Another outing to Park County om 2/24, repeating my pattern of many stops on many areas.
Roads in the Pine Junction / CR 43 / Bailey region continued to be lively where there was a good Ponderosa pine crop or bird feeders. Good numbers of *Cassin's Finches*, *Red Crossbills* (Type 2), along with a small number of *Pine Grosbeaks*, *Evening Grosbeaks*, 2 *Gray Jays*, a handful of *White-winged Juncos*, and a fantastic adult *Northern Goshawk* that I think was attracted to my pygmy-owl imitation. In much less birdy forests in the Fairplay / Alma area I had a number of encounters with *Pine Grosbeaks* (most in aspens unching leaf buds) and *Red Crossbills* (Type 5), also *Gray Jays* at Alma and an *Am. Three-toed Woodpecker* along Platte River Road. Jefferson had *rosy-finches* continuing at the feeders at the house behind the market). There were about 50, with very nice views, and all three species including 1 male *Black Rosy-Finch*. Fairplay had larger numbers of rosies and also all three species, with about 200 around a feeder at Front Street and about 300 in a snag tree off Beaver Creek Lane at Silverheels Circle immediately out of the north corner of town. The flock at Front Street had 6 Blacks. I also had *Evening Grosbeaks *and Type 5 *Red Crossbills* in town. A *House Finch* at Front Street at just about 10,000 feet was pretty high for that species in Park, as was a *Townsend's Solitaire* along 4th St. Nearly all the other solitaires I've had lately have been below 9,000 feet and closely associated with junipers. A *Downy Woodpecker *at very nearly 10,000 feet in bristlecone pines and aspens just north of Fairplay also seemed fairly high up for winter, but perhaps was within its normal realm. More *Rosy-Finches* were in the open country away from feeders along roads south of Fairplay and east of Hwy 285, with some 220 along Kokanee and Trout Roads. Best bird of the day was a *Lapland Longspur* with 100s of *Horned Larks* along CR 59 west of Mineral. I think that is a pretty good find for the mountains in winter. *Horned Lark* numbers began increasing in late January after an early winter nadir in Park Co, and yesterday there were over 1,400 along CR 59 between Hartsel and 11 Mile SP, up an order of magnitude from my last visit on 2/13. And a *Prairie Falcon* returned to hunt them. Back on 2/13 the warm weather had led to some open water off the South Platte inlet at the NW corner of the Eleven Mile Reservoir, with a nice assortment of winter ducks for Park (including a *Barrow's Goldeneye*). But since then the open water had frozen over again. The only waterfowl I noted all day yesterday were 33 *Mallards *and 2 *Green-winged Teal* at the open-water pond near 63 Ranch SWA, and some *Canada Geese* along the South Platte just upstream of 11 Mile. *Mountain Bluebirds* continued to push in despite the recent storm. I had a total of 10 in three widely separated spots in South Park. My first MOBLs in Park this season were early on 2/7, with more on 2/13. Another sign of the threat of spring was an *American Kestrel* along Hwy 285 yesterday south of CR 22. This was the first I've seen in that county since Sept 16, 2014. Lastly, for what it is worth, 4 *Rough-legged Hawks* for the day were nearly the only buteos encountered (1 RTHA), and 3 *Bald Eagles* were along CR 59 and near Eleven Mile SP. David Suddjian Littleton, CO -- 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/msgid/cobirds/CAGj6Rory1Sd%2BVsv98XWS8A_k9cd-UEbkkH%3DFuaZEUZUbuga9jA%40mail.gmail.com. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
