April 18 - Best Birding Day ever! Yes to Greater Sage Grouse, all three Rosy Finches, and ......Ptarmigan!!!!

April 18

A sweet day!!  We started out 4:30 am for the drive to the Greater Sage Grouse lek around Maybell about 30 minutes away.  We arrived in the lightening dawn and immediately saw displaying Great Sage Grouse Males.  They were on both sides of the road which is on a ranch.  There were approximately 138 Greater Sage Grouse.  They were close and beautiful and entertaining also.  It was awesome.  It was clear and cold and the wind was not too bad.  We stayed about two hours to view the colourful males, puffing out their yellow neck bags and raising their tail feathers in a stiff fan to attract the females.  There were several that simply crossed the dirt road (why did the chicken cross the road?? - to attract a female of course!).

We were all happy to have  had such good looks and close looks at so much action.  Derrick the fellow who runs the tours to the lek was also very good in getting us there.  After this first of the morning lifer, we went back to the motel, packed up and headed out on highway 50 west towards the mountains.  It was a beautiful day and we made good time in making it to Silverthorne which is a lot like Banff.  Settled into the Rocky Mountains and a big ski resort, it is set in lovely scenery.  In the last 48 hours the Loveland Pass area had 48" of snow, so the skiers are all enjoying the spring skiing,and snow boarding.  This meant lots of traffic up through the impressive pass and the long tunnels to get there from Silverthorne.  But enough about the spectacular scenery.

We went up to a residential street in Silverthorne, to a house that had two feeders.  There were dozens of Rosy Finches feeding here along with a Pygmy Nuthatch.  We saw great numbers of Brown Capped Rosy Finches, along with several Grey Crowned and a couple of the Black Rosy Finches (Halpern's subspecies).  We stood on the street and viewed the feeding finches who alterntated between the feeder and the nearby pines.  Once the sun came out, the colours on the Rosy Finches were spectacular.  This was simply a sweet moment.  Connnie and Jane and I all took lots of photos.  So did the Skevingtons and Neil,  The sound of camera shutters filled the air and did not seem to bother the birds.

After checking in at the Alpine Inn in Fresco which is at aproximately 9,000 feet, we headed into the Loveland Pass which takes one to the top of the Loveland Pass at over 11,000 feet.  It was a spetacular drive up.  This includes hairpin turns and a long tunner through the mountain.  There are few barriers to the sides of the road and it is a long long way down.  Finally we got to the top and we had to find a parking spot up the road as the first one was jammed with skiers.  It was starting to snow a bit and there was a lot of snow up there.  Jeff and all of us scanned the hillside we were looking down upon.  Jeff heard the Ptarmigan (White-tailed Ptarmigan) and then spotted it.  We all looked for with the odd snow flake falling on to the pristine white snow (48 fresh inches of it), looking for a pure white bird the size of a chicken. Jeff found two, not too far away from each other in the same little bit of grass and they were feeding.
We all were thrilled to bits.  A sweet sweet moment!  The above photo is the result.  (this was taken with an Iphone through the scope with a device to hold the ipone steady that Jeff had.  The Ptarmigan were hard to see until one concentrated and located the birds.
We watched them feed, other people stopped by to see what we were looking at.  The Ptarmigan couple or as Connies has said "parmesan" were side by side and it looked like the best Christmas Card photo ever!  Then the lovely pair flew down to some coniferous trees and sat underneath one of the trees for a few minutes.  Then they disappeared.  We were all smiles for the rest of the day.  The female appreared to have a transmitter attached to her wing.

Tonight at supper at a Chinese/Thai restaurant we toasted our Ptarmigan.  It has been a long time for me, and waiting for today made it all worth it.

On the home front, no baby girl yet, and today was the due date, so she will arrive fashionably late.

Today was the best birding day ever with some really great lifers for each of us.  Just fantastic..  We are all exhausted with the long day and have lots of smiles on our faces!

Some of great birds today

April 17, 2016 - no J & Ash baby yet... maybe tomorrow Yes to Sharp-tailed Grouse

April 17

Today we worked hard for the Sharp-tailed Grouse and Alexander with his keen eyes spotted several first.  This was at the second location, as the first one did not work out.   We left the motel at 5 am and drove west of Maybell.  It was snowy and dark and so cold.  We looked for at least an hour and then went on to a second location that Jeff had found out about.

We looked for quite a while and then Alexander had them.  We all walked slowly down the field and the two Sharp-tailed did not fly.  We had excellent looks at them and then another male flew in.  We could see the lovely purple neck sacs.  They were making some calls but we did not see the females.  We stayed here pretty well for the rest of the morning, the sun was coming out but it was still cold but not too windy here.

We then went on to a Sagebrush ranch area east of Craig to look for the Sagebrush Sparrow.  The sun came out, the roads got greasy and the wind went crazy.  We did not have good looks at too much except raptors:  Golden Eagles, mature and immature, Bald Eagles, Prairie Falcons, Swainson's Hawk, and Red-tailed Hawks were all seen several times.  It was a good ID exercise for us.   It was too windy for smaller birds and so we only had a brief look at a maybe Sagebrush Sparrow.  It was so windy at 6,400 feet, that when we went to switch drivers, the door would either not open or slam shut before one could get in or out.  You should see our vehicle, it looks like the mudmobile!!   I think we will have to clean off the lights so we can drive it tonight and we will have it washed after tomorrow's outing.

We left this place and went to ponds nearby Craig where we had a wonderful selection of Cinnamon Teal, Northern Shoveler, Blue-winged Teal, and Ruddy Ducks to name a few. 

We are now going to supper but we have done some chores as we have to leave the motel packed up at 4 am tomorrow, so it will be an early bedtime for us tonight.  We are going to try for the Greater Sage Grouse tomorrow at a lek nearby.

As for the new grandbaby, any day now.  Tomorrow is the long-awaited due date for a baby girl for J & Ashley, so I am so excited to hear the news.  Godspeed baby girl!

April 16, 2016 Gambel's Quail, Black Throated Sparrow, Broad-tailed Hummingbird

April 16

Today we drove to Colorado National Monument to bird in the Devil's Kitchen Trail.  Here we saw the beautiful Black-throated Sparrow.   This bird also gave us a great looks.  In the canyon we could also hear and see Rock Wren.  From this low area we went right to the top of the canyon for the Rim Drive.  Here we stopped along the lookouts and trails (Cold Shivers Point) for birds.  Yes it was cold here all day with a fierce wind.  This is a long drive around the Rim of the Canyon.  In many places there are great looks down, with no shoulders or guardrails.  The scenery is stunning.  We were on the Rim when Jeff spotted a bird on a cliff top above the road and reversed down the narrow road.  We then also reversed and up there was the Chukar.  We saw the detailed stripey sides of this bird, it is beautiful.From here we went down the canyon and stopped at a park location accessed through a residential street.  We did the trail here looking for the Gambel's Quail.  Some of us were slower and took our time on the trail and saw 6 of these.  The Quail walk so quickly; similar to the slow moving steps of a traditional Japanese actors moving on stage but with little movement.  The Quail are curious and quite comfortable in urban neighbourhoods.  Also just off this trail, in the scrub a Broad-tailed Hummingbird was seen.  This is the first hummingbird for the trip.  It was cold today and the hummingbird sat for a long time. 

It has been great having Jeff with us and his Dad and Jeff's son Alexander and Richard's friend Neil. They all have great spotting abilities!

After lunch the weatherman got it right.  We had rain in Grand Junction but as we started north on highway 13, it started to snow hard.  The wind was very strong on the open road and we took it easy through the mountain passes.  Along the way we saw two Bald Eagles on a rock by the river up close, many ducks, an Osprey and groups of Juncos.  As for mammals we had Elk, Mule Deer, Pronghorn Antelope and a Coyote.  We arrived in Craig, a mountain community of 10,000 people which is supported by the local coal mine and power generating station.  We went out for supper at the local Italian restaurant and the snow started here and it looked like it was coming down and not melting. 

So a good day.  We had some good exercise today on the trails, saw some great birds and I hope we will go to sleep quickly as we have to get up at 4 am tomorrow for the Sharp-tailed Lek. 

I should get to bed, it is 10:30 already and 4 am comes very quickly!

Jane and Connie are still up and doing stuff also as it has turned out to be a longer evening with chores even on the road.  Our rental vehicle is pretty dirty from the clay roads and then the snow slush drive.  We are really glad we have four wheel drive SUV for Colorado (and it is a gas guzzler)!  Here is a photo of one of my favourite birds 

 

Yellow-headed Blackbird

April 15, 2016 - Gunnison to Grand Junction Texas - more lifers

April 15

Today we girls  had the luxury of sleeping in a bit longer and we got up at 5:45 am.  We decided that we were happy to have seen the female Dusky Sage Grouse yesterday.  Jeff, his Dad Richard, his son Alexander and Richard's friend Neil all left early this morning to drive on to Black Canyon of the Gunnison again for dawn to try for the courtship display of the male Dusky Sage Grouse.  We girls just could not get up early for the hour long drive in the the pre-dawn hours.   The fellows were really lucky and saw the male Dusky Sage Grouse  displaying and took some wonderful photos.  We met up with them at Montrose as we left Gunnison at 7 am.  Our drive was not as pretty as yesterday's.  It was a drive through the lower storm  clouds.  We would drive out of the low clouds as we were driving through the passes and then back in as we went up the pass and then back down again.  Once we met up with the fellows we drove on to the best canyon I have ever seen in Colorado.  I am pretty sure the others agree.

Escalante Canyon (off of Highway 50 on the way to Grand Junction) had the most varied mountain scenery..  With pink rocks and tall canyons, grasslands and foothills in the long drive (we estimated it to be 10 miles long maybe).  It is the same drive back.

This place also has great birds.  We saw Mountain Bluebirds, Western Bluebirds, Gray Flycatcher (a lifer for many), Bewick's Wren, Brewer's Sparrow, and the Black-throated Grey Warbler (a lifer for me and others).   Young Alexander is just piling on the lifers in this trip.  Escalente Canyon is a wonderful place.  The standing rock canyons at places looked like ancient temples in ruin.  Some looked like abandoned medieval towers.  The variety of the canyon formations were unique.  Some of the rocks looked ready to slide down onto the dirt road.  This is not a place to be during a storm.  We loved this place for the scenery and the birds.   We saw the Yellow Marmot here along with three Big Horned Sheep here.  The birds just kept on showing up for us.  The Sage Thrasher was the last bird we saw.

From here we ended up on the I70, the major highway east west  through Colorado including Denver.  Just outside Grand Junction we stopped at Wild Horse Road at the end of the day.  Here we were fortunate to see two Chukars flying to end the day.  We then drove on to Grand Junction where we are staying now at the Quality Inn on Horizon Road.  We had a good supper at the hotel which saves time driving to a restaurant.

We know there is a storm coming and we will be driving to Craig tomorrow afternoon so we should only be on the outskirts of the weather.  We have to check that our rental car has chains, which none of us have ever even put on or driven with just in case, as, in the news, they said if anyone was going into the Denver area to make sure that they have chains on their vehicles as it is the law.  We are over two hundred miles away from Denver and we are heading north for the Greater Sage Grouse and Gambel's Quail and maybe the Sharp-tailed Grouse.  Jeff talked to the fellow we are to meet at the lek this evening and this fellow said we should be fine with good tires.   So no worries on that.

We are all overtired this evening, including someone named Jane as she did all the driving today, so we can't stop laughing.  Jeff would like us to load up by 6 am and then go have breakfast so it is another early morning start.   We are trying to get to bed early tonight but I am doing this blog, Connie is organizing and finally found something she has been looking for days in one of her black bags.  Jane told us she has a switch blade that we have to remind her she has before she gets on the plane, she does not want to lose it.  So it is one of our more "normal" evenings.  I have yet to find my curing iron that I had the first night we were here and it has not been seen since.  Tomorrow it is my turn to drive.  I have to see what is for breakfast tomorrow that maybe could be a lunch possibility. 

It will be another adventure tomorrow with new birds.

Here are some of the views we saw today, just stunning.

April 14 Gunnison Sage Grouse YES! Dusky Grouse Yes!

April 14

We got up at 3:45 am to get to the Waunita Hot Springs Gunison Sage Grouse Lek.  Again there was a trailer set up with a side opened up like a chip wagon.  We got settled on benches with our scopes.  It was a cool morning, just above freezing.  The beautiful night sky was above us and it was stunning.  We waited for the dawn light as this is when the male Grouse come out to do his posturing to attract the females.  The Grouse swell up their white throat bags like balloons and their still tail feathers come up so they look big and strut around.  Sometimes they even fight other males to attract the females.  Before dawn came we heard the coyotes' howling and the Great Horned Owl calls.  Then the dawn chorus of bird calls were heard.  Finally some light and we could see some males starting to strut around about a kilometer away on a ridge.  It was hard to locate them at that distance, then as it got lighter, it was easier to see them.  We saw one of the coyotes try to chase the Grouse, it just flew up out of reach of the coyote.  We watched this mating ritual until the full sun came up and into our eyes.  We had a great experience.

From here we went back to the motel to check out and hit Highway 50 for Black Canyon of the Gunisons.  This was three mountain passes away and we traveled up and down around switchback curves and long straightaways.  If one is driving a transport truck down one of these hills and one's brakes fail, there are special runaway truck lanes for the truck to slow down to a dead end rather abruptly.  We had a drive of about 1 hour and 15 minutes and we stopped several times to view ducks at the huge reservoirs that followed the highway.  The Skevingtons are sharp birders and have good eyes so one of them always finds something new.  Their friend Neil also has a great eye and the patience to keep looking for birds and as a result he is often successful. 

We traveled up to over 8 thousand feet where we birded the areas of sagebrush for the Dusky Grouse, another species that also has mating rituals.  Alexander, Jeff's 11 year old son found us a Dusky Grouse!!!   We saw a very pretty female up close.  We saw Mule Deer, Elk, Squirrels and Chipmunks here. Some of us got another lifer, the Green-tailed Towhee which is a stunning bird.  We had a short sprinkle of rain here and there as on top of the mountain, weather is unsettled.  It may be warm at times, then a cool wind would whip around.  We drove around and did some trails which were spectacular with a view for miles.  There were stiff winds up there also.  They say there is a snow storm coming but we hope to be in Grand Junction by the time it hits later this week.  We looked long and hard for a Dusky Grouse male, for most of the afternoon,  but were not successful.  We also saw a Peregrine Falcon in its natural canyon habitat flying very quickly. 

We did a fair bit of walking in the park today and we saw some really nice birds.    Some of us also got some really nice photos but there is no time in the evenings to do anything except wash and get ready for the next day.

One the drive back there were dark clouds always over on the next side of the pass but by the time we crossed into the pass, the ominous clouds had moved off, so we were lucky.  It was really windy, one could feel the wind move the car.

Everyone is doing great and we are having fun and adventures.  Even in checking into a hotel is an adventure sometimes!   Tomorrow we are moving on again westward, so more mountains.

We managed to get laundry done today, so that was one big task done.   Who has time for laundry on birding days but it is hard to believe that we have been here a week already.  It was pizza for supper for Connie and me and Jane had a chicken take-out from Safeway.

Some birds today Dusky Sage Grouse, Green-tailed Towhee, Lark Sparrow along with a mountain view and a Mule Deer

April 13 - In the Rocky Mountains and Snow!!

April 13, 2016

We left Pueblo this morning and birded our way into the Rocky Mountains.  We stopped at a small rural route street, Wetmore and we saw some lovely birds, Spotted Towhee, Western Scrub Jay and Grey-capped Dark Eyed Junco.

We traveled west on Highway 50 into the Rocky Mountains and stopped several times for a Golden Eagle, Bald Eagle, Pinion Jay, Three-toed Woodpecker. By this time we were in the snow and at 11,000 feet plus in Monarch Pass.  From here were traveled down toward Gunison where we saw the Mountain Bluebirds.   All stunning birds.  We drove on into Gunison which is a large ski town in the Rockies with everything.  We birded several places in town and saw Cassin's Finch and Western Bluebird.  At another place we saw one of my favourites, an American Dipper in the fast flowing waters.  That was a real treat. 

Dinner options were researched and we ate at Garlic Mike's Restaurant. Everyone had a very good supper.  This is a short post, Connie is locking us into our room for the night.  Got to go.   A good day.

A photo of one of the birds today is the Three-toed Woodpecker below.

April 12 - Yes to Lesser Prairie Chicken! Snowy Plover! Scaled Quail! Mountain Plover!

April 12

Sorry no photo inserted here, the system at the motel is SLOW and will probably takes weeks!

We started the day at 4:30am traveling in the dark night to the dawn chorus of birds and the lek entertainment, this time performed by the Lesser Prairie Chicken.  Although we did not have great looks until the end of the morning outing, it was great to see the birds jumping high over the low wheat grass as part of their courtship display.    There are no photos, it was simply too far away.  We had excellent looks at the Lesser Prairie Chicken at the end of the morning.  We left Kansas to travel back to Colorado.

We birded Holbrook Reservoir and IL Ranch Road and then to Swallow Road West near Pueblo.   Neil spotted the Snowy Plover from across the lake at Holbrook which was very hard to do.  Then we started to look for the Scaled Quail and again Neil spotted the Scaled Quail.  Thank you Neil.  As we went up higher to the top end of Swallows Road, Jeff spotted the Mountain Plover out in the field.  These were very nice lifers for all and a very pleasant day for birding.  The temperature was cool to start but then rose to around 65 degrees.  It was hot this afternoon but later in the day it got really cool with the wind.

The Rocky Mountains came into view today and are spectacular. We also spotted a coyote and a pronghorn antelope in the wilds.

So we consider this a fine day with the wonderful lifers we got.  We are staying at the Econolodge in Pueblo and we ate a delicious supper at Black-eyed Peas.

A wonderful sight at Holbrook was a raft of about 30 White Pelicans that were in a precise line swimming together around the lake.  In addition we saw the Western Grebes in courtship display alternating and in unison with their head bobbing.  Then two or three of them would dance across the water.  This was a 5 Grebe day, Pied, Clark's, Western, Horned and Eared, so it does not get much sweeter.

A great day!

Some of the birds we saw today included a Cinnamon Teal.