Flying from Phoenix, we landed in Denver Friday evening. It was the wedding weekend of Peter's old friend, and we went right to a brewery to meet the wedding party. It was fun meeting all of Peter's old college buddies and relaxing with a brew after our intense Arizona trip.
We started our Saturday at Genesee Mountain in Jefferson County, Colorado. Peter's old college friend, Clair, who I met the previous night, joined us on our adventure. She brought her precious golden retriever along, and he was elated to be hiking with us. As we pulled up to the park, we tried scanning for elk on the golden grasses, but didn't see any. When we reached the peak, we parked and started our hike. Being from South Florida definitely has its disadvantages, as the elevation, just like the scenery, quite literally took my breath away. The trail was pretty heavily trafficked, and we had to navigate our way through hoards of people.
Pygmy Nuthatches, Yellow-rumped Warblers, and Mountain Chickadees were flitting amongst the conifers. Where the trail teetered out, Peter paused at a shape in the treetop. Clearly a flycatcher, we got our guides out and deliberated. Empids are not my strong suit. We confidently ID'd the bird as a Dusky Flycatcher, a lifer for me! Right after seeing the flycatcher, a Mountain Bluebird posed for a few minutes in a nearby pine, which was also new for our year.
Before having to get ready for the wedding, we made one more stop at Boulder Mountain Park and hiked along the Bear Canyon Trail. Although it was a beautiful walk, the area didn't prove as birdy as we'd hoped. We saw a few Black-billed Magpies, Spotted Towhees, and Black-capped Chickadees. The downtime gave Peter and Clair a chance to catch up and for Clair's pup to take a little splash in a creek. After an hour and a half, we had to head into town to pick up Peter's suit, which turned out to be a much longer process than we thought! We raced back to Denver with only about 15 minutes for both of us to get ready for the wedding. Sometimes, time management is not our strong suit..
However, we made it right on time! The ceremony was beautiful and we definitely took full advantage of the open bar :~) Thankfully we weren't too hungover the following morning! We said goodbye to our hosts, Peter's old roommate and his now fiancee, and hit the road once again. Our first stop was the South Platte River in Adams County. We pulled up to what appeared to be a standard urban lake with a sidewalk circling the perimeter. We weren't expecting too much. After walking for about fifteen minutes, we saw a small flock of interesting looking birds in the treetops. Worried about getting too close, we put the scope on them. Lark Buntings! An unexpected surprise. We were ecstatic. We continued on and scoped out a pair of Western Grebes at the far end of the lake! I have a personal love for grebes, and these were my lifers!
We had to proceed quickly to our next spot to ensure we'd make our flights on time. As we ascended the mountains, our cell service dropped and so did the temperature. Echo Lake in Clear Creek County is one of the most beautiful lakes I've seen in the U.S. The weather wasn't in our favor - it was chilly and misting. Sitting out on a rock was a mama Barrow's Goldeneye and her four young ducklings. I have an affinity for baby animals (who doesn't) so I spent a few minutes watching them. Unfortunately, the rest of the hike was relatively unproductive, besides a few Canada Jays and a Brown Creeper. We hiked to a nearby resort, where there were supposedly feeders up, but to our dismay, only one feeder could be seen and it was bird-less. We headed back to the car, damp and a little disheartened.
So, we continued ascending towards Mt. Evans. The temperature continued dropping and the raindrops were turning into hail. During the drive up, we were scanning the frosted hillsides for our targets, Brown-capped Rosy-Finch and White-tailed Ptarmigan. When we finally reached Summit Lake, we were not prepared for how cold it was going to be. After scanning the lake, we walked a short hike towards the edge of the mountain, where snow had accumulated. Alas - the rosy finches were here! We watched four individuals foraging amongst the snow. We were ecstatic. These birds are extremely range-restricted to high elevation sites, and a lot of their biology is unknown because of how difficult it is to access their territories. Because of their preferred habitat, they are also extremely susceptible to climate change and have been declining. We watched them for several minutes before the cold became unbearable and we headed back to our car. Well, we were almost at the car when a nice woman ran up and asked if we were driving a Toyota Corolla, which was our rental car. Apparently, Peter had dropped the keys almost as soon as we had gotten out of the car. Sometimes, I can't believe I managed to meet someone who loses as many things as I do! We headed towards the airport, elated about our finds, but as always, sad to say goodbye to one another as I flew back to Georgia and he flew back to Florida.
Our short trip to the Colorado mountains was one of my favorites for the scenery alone, even though we missed out on several species we were expecting, but that's part of the thrill of birding - nothing is guaranteed. We still managed to get several birds for our year and had a blast celebrating the wedding of Peter's college friends!
Happy birding,
Heather
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