Estes Park / RMNP Trip Wrap-up

I hope that readers have enjoyed my thoughts and pictures following my trip up to the mountains around Estes Park and the Rocky Mountain National Park. It is a beautiful country, and an area that has the ability to surprise on your first visit or 800th. The shot above was taken looking from Upper Beaver Meadows towards Long's Peak in the distance. The natural side of this trip was enough to make great memories, but it was even more enjoyable for me having all of my immediate family in Colorado together for the first time in years.

There are a few species that could vie for poster bird of the park. Everyone sees them when they visit, and because they are so common they fail to get quite the attention of their less likely cohabitants. So I start this wrap up with a couple of shots of Steller's Jays.

They, along with Black-billed Magpies, are everywhere in the park, and very likely to approach humans in search of a picnic dropping or free handout. I resisted shooting hundreds of pictures of Magpies on this trip, but the Steller's Jays still win me over.

Another of the reliable mountain species is the Red Crossbill.

I watched this pair as my nephew and I searched for perfect pine cones just before I left. The male, (above) has the namesake red coloring, the female, (below), is more of a greenish yellow.

Fun to get to see them up close rather than peering up at the top of a pine tree.

So for the trip I totalled 48 species, including 4 that I added to my life list. Those were; White-faced Ibis, Green-tailed Towhee, Red-naped Sapsucker and Dusky Grouse.

Tomorrow evening I am off for Ft. Collins and the Colorado Field Ornithologists Convention. This morning I received confirmation that I got my first choices for field trips on the first two days. Friday I will be going to Red-feather Lakes, and Saturday there is a trip to Phantom Canyon, a private holding that is normally restricted from public access. It will be my first convention, and really my first birding destination event of any kind. I am sure that I will be wow'd by all of the talent and experience of my fellow attendees, and hopefully I will pick up a few tricks along the way. Since tonight will be spent in a frantic effort to finish turning my laundry and getting repacked to leave directly from work tomorrow evening the next update will either be from the hotel or the first in a series of post convention posts. Should be fun!

Getting Just Desserts

Proud American Robin says, "I can hold my head high, 'cause I did the right thing when no one was looking"

On one of my very first birding walks in the fall of '08 I bumped into a local birder named Eric. We have crossed paths several times since then, but on that early trip he was one of the first active members of the birding community that I had met. As we checked the habitat around Plaster Reservoir in Broomfield his ability to locate and identify birds began to shed light on just how little I knew, and how much there was out there that I had not been experiencing. The most memorable such case was his asking if I had seen the Green-tailed Towhee in the Russian Olives we were scanning. I replied that I had, added it to my list, and on we went. Later when I was at home and reviewing some of my pictures I checked through the only guide I had at the time, "Peterson's Guide to the Birds of Western North America". As I flipped through I came to the entry for the Green-tailed Towhee, and I was instantly sure that I hadn't seen that bird. At the time I had in all good conscience thought that I knew which bird he was talking about, and that it was a Green-tailed Towhee. After I realized my mistake I adjusted my list, already knowing that marking off a bird I wasn't sure of would take away some of the reward when I actually did see and identify it at some later point.
A year and a half later the bird and I finally crossed paths once again; the species not the individual - of course.

This time I spotted it as I stood on the deck looking out behind the Beaver Visitor Center at Rocky Mountain National Park. I was looking through my camera's eyepiece - I didn't have my bins in the visitor center - but even at a distance I was confident that this was one of my long sought after targets. I honestly don't know how I missed it for all of last year. They are fairly common, at least for others, but this was my first. Let me confirm that the wait was completely worthwhile.

On a side note, if you are a local, or ever happen to visit RMNP be sure not to overlook the deck off the back of the visitor center. The wrap-around walkway raises you up into the Ponderosas and seems to keep the birds in the area comfortable as humans watch their activity.

One of the best way's to observe wildlife is in the company of children. The large herds of Elk that had descended into town with the snow were all fascinating to the eyes of a three year old.

At least pawing through snow must not be too bad when there is new sprouting grass and vegetation below.

To a child, referring to such a beast as "Antler" rather than Elk just makes sense I guess. To an adult, getting to watch a couple of males meander down the sidewalk as you crawl along shooting out the window of a vehicle was pretty cool as well.

Below the Dam at Lake Estes

After arriving in Estes Park on Wednesday evening I was greeted by my Brother-in-law with the news that he had seen an Ibis below the dam, while leading his students to a tour at a water treatment facility. Having not yet tracked down an Ibis, I decided to start my day there the following morning. Jack Frost had been busy with some late season work on the thickets along the Thompson River that night. When I arrived everything that wasn't buried in deep snow was covered in frosty crystals. I was casting about, and had headed upstream towards the dam without finding much other than the Chipping Sparrows (above) and a few other Red-winged Blackbirds. I was beginning to think that I would have to fight the glare and head downstream when my target exploded from a clump of brush off to my right:

I was treated to this White-faced Ibis taking off and making a circuit above me, before heading out of sight above the dam. Filled with the excitement of having seen a life bird on my first excursion I started wandering back down stream, and took a few minutes to watch this Brewer's Blackbird in what had to be a cold bath.

It didn't dawdle, and was off for a drier perch quickly.

After an hour or so I was back in the 4runner, and headed for breakfast with my family who had been warm and toasty in their beds. As I left the area I was able to enjoy one last opportunity in the bright light before the clouds settled back in, a Tree Swallow sunning itself on a fence, it was unusually tolerant and let me pull along side and take all the pictures I wanted.

Updated Counts: (Found a couple more F.O.Y species while looking closely at pics)

2010 Count: 143

Lifetime: 218

Don't Leave Home Without It!

Your Wingscapes Birdcam that is. Specifically if you are heading to the mountains during a spring snow, and have a Nephew and Niece to entertain. Stopping off at the Wild Bird Center of Boulder for a hummingbird feeder didn't hurt either.

I continue to be amazed at the versatility of this little camera. I had no control over the position of the feeder in relation to the camera. In fact, I was lucky that the one hook I found was in a spot where I could set it up next to a pole for the camera mount. I was a bit concerned at first, the feeder was only a foot or so from the camera lens and the focusing guide only dials down to 18 inches, but after my first download I found plenty of good shots. A few rocks wedged in behind the camera helped the angle, and presto - Broad-tailed Hummingbird shots to look at every night!

I have to think that the little guys and gal, (female immediately above - note the spotted white throat and tan sides), were happy to find a feeder as the snow took wild nectar off the menu for a few days.

The birdcam captured a couple of shots that really made a nice motion effect out of the wing beats.

Some parts blur softly...while others disappear - very cool.

I even had a chance to dive into the settings a bit deeper and got one result from activating the automated flash!

That forager was too early for breakfast. Area bear activity has the YMCA request that guests who do put out feeders remove them nightly to avoid attracting the less welcome visitors. Fortunately for other early scavenging hummers I didn't find that regulation until after the snowiest mornings, so by that time they may have had a few hardy flowers or a better chance of finding insects.

The feeder was so popular that even this House Finch decided to check it out. It may have just found the perch convenient for checking out the camera, they will try to build their nests on or around anything in my experience.

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