More Colorado

Well I am back from Colorado and my family is very excited to have me back home. I was gone for two weeks guiding field trips in Colorado. During both trips I was able to show all the particapants all thier targets species and others! Each group had wonderful time and many lifers!

I also want to thank my two wonderful assistants, Jerry Jenkins of Va. Beach and Arron Decker originally from Hibbing, MN but lives in Va. Beach, Virginia. Terry helped during week one and Arron during week two. They were a HUGE help in loading luggage, driving the van during the long stretches between point A and B. These guys helped point out birds to particapants, help people in out of the van and did a whole lot of various chores and tasks which help me concentrate on the route and keeping people happy. Thanks guys!

I got a few lifers for myself! I was able to get a Black Rosy Finch and a Chukar during week one and during week two I was able to get Blue Grouse (female), Pinyon Jay, Gray Flycatcher and a Brewer's Sparrow. The group during week one saw 115 species and week two we found roughly 125 species.

Highlights during the two weeks in Colorado:

• White-tailed Ptarmigan at Loveland Summit


• Greater Sage Grouse at the Hayden Lek on Co. Rd 80 Rd.


• Sharp-tailed Grouse along Twenty Mile Rd near Hayden and also along Co. Rd 80.


• Chukar at Cameo


• Gunnsion Sage Grouse at Wauneta Springs Lek (Sisk-a Dee Org.)


• Lesser Prairie Chickens at the Campo Lek. * Only 3 males and one female. Also only one of the males goes to the public blind lek but SE of this lek is another lek with two males and female. The population must of took a huge hit during the winter storm. Elkhart Kansas had more birds (15) from what I heard from other groups.


• Blue Grouse was seen walking across the Twenty Mile Rd near Hayden.


• All three Rosy Finches at Crested Butte during week one and nothing during week two! You need snow to see these birds during April! Allan Park at Fawnbrook only had a group of 60-100 Brown-capped Rosy Finches during both weeks.


• Pinyon Jays at the Forest Informative Office along Hwy. 13 just before I-70 in Rifle. Just beyond the office is a area full of pinyon trees, trash, a shooting range and ATV trails!


• Gray Flycatcher, Juniper Titmouse, Bush Tits, Bewick's Wren and a Rock Wren were all seen at the above location.


• Say's Phoebe, Rufous-crowned Sparrow and a Black Phoebe were all seen last week at Tunnel Drive in Canon City.


• Sissor-tailed Flycatcher, Lark Buntings, Grasshopper Sparrows, Brewer's Sparrow, Loggerhead Shrike, Western Kingbird, and a Cassin's Sparrow were all seen along the county roads (G.J and 36) a few miles east of Campo.


• A brief look of a fly by Inca Dove was during week one south of the public blind in Campo. I made a error last week by typing Common Ground Dove when I meant Inca Dove.


• Western Bluebird, Lesser Goldfinch and several "Audubon's" Yellow-rumped Warblers were all seen at the Canon City Riverwalk.


• Ferrug. Hawk, Rough-legged Hawk, Swainson's Hawk, "Harlan's" Red-tailed Hawk, Cooper's Hawk, Peregrine Falcon, Prairie Falcons, and Golden Eagles were all seen in several places. The Harlan's was seen along Hwy 6 west of Holyoke.


• Great-horned Owl, Short-eared Owls (Campo lek area) and Burrowing Owls were seen in several places.


• Black-throated Sparrow was at Cameo.


• McCowen's Longspur, Chestnut-collared Longspur and Mountain Plovers were all seen at Pawnee Grasslands.


• Dippers were seen several places in the mountains.


• Thayer's Gull (2nd winter) and a Clark's Grebe, Horned Grebe, Bonaparte's Gulls, Franklin's Gull were all seen at Cherry Creek State Park.


• Townsend's Solitaire was at Barr's Lake State Park during week one.


• California Gull was at Bonnie State Park.


• Clark's Nutracker was at Monarch Pass.


• Red Crossbills and a Gray Jay was at the west summit at Rabbit Ears.


• White-throated Swifts along I-70 near Cameo.

Mammals:

Pronghorns, Elk, Coyotes, Mule & White-tail Deer, Black and Gunnison Prairie Dogs, Abert's Squirrel, Red Squirrel, Colorado Chipmunk, Wyoming Ground Squirrel, Rock Squirrel, Desert Cottontail, Black & White Tail Jack Rabbits, and Thirteen-striped Ground Squirrels amd Big Horn Sheep!

Scare:

I tried to do a U turn on the dirt road that leads south of the public blind in Campo and hung up the rear tires of the van and we had to walk out 5.5 miles out to get a cell phone signal. ( Thank God for Verizon!) We only wasted 2 hours but the the two hour walk was fantastic and the group saw several lifers! No one complained and once we got a signal I called the Campo Cafe and knew there would be farmers sipping on coffee and sure enough I was right! A nice guy name Jerry Fowler came and hooked up a chain and took one pull with his 4X4 truck and got me out in 2 minutes!

Interesting people:

During week one I met a woman who had nearly 800 birds on her North American list! I met another woman during the 2nd week who has been to Attu 22 times! YES 22 times! Also at the Gunnison Blind in the dark walked 4 people from Minnesota! (Ron Elperding, Herb Dingman, Rick and Jean Specht) We laughed when we saw each other and shared info. They were on a tour called Orni-Folks. They were packed in a 15 passenger van! Meaning 10 people were in the van with each bench seat there were 3 people sharing that seat. YIKES! My van had three benches with two birders per bench. More room for personal stuff and lots of comfort to sleep and stretch = happy birders!