A White-tailed Ptarmigan stands among mountain wildflowers in the Colorado Rockies. Photo: Chris Wood
Colorado and Utah offer some of the most spectacular scenery in North America and this early summer tour will explore the region’s incredibly varied habitats at a time when every elevation is alive with breeding bird activity. We’ll begin in the Great Plains prairie of the Pawnee National Grasslands, travel to the forests, tundra and breathtaking alpine vistas of Rocky Mountain National Park, continue to the arid canyons and mesas of western Colorado near Grand Junction and in northeastern Utah at Dinosaur National Monument, then proceed to the high Uinta Mountains and finish at the Great Salt Lake.
Day 1: The trip begins at 6 p.m. in Denver. Night in Denver.
Day 2: Leaving Denver this morning we’ll drive north -stopping briefly at marshes and ponds for water birds - to the Pawnee National Grasslands. Here in the gentle rolling hills broken by occasional sandstone buttes and cottonwood-lined streams we’ll listen to myriad skylarking McCown’s Longspurs and Lark Buntings and look for other Great Plains specialties such as Ferruginous and Swainson’s Hawks, the declining Mountain Plover, Chestnut-collared Longspur and the local Cassin’s Sparrow. In riparian vegetation eastern birds such as Red-headed Woodpecker and Orchard Oriole are near the western limit of their range. If time and interest dictates we’ll end the day searching for Common Poorwill or Flammulated Owl. Night in Fort Collins.
Days 3-4: We’ll return this morning to the prairies and foothills of the Rockies before climbing the front range to Estes Park, a lovely town that will be our base of operations for exploring Rocky Mountain National Park. The park offers a good cross-section of the montane birdlife of the west in addition to some of the finest scenery in North America. We’ll search the tundra along Trail Ridge Road for White-tailed Ptarmigan and Brown-capped Rosy-Finch. At lower elevations we can expect such western and boreal species as Band-tailed Pigeon, Williamson’s Sapsucker, Cordilleran Flycatcher, Townsend’s Solitaire and possibly Northern Goshawk. Elk, Bighorn Sheep and Mule Deer abound, three species of Chipmunk occur, and if days have been warm butterflies such as Chryxus Arctic and Queen Alexandra’s Sulphur might be out. Nights in Estes Park.
Day 5: After a final early morning’s birding in the park we’ll cross the tundra zone again, continue westward over the continental divide and descend into a beautiful high- elevation valley known as North Park, near Walden. The area is characterized by expanses of sagebrush, wet meadows, willow-lined streams and many lakes and ponds. It supports a healthy population of Greater Sage-Grouse as well as Sage Thrasher, Brewer’s Sparrow and a variety of waterbirds including several species of grebes, waterfowl, shorebirds and gulls. Night in Steamboat Springs.
Day 6: West of Steamboat Springs, near Hayden, we’ll spend early morning in search for Sandhill Crane and the difficult-to-find Sharp-tailed and Blue Grouse amid grassy slopes that are alive with the songs of Vesper Sparrow and Western Meadowlark, then continue southwest toward Grand Junction. There are many birding possibilities along the way as we follow the upper reaches of the Colorado River through beautiful canyons below tall cliffs and buttes. As the climate becomes more and more arid, lush green meadows and stands of cottonwoods contrast with the dry pinyon-juniper hillsides and pale masses of sandstone. Here we should see Black-throated Gray Warbler and Black-headed and Blue Grosbeaks. Dry canyons host Chukar, Say’s Phoebe, Rock Wren and Black-throated Sparrow. Night in Grand Junction.
Day 7: The spectacular multi-colored sandstone cliffs, spires and chasms and the dry woodland and scrub of the Colorado National Monument region are home to a number of sought-after Great Basin specialties and other species including Gray Flycatcher, Pinyon Jay, Western Scrub-Jay, Juniper Titmouse and Gray Vireo. We may also have a chance to see Sage Sparrow, Cassin’s Kingbird and Scott’s Oriole. The dryness of the habitat can be deceiving. Many attractive wildflowers and their attendant butterflies as well as fascinating reptiles such as the brightly colored Eastern Collared Lizard live here, revealing themselves only to those who take a closer look. In the evening we’ll look for Western Screech-Owl and Common Poorwill. Night in Grand Junction.
Day 8: After a final early morning in the Grand Junction area we’ll head north through the hills of western Colorado looking for Golden Eagle, Virginia’s Warbler and Green-tailed and Spotted Towhees. The highway south of Dinosaur passes through an area of rimrock rich in pictographs from Ute and ancient Fremont cultures, and several can be seen from the road. Near Vernal, Utah, the Ouray National Wildlife Refuge’s extensive freshwater marshes and nearby Pelican Lake are excellent for Lewis’s Woodpecker, Western and Clark’s Grebes, Black Tern, Sage Sparrow and Yellow-headed Blackbird. Night in Vernal.
Day 9: During a morning visit to Dinosaur National Monument we’ll first enjoy the present-day residents such as Prairie Falcon, Canyon Wren, Plumbeous Vireo, Yellow-breasted Chat and Lazuli Bunting as we explore deep box canyons and tree-lined streams. Ancient petroglyphs on the nearby sandstone walls will give us a chance to ponder the past cultures that lived here, but it is a visit to the fossil quarry - with many dinosaur fossils still embedded in the rock - that will really stretch our abilities to comprehend the distant past. Driving east we’ll reach Park City in the afternoon, after a detour to lush meadows where Sandhill Crane and Bobolink breed. In the evening we may drive to a canyon of mixed forest on the east side of Salt Lake City where we’ll look for California Quail, American Dipper and, after dark, Flammulated Owl. Night near Park City.
Day 10: The Uinta Mountains are as magnificent as the Colorado Rockies with superb vistas of glacially carved peaks, extensive forests and wet meadows. We’ll seek Black Rosy-Finch at the edges of lingering snowfields, and in the forests below we’ll look for Three-toed Woodpecker, Williamson’s Sapsucker, Hammond’s Flycatcher, Pine Grosbeak and Cassin’s Finch. Moose are sometimes seen munching on the willows lining the upper Provo River, the arboreal Uinta Chipmunk is quite common and butterflies such as commas, swallowtails, arctics and checkerspots will be about if it’s warm enough. Night near Park City.
Day 11: Early this morning we’ll explore lush riparian thickets on the west slope of the Wasatch Mountains in search of Calliope Hummingbird, Gray Catbird and “Slate-colored” Fox Sparrow before descending to the shores of the huge and bird-rich Great Salt Lake just north of Salt Lake City. At Antelope Island, Bear River Refuge and Farmington Bay we’ll witness the concentrations of many thousands of waterbirds, including Eared Grebe, Cinnamon Teal and Franklin’s and California Gulls, as well as smaller numbers of Snowy Plover and Long-billed Curlew. Antelope Island supports a good population of Chukars along with Burrowing Owl and Rock Wren. Night near Salt Lake City Airport.
Day 12: The tour concludes this morning in Salt Lake City.
Updated: 11 April 2006
Prices
- 2009 price not yet available
Notes
Maximum group size seven with one leader; 14 with two leaders.