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The second our plane touched down in Denver, I was ready to get some practice in with my
new camera and lens. I knew that we would only be down in the plains where Prairie dogs abound for a part of one
day so when my dad said that we had plenty of time before we needed to be in Estes Park we all opted to try to find a
good Prairie Dog colony to do some photography.
Cynomys ludovicianus Black-tailed Prairie Dogs
Later that day, I stepped out of the car and into Endovalley to start my Rocky Bird list up.
For the next week my religion would be Ornithology and my bible would be Birding Rocky Mountain National Park, written by
Scott Roederer. As I walked up to an opening I noticed a familar song sounding all around me. Although it sounded
similar to our Eastern Bluebirds back home, I knew it was the gorgeous Mountain Bluebird I had grown fond of seeing on
every visit to the mountains. I watched a family of three or four fledglings flying around and being fed by the adult.
My goal was to get a good shot of that beautiful solid blue adult, but it seemed to always on the move. I lucked out
when it landed on a branch nearby in good sunlight just long enough to snap some shots.
Sialia currucoides Mountain Bluebird
I continued on away from the stock ramp parking lot and into a small mixed grove of aspen and
pine trees bordering the road. Chipping Sparrows, Bluebirds, and Green-tailed Towhees were abundant here. I watched
what seemed to be a couple of young Towhees hop in and out of the bushes and then across the bare dirt.
Pipilo chlorurus Green-tailed Towhee
I then continued out through more aspens and low wet areas toward the alluvial fan, but bird
activity seemed to be at an all time low. House Wrens and Warbling Vireos seemed to make up the only bird life around.
I hiked across the road and into the rocky alluvial fan. My hopes of seeing a Rock Wren were once again dashed when
I noticed how dead the area was bird wise. I stopped to sit down on a boulder in the west side of the fan in hopes of
hearing or maybe even seeing a Wren nearby, but this young Red-naped Sapsucker took me by surprise when he landed on the dead
tree just to my right.
Sphyrapicus nuchalis Red-naped Sapsucker
I stuffed my camera, lens and all under my hoody as rain began to fall. It was only sprinkling
so I was still taking my time in working my way back. As I headed back for the path a small bird flushed in front of
me and as I watched it fly away I realized it was a wren. Later reviewing my field guide confirmed the markings to be
those of a Rock Wren, but because of the rain and lack of time I was forced to turn back instead of attempting to
follow it. We decided to return the next day in order to see the valley at its fully birdiness in early morning.
Unfortunately it was once again dead...and we were finding nothing more than we had the previous day. I tried once again
for the Rock Wren, but this time missed it all together. So my dad and I head over toward the lake, across the road
and west of the alluvial fan. I very much wanted to watch and photograph Violet-green Swallows so I decided to pick
out a popular landing site and just camp out next to it for awhile. Just before crossing the road, I saw a couple sparrows
flitting around a bush and stopped to photo them. Lincoln's Sparrows are tough to come by where I live and seeing them
so often in Colorado was a real treat.
Melospiza lincolnii Lincoln's Sparrow
I stood next to the open field and observed the swallows for awhile, but it didn't take long
to find their favorite hang out. A big dead tree seemed to serve as a stop over and resting spot for swallows and sparrows
of all kinds. I slowly approached and before sitting down I noticed my quarry. I snapped off some photos of a
gorgeous adult Violet-green Swallow before it flitted away.
Tachycineta thalassina Violet-green Swallow
I sat down and watched the couple of young swallows and sparrows that remained on the snag for
awhile. To my surprise some of the sparrows were White-crowneds...another bird I wasn't used to seeing as a breeder
back home. Even more surprising were the next visitors that dropped by. A pair of Crossbills! The female
even seemed to have nesting material in her bill. This was a species I was gratefull to see so close and one that I
was glad to get to photograph.
Loxia
curvirostra Red Crossbill
I hiked around a little more, but once again...it was evidently a bad time for birding so we
soon headed back to relax for the day. The next morning we decided to stick to Roederer's book and attempt to see some
Grouse. The Blue Grouse, or its new name Dusky Grouse, was one of my biggest targets for the trip.
I had seen them once or twice before, but getting a good photograph of one of these interesting birds was something I had
yet to do. We parked at the Fern Lake Trailhead at around 6:30AM and set off to walk the road back and forth from parking
lot to parking lot until we saw a grouse. Two minutes into the walk, my dad was still locking the car and my mom and
I weren't more than ten feet from the parking lot when I heard something rustling in the tall grass next to the road.
I glanced into the weeds and grasses to see what I had come to see. An adult female Grouse with her three chicks.
Dendragapus
obscurus Dusky Grouse
The Grouse made my day and from that point on I didn't care what else we saw...which was lucky,
because the rest of the day was uneventful. We hiked the Cub Lake trail in its entirety, but once again bird life was
at a low. We did see some woodpecker activity in the form of a Williamson's Sapsucker being followed by a leucistic
individual presumabely of the same species. Unfortunately, the thick pine branches prevented most attempts I made at
photographing them. I did manage to snap this shot of the non-leucistic young bird (which was how I later IDed
it).
Sphyrapicus thyroideus Williamson's Sapsucker
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