Great Spangled Fritillary on a thistle, just one of many southwestern Colorado butterflies. Photo: Louise Zemaitis
From the alpine tundra of Mount Evans and lush montane forests of the Grand Mesa to the arid canyonland of Mesa Verde and deep gorges of Black Canyon, southwest Colorado offers some of the most varied and spectacular scenery in the country. In midsummer, mountain meadows are carpeted with wildflowers and alive with butterflies including a dizzying array of fritillaries. Birds are surprisingly conspicuous as they care for their young, and mammals are also highly visible as they enjoy the brief summer weather. On our tour we’ll make an effort to see the region’s specialties including such birds as White-tailed Ptarmigan, Dusky Grouse, Gunnison Sage-Grouse, Black Swift, Pinyon Jay and Brown-capped Rosy-Finch, and such butterflies as Mead’s and Scudder’s Sulphurs, Colorado and Bramble Hairstreaks, Rockslide Checkerspot and Magdalena and Colorado Alpines. Along the way it will be hard to ignore such magnificent mammals as Mountain Goat, Bighorn Sheep, Elk and Pronghorn.
Day 1: The tour begins at 6 p.m. in Denver. Night in Denver.
Day 2: We’ll begin with a morning at Apex Park, one of the most productive butterflying spots in the area, where we’ll hope to see such gems as Two-tailed Swallowtail, Bramble Hairstreak and Wiedemeyer’s Admiral. The park is also rich in birdlife and we’ll look for such typical western species as Cordilleran Flycatcher, Black-headed Grosbeak and Lesser Goldfinch. After lunch we’ll continue to the alpine tundra at Loveland Pass where Magdalena Alpine, Rockslide Checkerspot and Grizzled Skipper can be found amid the alpine wildflowers and lichen-covered rocks. Although the tundra here is not extensive, White-tailed Ptarmigan and Brown-capped Rosy-Finch are always possible above treeline, and we should see our first White-crowned Sparrow. Night in Silverthorne.
Day 3: We’ll spend the morning exploring the montane forests of Pike National Forest where we should see mountain specialties such as Broad-tailed, Rufous and possibly Calliope Hummingbirds, Red-naped Sapsucker, Gray Jay, Pine Grosbeak, Red Crossbill and Cassin’s Finch. We’ll also search the nearby meadows for Queen Alexandra’s Sulphur, Purplish Copper and Boisduval’s Blue. As we head south through the immense high-elevation grassland of South Park we’ll look for prairie species such as Swainson’s and Ferruginous Hawks, and Mountain Bluebird. Night in Alamosa.
Day 4: This morning we’ll visit Monte Vista National Wildlife Refuge, an oasis in the arid landscape where we’ll look for waterbirds such as Eared Grebe, White-faced Ibis, American Bittern, Redhead, American Avocet and Wilson’s Phalarope. Butterflies are also numerous here and we should see Bronze and Ruddy Coppers and Garita Skipperling. Driving west through the San Juan Mountains to the Continental Divide at Wolf Creek Pass, we’ll stop to search for American Dipper along the headwaters of the Rio Grande and have some fun with fritillary identification as we try to sort out such beauties as Northwestern and Purplish Fritillaries. We’ll continue to the attractive town of Durango, widely known for its restored Victorian landmarks and historic narrow-gauge railroad. Night in Durango.
Day 5: We’ll spend this morning exploring the ponderosa pine forests of the La Plata Mountains near Junction Creek Campground. Forest clearings in and around the campground are often full of butterflies including Blue Copper, Colorado Hairstreak, Spalding’s Blue, Nais Metalmark and Great Spangled Fritillary. We should also find a variety of birds including Williamson’s Sapsucker, Plumbeous Vireo, Townsend’s Solitaire and Grace’s Warbler. In the afternoon we’ll visit Mesa Verde National Park in the high plateau country of Colorado’s southwest corner. Mesa Verde is best known for its fascinating Ancestral Puebloan mesa-top and cliff dwellings, abandoned abruptly and for unknown reasons in the late 13th century. As we view these remarkable dwellings we’ll watch the sky for Golden Eagle and Peregrine Falcon. We’ll also explore the park’s pinyon-juniper habitat, home to such birds as Ash-throated Flycatcher, Western Scrub-Jay, Juniper Titmouse and Black-throated Gray Warbler. Wildfires swept through Mesa Verde in July 2000, making dramatic changes in the landscape but sparing most of the dwellings, so we’ll get a firsthand look at this habitat’s regeneration. Night in Durango.
Day 6: This morning we’ll take what is arguably the most spectacular drive in all of Colorado as we head north from Durango through San Juan National Forest. We’ll stop at Haviland and Andrews Lakes in search of montane birds such as Dusky Grouse, Hammond’s and Dusky Flycatchers, Western Bluebird and Virginia’s Warbler, and butterflies such as Sylvan, Banded and Hedgerow Hairstreaks, Greenish Blue and Hoary Commas. After lunch we’ll travel north to the old mining town of Ouray. This little tourist town is best known in the birding world as home to a colony of Black Swifts that nest at Box Canyon Falls. We’ll take a short hike to see this spectacular, almost subterranean waterfall and get close-up views of swifts on the nest. We’ll also watch the stream below for the resident American Dippers. Night in Delta.
Day 7: Adding yet another habitat to our list, this morning we’ll visit Escalante Canyon, an arid rocky canyon with riparian woodlands along Escalante Creek. This interesting area holds a wide variety of birds including Chukar, Black-chinned Hummingbird, Say’s Phoebe, Gray Flycatcher, Gray Vireo, Pinyon Jay, Rock Wren and Lark and Black-throated Sparrows. Butterflying is also productive here and we’ll search for Becker’s White, Juniper and Great Purple Hairstreaks and the rare Yuma Skipper. We’ll spend the remainder of the day enjoying the beautiful high-elevation spruce-fir forest and wildflower meadows of Grand Mesa. Butterflies are often abundant here and could include Purplish Copper, Zerene, Mormon, and Silver-bordered Fritillaries and Milbert’s Tortoiseshell. Some of the birds we may see are Band-tailed Pigeon, Gray Jay, Clark’s Nutcracker, ‘Slate Colored’ Fox Sparrow, Pine Grosbeak and Red Crossbill. Night in Delta.
Day 8: Our first stop this morning will be Escalante State Wildlife Area outside Delta. This riparian woodland along the Gunnison River is home to Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Lewis’s Woodpecker, Willow Flycatcher, Yellow-breasted Chat and both Indigo and Lazuli Buntings. We’ll continue on Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park, one of the deepest canyons in the world and a spectacular place. The canyon should be full of White-throated Swifts playing on the updrafts and we’ll also keep our eyes open for Dusky Grouse, Dusky Flycatcher, Canyon Wren and Green-tailed and Spotted Towhees. Butterflying is often good along the roadsides here and we’ll look for Mustard White, Tailed Copper, Edward’s and Callipe Fritillaries, Common Branded-Skipper and Woodland Skipper. Night in Gunnison.
Day 9: We’ll spend this morning not far from town in search of Gunnison Sage-Grouse as well as other sagebrush specialists including Sage Thrasher and Brewer’s Sparrow. Our afternoon route will be somewhat flexible, depending on what we still want to see. We will likely drive back through the grasslands of South Park and, as the day warms up, make stops in higher elevation sections of Pike National Forest. Night in Silverthorne.
Day 10: Our final day in the field will be spent at Mount Evans, the highest altitude that can be reached by paved road in North America. White-tailed Ptarmigan, American Pipit and Brown-capped Rosy-Finch can be found here on the open tundra and we’ll search diligently for them. Mountain Goats, Bighorn Sheep and Elk also spend their summer days at these higher elevations, and smaller mammals such as Yellow-bellied Marmot and American Pika may come out to bask in the sun. Butterflying is always interesting in the alpine tundra where a number of species are biennial. We’ll look especially for ‘Rocky Mountain” Parnassian, Mead’s and Scudder’s Sulphurs, Colorado Alpine, Chryxus and Melissa Arctics and Draco Skipper. Night in Denver.
Day 11: The tour concludes this morning in Denver.
Updated: 25 August 2007
Prices
- 2007 price about $2,930
- Single Occupancy Supplement $520
Notes
Maximum group size 14. Both leaders will accompany the tour irrespective of group size.