of the
state.
Olive-sided Flycatcher, Contopus borealis
Loveland Pass
North and South rims of the Black Canyon
Western Wood-Pewee, Contopus sordidulus
Crow Valley Park
RMNP
Hammond's Flycatcher, Empidonax hammondii
RMNP near the Williamson's Sapsucker nest
McClure Pass
Dusky Flycatcher, Empidonax oberholseri
Endovalley Picnic Area RMNP - at the willows
along the stream
Black Canyon
Gray Flycatcher, Empidonax
wrightii
*Life bird
Mesa Verde NP
Temple Canyon Park
Gray Flycatcher finishes off our list of
regularly
occuring US
flycatchers with the exception of our nemesis
birds - Alder and Yellow-
bellied - which have to pass practically
through
our backyard twice a
year. We'll catch up to them sooner
or later!
Cordilleran Flycatcher, Empidonax occidentalis
Box Canyon Falls, Ouray
Durango
Bear Creek Park, Colorado Springs
Ash-throated Flycatcher, Myiarchus cinerascens
Messa Verde NP
Temple Canyon Park
Western Kingbird, Tyrannus verticalis
Common in the eastern plains - Pawnee NG
San Luis Valley - Monte Vista NWR
Violet-green Swallow, Tachycineta thalassina
Common
Cliff Swallow, Hirundo pyrrhonota
I was surprised at how common these
were.
They were around just about
every bridge that we crossed.
Gray Jay, Perisoreus canadensis
Trail Ridge Road, RMNP at small pull-off just
before Milner Pass - 2
very photogenic birds
Steller's Jay, Cyanocitta stelleri
Fairly common in forests at 8 - 9,000 feet.
Blue Jay, Cyanocitta cristata
Crow Valley Park, Pawnee Grassland - I just
included them here to round
out our list ofjays.
Scrub Jay, Aphelocoma coerulescens
Black Canyon and other Pinyon-Juniper/Scrup
Oak habitat in the
southwest. They were not as conspicuous
as I remembered from our last
trip. Perhaps they were busy nesting.
Pinyon Jay, Gymnorhinus
cyanocephalus
*Life bird
We finally ran into a flock of these raucus
birds south of Durango in
the Animas River Valley and then saw others
at the Great Sand Dunes
Monument.
Clark's Nutcracker, Nucifraga columbiana
RMNP
Black Canyon - Warner Point Trail
Black-billed Magpie, Pica pica
Everywhere except mountain tundra
Mountain Chickadee, Parus gambeli
RMNP
Black Canyon
Plain Titmouse, Parus inornatus
Black Canyon
Temple Canyon park
Bushtit, Psaltriparus minimus
Black Canyon
Mesa Verde NP
Temple Canyon Park
Pygmy Nuthatch, Sitta pygmaea
RMNP - a pair visiting a nest hole just a
few trees away from the
Williamson's Sapsuckers
Rock Wren, Salpinctes obsoletus
Temple Canyon Park - we finally heard 2 of
these here on our next to
last day. I had expected to see and
hear them more frequently on the
trip.
Canyon Wren, Catherpes mexicanus
Heard one from both the north and south rim
of the Black Canyon.
Bewick's Wren, Thryomanes bewickii
Mesa Verde NP
Marsh Wren, Cistothorus palustris
Lower Latham Reservoir
Monte Vista NWR
Are these guys a different subspecies?
They sound harsher and look
drabber than east coast birds.
American Dipper, Cinclus mexicanus
Endovalley Picnic Area - RMNP
Cascade Falls, Ouray - very photogenic fellow
here
Western Bluebird, Sialia mexicana
The only bird of the trip was one seen along
Rt.. 160 between Durango
and Chimney Rock.
Mountain Bluebird, Sialia currucoides
These beautiful birds were quite common in
RMNP and around the Black
Canyon. We saw them at most of the
mountain
passes we crossed.
Townsend's Solitaire, Myadestes
townsendi
*Life bird
Saw our lifers near the Williamson's Sapsucker
nest and then saw
several others in RMNP
Box Canyon Falls, Ouray
Swainson's Thrush, Catharus ustulatus
McClure Pass - 1 singing - although we see
these every spring, we
rarely get to hear them sing.
Hermit Thrush, Catharus guttatus
Fairly common at higher elevations 9,000 +,
we heard them singing
frequently
Sage Thrasher, Oreoscoptes montanus
Black Canyon
Rt. 150 on the way to the Great Sand Dunes
American Pipit, Anthus rubescens
Alpine Tundra - Trail Ridge Road, Loveland
Pass. It was fun to watch
these guys doing their skylarking courtship
displays.
Loggerhead Shrike, Lanius ludovicianus
Pawnee NG
Peach Valley
Solitary "Plumbeous" Vireo, Vireo solitarius
Black Canyon
Ouray
Mesa Verde NP
"Western" Warbling Vireo, Vireo gilvus
Pretty common in the lower elevation forests
7 -9,000 feet. I tried to
study these birds and I noted a slight
difference
in the song from
our eastern birds. The western song
was a little harsher and didn't
seem as long as our eastern birds. The
upper edge of the white
supercilium seemed to have a darker
border.
Not near as dark as the
Red-eyed Vireo, but distinctly darker than
the eastern race. I'll have
to get out and study the eastern birds now.
Virginia's Warbler, Vermivora virginiae
Common in the Pinyon/juniper/oak around the
Black Canyon.
Yellow-rumped "Audubon's" Warbler, Dendroica coronata
RMNP
Wolf Creek Pass
Black-throated Gray Warbler, Dendroica nigrescens
Black Canyon
Mesa Verde NP
Temple Canyon Park
MacGillivray's Warbler, Oporornis
tolmiei
*Life bird
The first unsatisfactory views of this species
gave us some anxious
moments, but we eventually got great looks
at several locations McClure
Pass
Wilson's Warbler, Wilsonia pusilla
Endovalley Picnic Area - abundant in the
willow
patch across the stream
At tree line on any mountain pass in the
willow
patches
Western Tanager, Piranga ludoviciana
Ouray - saw a female, and heard a male singing
South of Durango - saw a male fly from a power
line
Temple Canyon Park - finally got a decent
view of a male - I don't know
why they were so hard to find this trip.
Black-headed Grosbeak, Pheucticus melanocephalus
Ouray
Bear Creek Park, Colorado Springs
Blue Grosbeak, Guiraca caerulea
Barr Lake Loop
Hanna Ranch
Lazuli Bunting, Passerina amoena
Box Canyon Falls, Ouray
Hanna Ranch
Green-tailed Towhee, Pipilo chlorurus
Common in the Pinyon/juniper/scrub oak around
the Black Canyon
Rufous-sided "Spotted" Towhee, Pipilo erythrophthalmus
Common in the Pinyon/juniper/scrub oak around
the Black Canyon
Bear Creek Park
Brewer's Sparrow, Spizella breweri
Pawnee NG - along Road 122 between Roads 37
and 45
Entrance road to the North Rim of the Black
Canyon
Lark Sparrow, Chondestes grammacus
Pawnee NG
Monte Vista NWR
Great Sand Dunes
Lark Bunting, Calamospiza melanocorys
Can't miss them at Pawnee NG
"Dusky" Fox Sparrow, Passerella iliaca
Maroon Bells campground area
Molas Pass
Lincoln's Sparrow, Melospiza lincolnii
RMNP - in the willows at tree line
Loveland Pass
Molas Pass
White-crowned Sparrow, Zonotrichia leucophrys
Above treeline
RMNP
Loveland Pass
Dark-eyed "Gray-headed" Junco, Junco hyemalis
Trail Ridge Road - RMNP
Lizard Head Pass
McCown's Longspur, Calcarius mccownii
Pawnee NG - Road 45 just south of Road 122
there is a large breeding
colony 40+ males
Chestnut-collared Longspur, Calcarius ornatus
Pawnee NG - Road 114 just east of RT. 85 -
we had one male displaying
Western Meadowlark, Sturnella neglecta
Pawnee NG - common
Common in the Animas River Valley south of
Durango and in the San Louis
Valley
Yellow-headed Blackbird, Xanthocephalus xanthocephalus
Lower Latham Reservoir
Timnath Reservoir
Monte Vista NWR
Brewer's Blackbird, Euphagus cyanocephalus
Fairly common in fields along the road after
crossing to the western slope
Orchard Oriole, Icterus spurius
Crow Valley Park, Pawnee NG - a singing male
- Todd Tracey's life bird
Northern "Bullock's" Oriole, Icterus galbula
Lower Latham Reservoir
Durango area
Brown-capped Rosy-Finch, Leucosticte australis
Ute Trail, RMNP - 4 flybys
Pine Grosbeak, Pinicola enucleator
McClure Pass
Molas Pass
Cassin's Finch, Carpodacus cassinii
RMNP
Pine Siskin, Carduelis pinus
Common just about everywhere but they seemed
particularly out of place
to us easterners in the Pinyon/juniper habitat
around the Black Canyon.
Lesser Goldfinch, Carduelis psaltria
Never Sink Trail along the Gunnison River
Bear Creek Park
Evening Grosbeak, Coccothraustes vespertinus
Box Canyon Falls, Ouray
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Don
Henise
Internet: deheni@ark.ship.edu
Computer
Center
BITNET: deheni@ship
Shippensburg
University
Voice: (717) 532-9121 ext 3170
1871 Old Main
Drive
Home: (717) 776-6550
Shippensburg, PA
17257
Fax: (717) 532-1427
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