2004 Tour Narrative
A hot, still day on the short grass prairie of Pawnee National Grassland was not a sign of the weather to come during the rest of the Colorado & Utah tour this year, but it sure made for easy birding. We saw nearly all the targeted species as well, such as Ferruginous Hawk at a nest, a Mountain Plover doing distraction displays, McCown’s Longspur, Cassin’s Sparrow, and at least 21 Burrowing Owls, including multiple young at several burrows. One exception was the scarce Chestnut-collared Longspur, which we decided to not spend too much time on. Instead we favored a late afternoon rest in order to spend the late evening birding at an aspen grove in the foothills near Fort Collins. We were rewarded not only with Hammond’s Flycatcher, Ovenbird, and Pygmy Nuthatches, but for a full 20 minutes before official sunset, a calling Flammulated Owl. We were able to get stunning views of this ghost of a bird, even views through the spotting scope using natural light.
The next day’s weather started out a bit breezy with some overcast, which was just fine for birding. We saw several Wood Ducks and coaxed a Virginia Rail out of the reeds, but then the rain drops began. For the rest of the day we managed some birding between showers, but otherwise had plenty of time to browse one of the Rocky Mountain National Park visitor centers.
The next dawn in the national park was bright and cheerful, and we used the fine weather to see MacGillivray’s Warbler singing out in the open, a Red-naped Sapsucker drumming, Virginia’s Warbler, Townsend’s Solitaire, and abundant Broad-tailed Hummingbirds. Shortly after arriving at the usual spots on Trail Ridge Road our late morning our timing above treeline was quickly rewarded with a Brown-capped Rosy-Finch and a White-tailed Ptarmigan. Then began what became an onslaught of rain showers and thunderstorms, with one perfect break at lunchtime to enjoy a picnic with a Prairie Falcon overhead and another in the mid-afternoon, allowing us to bird the beautiful quaking aspen-ponderosa pine woodland, where we found Dusky Flycatcher, White-breasted Nuthatch, and everywhere, oodles of Elk. The rain continued through the night and next morning, forcing us to detour over Cameron Pass rather than Trail Ridge Road. The breaks in the rain began as we arrived at the pass, and there on the shoulder of the highway were several beautiful male Pine Grosbeaks, feeding unafraid in the gravel. We also took advantage of one short break between downpours to locate a Veery in dense streamside willows and to take a walk across the sagebrush flats full of Brewer’s Sparrows, Horned Larks, and Sage Thrashers.
Our early morning in the rolling hills north of Hayden paid off in the form of three Greater Sage-Grouse, along with our first Lazuli Bunting and Green-tailed and Spotted Towhees. A late morning stop on the Yampa River was hopping with birds such as many Bullock’s Orioles and a pair of Plumbeous Vireos. We finished the day with a group of two Chukar Families east of Grand Junction, another bird that can easily be missed on this tour.
The one full day among the Pinyon-Juniper woodlands and ancient sandstone cliffs of Colorado National Monument could be described only as picture perfect. After a dawn greeted by Black-throated Sparrow and Gray Vireo, we had a delightful picnic breakfast in a memorable setting accompanied by a Juniper Titmouse and a Black-throated Gray Warbler. We then cleaned up with Western Scrub-Jay, Gray Flycatcher, Bushtit, several flocks of Pinyon Jays, Western Bluebird, and Sage Sparrow. In the afternoon, despite the heat, we were able to see a beautiful male Scott’s Oriole near the Utah border.
A picnic dinner at Pelican Lake and a visit to the nearby Ouray National Wildlife Refuge was a welcome departure from our usual restaurant fare. We dined in the presence of Bullock’s Orioles, American White Pelicans, Forster’s Terns, Yellow-headed Blackbirds, and Clark’s Grebes, then at the refuge caught glimpses of an American Bittern and saw a Peregrine Falcon eyeing the marsh.
A visit to the fossil quarry at Dinosaur National Monument is always a highlight, but this year we also got to spend some time looking at not only pictographs along the drive from Grand Junction but also the petroglyphs along the road to Josie’s Cabin. But we weren’t able to quite make it to Josie’s Cabin this year for our usual picnic breakfast and birding walk up the nearby split canyons because a huge semi-truck was stuck in the narrow one-lane dirt road just a hundred yards from the end of the road. The poor driver had been looking for US Hwy 191 north of Vernal and was hopelessly lost. After alerting the sheriff via a cellphone call to 911 (amazing to get reception in such a remote area), we still enjoyed a picnic breakfast and got great views of Yellow-breasted Chat, Lazuli Bunting, Virginia’s Warbler, and Red Crossbill, the latter quite a surprise so far away from pine forest.
Our morning spent in the 11,000-foot elevation of Bald Mountain pass in the Uinta Mountains was delightful if only for the spectacular scenery and wonderful wildflowers. But the real highlight was having a male Black Rosy-Finch appear out of nowhere and land about 10 yards from the group on top of small spruce tree. It sat just long enough for us to say a few “wows” and was gone just as quickly as it had arrived. The juxtaposition of ice-pink and coal-black makes a lasting impression. We then birded the spruce-pine-fir forest most of the rest of the day, adding Sharp-shinned Hawk, Golden-crowned Kinglet, and Brown Creeper to the trip list.
On our final day we drove to North Arm Nature Area, which was hopping with Gray Catbirds, “Slate-colored” Fox Sparrows, and many other species. The rest of the day was spent keeping a mental tally of the incredible numbers of birds present at the Great Salt Lake, including the most Clark’s Grebes ever seen on this tour, countless California Gulls, Eared Grebes, American Avocets, and on and on. A nice surprise were two female Red-necked Phalaropes bobbing on the ultra salty lake, undoubtedly early on their southward migration. We finished the tour with a great dinner and a mini drive-by tour of downtown Salt Lake City.
Rich Hoyer