Montrose was fun, but we moved on yesterday to Island Acres State Park campground for an easy shot at the Grand Mesa. Arriving yesterday we drove up route 65 to the top. It was 85 degrees and sunny when we left the Colorado River. Arriving at 10,000 feet elevation we scouted pull-off locations (and logged them on the GPS so we could find them in the dark) and found only Ruby-crowned Kinglets, American Robins, Cassin’s Finches singing. We also found Alexandros Restaurant open on the road behind the visitor’s center. We left our sandwich supper in the cooler and enjoyed pizza and a brew there.
Still too early to owl we stopped about a mile to the south on the highway and watched beavers come out and flop about their half frozen pond. Robins chuckled. Never before noticed the loose resemblance between some of their calls and the call of a Boreal Owl. Half asleep as darkness fell and the temperature plummeted, I heard a distant series that was not robin-like. Then it repeated. We jumped from the car but did not hear it again. Then nine o’clock we began our rounds. At the third stop, a partly snow-covered parking lot surrounded by trees, we listened and then called. This time an owl responded and called for about two minutes It did not come closer, and we did not see it. Still, we were jubilant. Perhaps some day we will see it, but now we have found it and can indeed ad it to our list. We made two more stops without responses. Still, two calling birds on May 10. More than enough for us. The thermometer read 32 degrees as we began the drive off the plateau. I was careful to avoid black ice patches and fallen rocks on the road. Arriving this afternoon at Grand Lake we are prepared to bird and enjoy the back side of the Front Range. We’ll look about for pigmies and flams here but may have a better shot next week when we circle around to Estes Park. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msg/cobirds/-/ixGJuKSD6UIJ. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
