COLORADO: Plains, Foothills and Reservoirs

The Rocky Mountain range loomed large and beautiful before us on this bright, sunny morning. Crisp snow-capped peaks beckoned us as we drove north out of Denver, heading for our first stop of the day, Lagerman Reservoir (below).

We didn’t find the reported Sage Sparrow, but enjoyed great looks at American Avocets, Western Meadowlarks, Black-billed Magpie and a distant perched Osprey, as well as several Red-tailed Hawks. Black-tailed Prairie Dogs posed out of their holes, sitting-up in curiosity.

We continued west into the mountains, entering Roosevelt National Forest at the quaint gateway town of Lyons. The plains gave way to aspen, spruce, fir and pine as we ascended a winding road through towering, rocky slopes. In the rugged town of Allenspark, elevation 8,500 feet, we spent much of the morning near the Fawnbrook Inn (above).

At a few well-stocked feeders we found most of our target species, including a small flock of Brown-capped Rosy-finches, Pine and Evening Grosbeaks, Pine Siskin, Cassin’s Finch and Mountain Chickadee. We spent a lot of time comparing five different races of Dark-eyed Juncos – Pink-sided, Gray-headed, Oregon and Slate-colored including the Canadian Rockies race (above). It was great to see three species of Nuthatches all together – Pygmy, Red-breasted and White-breasted. Walking a little higher up the road – lined with snow and ice in the shade – we found a noisy Stellar’s Jay, as well as Clark’s Nutcracker and interior west race of Hairy Woodpecker.

Descending back down we stopped to find an American Dipper diving and “swimming” in the fast-flowing boulder strewn St. Vrain Creek. Four Bighorn Sheep (above) provided great photos, standing majestically on boulders close to the road.

We enjoyed a picnic lunch at Dawson’s Park, on McIntosh Lake in Longmont, eating and scoping numerous breeding plumaged Horned Grebes, some Western Grebes, a few Common Mergansers and a couple of California Gulls.

Soon we were on our way east to bird the plains and agricultural fields southeast of Greeley. We stopped at several different ponds and reservoirs during the afternoon, finding an impressive array of ducks (above) and raptors. Squadrons of American White Pelicans soared overhead, gleaming white against piercing blue skies. We stopped to admire the aptly-named Cinnamon Teal, Greater Yellowlegs and a Wilson’s Snipe in one marshy area, and spotted a Burrowing Owl perched on a distant prairie-dog mound. A little later we found a Great Horned Owl in a close tree, making for a two-owl day! We saw many Red-tailed Hawks perched and in flight, along with Northern Harriers, Kestrels and a Bald Eagle.

Our best raptor experience was seeing two Swainson’s Hawks interacting. A female landed in a tree, then from high up a male came swooping down and landed on her back – we witnessed a mating! A minute later the two were off, soaring together in the sky. I’ve never seen a mating where the male landed directly on top of the female from such a height.

Loloff Reservoir (above) hosted a wonderful variety of species and numbers, including hundreds of Lesser Scaup, Redhead, Canvasback, Ruddy Ducks, Common Goldeneye, Blue-winged, Cinnamon and Green-winged Teal, Gadwall, American Wigeon, Bufflehead, Shovelers and Black-necked Stilt.

Our final stop of the day, Glenmere Park in Greeley, featured a nesting colony of Black-crowned Night-herons (above) in a relaxing town park setting. With 72 species for the day, our trip is off to a great start.