Birding/ Bird watching in Colorado, USA



Colorado birding with Quetzal Tours - Day 4

Greater Sage Grouse lek at Coalmont. Return to Fort Collins via Denver with birding stops. Lodging in Fort Collins, Colorado
Quetzal Tours

Sunday 9th of April 2023 and I am dead tired when my alarm goes off at 4 o'clock. I think I had Yet another Smiley on www.aladdin.sttoo much tea yesterday and I could not fall asleep until after midnight. But we were leaving at 5 so not possible to snooze.

A shower, did not help much to wake me up. I had tea and a couple of almonds for breakfast before we left. Pitch dark, but we need to be there in the dark so we're not scaring the birds.

It is pitch dark when we arrive to the site and there is already one car waiting along to gravel road. We listened for the birds and we tried to positioning us se we would get a good view. The problem is that we will have the birds between us and the sun when the sun comes up.

There were 3 more cars coming before day light, one of them came all the way from Texas. And it was darn cold in the car while waiting and it did not help much when the sun came up over the Rocky Mountains.

We could see the Greater Sage Grouse lek before the sun was up, but it was too dark for any photos.

The birds were a little too far away and the lightning was not very good so I did not expect much from the pictures.

Greater Sage Grouse, Centrocercus urophasianus, Sagehen
Greater Sage Grouse

Greater Sage Grouse, Centrocercus urophasianus, Sagehen
Greater Sage Grouse

Greater Sage Grouse, Centrocercus urophasianus, Sagehen
Greater Sage Grouse

Greater Sage Grouse, Centrocercus urophasianus, Sagehen
Greater Sage Grouse

Greater Sage Grouse, Centrocercus urophasianus, Sagehen
Greater Sage Grouse


Greater Sage Grouse lek at Coalmont
We are only 3 cars remaining

Greater Sage Grouse lek at Coalmont
Greater Sage Grouse lek site

Greater Sage Grouse lek at Coalmont
Driving back to the hotel to get our luggage

We leave when the lek stops and we continue on Country Road #26B to have a look for birds and then we will go back to the lek site to see if they had resumed the lek. We spotted two Northern Flickers but no pictures.

There was no action when we came back to the lek site and we decided to go pick up our luggage at the hotel. Driving back to the hotel and there is one Golden Eagle sitting on a pole along the road. We make a U-turn to tr to get some pictures.

Golden Eagle, Aquila chrysaetos, Kungsörn
Golden Eagle / Kungsörn

Golden Eagle, Aquila chrysaetos, Kungsörn
Golden Eagle / Kungsörn

Golden Eagle, Aquila chrysaetos, Kungsörn
Golden Eagle / Kungsörn

We pick up our luggage and we are soon on our way. Before leaving Walden, we drive through the town to look for birds. We don't see any exciting birds so we get out on the road and we will stop at State Forest SP--Moose Visitor Center.

I don't care for the bird feeders and my Guide left to get water. I was waiting in the car and he spotted a Red Crossbill and we went to see if we could get a picture.

Red Crossbill, Common Crossbill, Loxia curvirostra
Red Crossbill

Red Crossbill, Common Crossbill, Loxia curvirostra
Red Crossbill - Male and female

Bird watching in Colorado, USA
Driving over the Rocky Mountains

Bird watching in Colorado, USA
Driving over the Rocky Mountains

Bird watching in Colorado, USA
Driving over the Rocky Mountains

We start to drive back towards Fort Collins on the other side of the Rocky Mountains. And as I told my Guide, even if I don't see any birds, I enjoy the beautiful landscape. Plenty snow but as we came down from the Rocky Mountains it was less and less snow.

We drove through a forest area that had burned 2 years ago. My Guide told me it was the biggest fire in the history of Colorado. Burnt trees for long as we could see. It was an impressive sight.

The also have problem with an insect that goes under the bark and kill the trees. These dead trees are catching fire ever now and then because of lightning.

Bird watching in Colorado, USA
Everything is burnt by the wild fire

Bird watching in Colorado, USA
Everything is burnt by the wild fire

Bird watching in Colorado, USA
Everything is burnt by the wild fire

Bird watching in Colorado, USA
Everything is burnt by the wild fire

Bird watching in Colorado, USA
American Dipper

We drive along a river coming further down the Rocky Mountains. I kept an eye on the river looking for the American Dipper and I spotted one. We made a U-turn and we spotted the bird again. But the bird was too far away.
We continued and we made a stop at a rest site, it was closed during the winter but they had BBQ equipment and picnic tables. We spotted a pair of Common Merganser and I tried to take some pictures. We also spotted two American Dippers, a pair.

Again, they were too far away for any good pictures. It was getting warm in the sun shine, and of course, the lower altitude helps as well. We see one old American Dipper nest. Maybe from last year or older. But it was interesting to see how they build their nests

Common Merganser, Goosander, Mergus merganser, Storskrake

Common Merganser, Goosander, Mergus merganser, Storskrake
Common Merganser / Storskrake

Common Merganser, Goosander, Mergus merganser, Storskrake
Common Merganser / Storskrake

Bird watching in Colorado, USA
American Dipper

Bird watching in Colorado, USA
American Dipper nest, disused, maybe from last year

Bird watching in Colorado, USA
Driving down Rocky Mountains

Bird watching in Colorado, USA
Driving down Rocky Mountains

Bird watching in Colorado, USA
Driving down Rocky Mountains

Bird watching in Colorado, USA
Driving down Rocky Mountains

We leave the area and we are going further down Rocky Mountains and next stop is to look for the Pygmy Owl. So, we continue along a very beautiful road and we end up at the Gateway Natural Area. It was full of people; it is Eastern and people had come to celebrate Eastern in the park.

we asked the Ranger if she had seen the owl and she told me that there were people looking for the owl. We spotted two bird watchers with cameras and we went over to see if they had seen the owl. We looked up the trees but we had no signs of an owls.

Two girls and they informed us that they had not seen the owl. We walked down to the bridge over the river while looking up the trees for the owl. I spotted one more American Dipper but we never spotted any Belted Kingfisher.

Bird watching in Gateway Natural Area, Colorado, USA
Access Road to Gateway Natural Area

Bird watching in Gateway Natural Area, Colorado, USA
View from the bridge

Bird watching in Gateway Natural Area, Colorado, USA
View from the bridge

Bird watching in Gateway Natural Area, Colorado, USA
View from the bridge

We drove back to Fort Collins even though it was early. I had been up since early morning and I told my Guide that he could go home to celebrate Eastern with his family. It is also my holiday so some rest can come in handy.

And if we do bird watching 12 hours per day it will soon become boring. Tomorrow is the last day of birding in Colorado and my Guide will pick me up at 7. Click HERE to find out how this turns out.

eBird

eBird Trip Report

Since April 2023 eBird offer a new feature, to create Trip Reports. At least this is when I first heard of this feature and I have decided to make the eBird Trip Reports instead of my list of OBSERVED birds.

And of course, this also means that I will HAVE TO go back and do the same for my old birding adventures, WHEN I HAVE THE TIME!

Today's Trip Report: Bird watching in Colorado - Day 6 | Click HERE

Download | PDF

Lifers
Icons for lifers used in the eBird trip reports

eBirdSpecies lifer: First time that someone observes a species in their life

eBirdPhoto lifer: First time that someone photographs a species in their life

eBirdAudio lifer: First time that someone audio records a species in their life

Exotic species
Exotic species flags differentiate locally introduced species from native species.

eBirdNaturalized: Exotic population is self-sustaining, breeding in the wild, persisting for many years, and not maintained through ongoing releases (including vagrants from Naturalized populations). These count in official eBird totals and, where applicable, have been accepted by regional bird records committee(s).

eBirdProvisional: Either: 1) member of exotic population that is breeding in the wild, self-propagating, and has persisted for multiple years, but not yet Naturalized; 2) rarity of uncertain provenance, with natural vagrancy or captive provenance both considered plausible.

When applicable, eBird generally defers to bird records committees for records formally considered to be of "uncertain provenance". Provisional species count in official eBird totals.

eBirdEscapee: Exotic species known or suspected to be escaped or released, including those that have
bred but don't yet fulfill the criteria for Provisional. Escapee exotics do not count in official eBird totals.





       
                  
OK, it has come to my knowledge that we have senior citizens visiting my web page. How hard can it be? So it's not very easy for them to see the blue coloured links to the next page.
Jiffy (also jiff)

noun [in SING.] informal a moment: we'll be back in a jiffy.

ORIGIN late 18th cent.: of unknown origin.

So as you understand, in a jiff pretty much depends on your internet.
So I put a “Next” button here and I hope that there isn't any problem to understand how to use that one. So just CLICK the “Next” button on your left hand side and you will be on the next page in a jiff!

Marunong ka mag-tagalog? Walang problema! Magpunta sa kabilang pahina pindutin ang “NEXT” button sa itaas

Faites vous parlez le français? Pas de problème! Pour arriver à la page suivante faites s'il vous plaît un déclic le bouton “Next” ci-dessus!

Haga usted dice el español? No hay problema! Ver la siguiente página sólo hacer clic el botón “Next” encima!

Farla parla l'italiano? Non problemi! Per vedere la prossima pagina lo scatto per favore giusto Il bottone “Next” sopra

Sprechen sie Deutsch! Kein problem! Wenn Sie die folgende Seite sehen wollen gerade klicken der Knopf “Next” oben!

คุณพูดภาษาไทยได้ไหม ไม่มีปัญหา ถ้าคุณต้องการไปหน้าถัดไป ให้กดปุ่ม “Next” ข้างบนนี้

Вы говорите по-русски? Просто нажмите синюю кнопку "Next" с левой стороны и Вы моментально переместитесь на следующую страницу!

E ni Svenskar och inte förstår Engelska så ska ni skämmas. J och Björn, med det menar jag inte att alla mina stavfel ska ältas varje gång vi träffas.

Flag of Skåne / Skånska flaggan Well, the flag of Skåne, just a BONUS flag.


                                       

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