Rich Stevens' Bird Trips

June 1999

Clear Creek County 6/29

Daniela Garrett and I birded Clear Creek County on this beautiful sunny day.

Southwestern Colorado Trip 6/23-6/25

I went to southwest Colorado, the main target was the Whip-poor-will outside of Durango
The trip turned into much more!

Wednesday was a beautiful day; it was quite cool in the mountains!
June 23
June 24
June 25

Birding Colorado Springs to Denver 6/20

Karen Digby, Donna Fortney, and I birded from Colorado Springs to Denver today.
Some of our more interesting sightings follow:

Another Search for Bendire's Thrashers 6/16-6/19

I ventured back to San Luis Valley to search for BETHs. No Success again!
June 16
I arrived in valley in the late afternoon.
There was not much new at Homelake Wildlife Area
Monte Vista National Wildlife Refuge produced no new sightings.
June 17
I hiked in the morning along Forest Road 660/A32.
Four miles of the FR 660 and 3/4 mile either side of the forest road.

An afternoon trip to Russell Lakes produced another Peregrine Falcon sighting.

In the late afternoon, I started six miles west of my camp. No BETH!
However, there were a dozen Sage Thrashers and many Mountain Bluebirds.
June 18
Again in the morning I hiked several miles west of A32/FR 660
Especially toward the hills to the south
(direction of my BETH sighting of 1996)

On the northern route out of the valley, a flock of 60 Pinyon Jays
were encountered along highway 285.

No Peregrine Falcon sightings at Russell Lakes today.
There were four more Pinyon Jays at the Buena Vista Overlook.

From there I traveled east on Highway 285 to Buffalo Creek Campground
In the Aspens around the CG, there was one male and one female Williamson's Sapsucker

Continuing west on Forest Road 431 to Rough and Tumbling Creek
I hiked the backside of the Buffalo Peaks searching for Owls.
No Owls made an appearance, but there were 10 Red Crossbills.
June 19
I camped up Michigan Creek road near the traditional Three-toed Woodpecker sight.
(This is CR 35, near Jefferson, to Forest Road 400)
(The famous Burned Area is 4 miles west of entrance to Michigan Creek CG)
(There is a pullover good for camping about 0.2 miles west of burned area)
(Georgia Pass summit is 1.5 miles west of burned area; TTWO country)

A hike after sunset (6/18) did not produce any Pygmy Owls or TTWO.
A hike 1.0 miles east and west of camping area did not find any TTWOs (6/19)

Many Broad-tailed Hummingbirds, Pine Grosbeak, and Red Crossbill were along the road.
This is a beautiful area to camp; quiet and unvisited.

Baca/Las Animas County

I was invited to a party on private property 6/15.
Of course, I hike and bird search could not be avoided.
We found a male Hepatic Tanager in a small grove of Ponderosa Pines
(This was same location of June 1997, so we had some idea and hope they were around.
There were many Cassin's Kingbirds and a pair of Bullock's Orioles.

In late afternoon, my friend wanted to go to Cottonwood Canyon
Hoping for a Lesser Nighthawk, we traveled the back route past Carrizo Mountain
No LENI, but many Common Nighthawks
The Northern Cardinal was still there (at camping area)
There were many Ash-throated Flycatchers, a few Eastern Phoebes.
After dark, we managed to hear two Western Screech-Owls
It was a great evening, cool and no wind!

Boulder 6/14

A beautiful morning turned into a cold and wet afternoon in Boulder.
I managed several hours of birding before the rains.

I could not locate the Chestnut-sided Warblers of Chautauqua Park or Bluebell Canyon.
Neither did I find the Black-and-White Warbler or Ovenbird.

On the way home I checked on the Burrowing Owl colonies north of DIA.
All in all it was a short, but nice day of birding!

Searching for Bendire's Thrashers 6/9-6/12

This week I traveled to the San Luis Valley to search for Bendire's Thrashers.
There was no success in the endeavor, but the valley is home to nesting
Peregrine Falcons, American Bitterns, and Black-throated Sparrows.
June 9
Not many birds were observed on this pleasant day.
Two Black-throated Sparrows were found 3.0 miles south of Fort Garland.
I enjoyed a hike along the Rio Grande river at Alamosa National Wildlife Refuge
The sunset at the Bluff Overlook of ANWR was worth the visit.
June 10
A beautiful morning produced few bird sightings at Homelake Wildlife Area

I then walked over 12 miles along CR A32/ FR 660 in search of Bendire's Thrashers
Over a dozen Sage Thrashers, Mountain Bluebird, and Say's Phoebe were observed.
No Bendire's however!
June 11
One final hike, again produced no Bendire's Thrashers and I left the area.

At Russell Lakes Wildlife Area there was a Peregrine Falcon sitting on a fence post.
There were also over a dozen American Bitterns in the fields; very few shorebirds.

San Luis Lakes State Park produced no unusual waterfowl.

At Ruby Mountain there were two Pinyon Jays flying around the primitive camping area.

I ended the day at the overlook at Buena Vista (highway 285/24)
I usually like to park at overlook and walk west across highway to FR 302.
Two more Pinyon Jays and many Mountain Bluebirds were found along this county road.
At last light, the overlook was visited by three more Pinyon Jays.
The KOA campground (down hill, northwest of overlook) usually has many Pinyon Jays
this time of year. I did not take the time to go down there today.
June 12
I camped at Antero Reservoir and woke up to many swallows and American Avocets.
Nothing of unusual interest appeared this morning.

Stops at Wilkerson Pass and Buffalo Creek Campground produced no new sightings.
There was nothing much at Lake George either.

Near sunset at Manitou Lake, I found a Veery below the dam.
A hike to campground to the west produced several Hermit Thrushes.
No owls were found or heard in the area.

That concluded a peaceful trip. I may return next week for another BETH search.

More Eastern Colorado Birding 6/1-6/4

In spite of picking up a nasty cold, I found a few good bird sightings.
June 1
Beautiful day, warm and no wind!
June 2
Another beautiful day, warmer, but few birds spotted.
June 3
June 4
Warm day with much wind!
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Suggestions and Comments Welcomed: Email Rich Stevens at cobus@worldnet.att.net