Rocky Mountain Arsernal NWR CO, Two Ponds NWR CO 11-25-09

I am finally posting the rest of our trip details, so I don't get too behind on posting my blogger updates.

On November 25, Alex and I drove to Rokcy Mountain Arsenal NWR.  Here we joined a bus tour of the refuge, since most of the refuge is not open to the public.  Highlights of the trip were numerous ferruginous hawks circling over prairie dog colonies, in addition to a prairie falcon, that flew right over our bus.  Alex spotted a snow goose in a flock of canada geese, and the volunteers that were giving the tour said they had never seen one on the refuge (rare in this part of CO).  Mule deer were also in rut and were everywhere.  At one point, we had to stop the bus and wait for one to get out of the road; he could not be concerned with the bus, as a female mule deer was on the other side.  We also saw shovelers and green-winged teal, the first on our trip.

snow goose at Rocky Mountain Arsenal NWR

   

northern shoveler in Colorado

Next we travelled to Two Ponds NWR. This is a very small refuge in the middle of town, but still had a few good birds. This american kestrel did not seem to be concerned by our presence. Walking along the trails, we spotted house finches, blue jays, and white-crowned sparrows.

american kestrel at Two-Ponds NWR

white-crowned sparrow at Two-Ponds NWR

We also spotted this partial alabino red-tail hawk.  From below, it looked very normal, but its upperwing coverts were mostly white.  Alex has better photos here. Alex's blog  We ended the night just outside the border of Colorado in Kansas.

Laramie, WY to Estes Park, CO 11/23/09

On November 23 we woke up to a small snow storm in Laramie.  Our first stop was the University of Wyomings campus in town, where a few birders had pointed us to.  The snow was pretty heavy, so we found most of our birds by going "inside" pines and spruces to find birds that were escaping the cold.  The first few calls we followed were juncos high up in the trees.  Next we heard some chirps in some spruces by a building, where we found an american robin, and this townsend's solitaire, perched near an open window.  It was probably warming up in the escaping heat.

(photo by Alex Lamoreaux)

We noticed on our trip that we ususally found townsend's solitaires and american robins together.  Nearby we heard a small chirp inside another spruce.  I stepped in and it sounded like the bird was really close.  I caught movement in front of my face on the trunk, and at first thought it was a mouse.  Obviously it turned out to be this grey-phase brown creeper.

(photo by Alex Lamoreaux)

We also spent some time searching for a resident great-horned owl on campus that someone had told us about, but only found an old owl pellet.  We then found these doves roosting inside a spruce tree then decided to leave with the snow getting heavier.

(photo by Alex Lamoreaux)

We headed for Arapahoe National Wildlife Refuge next, though this snow storm.   It wasn't as bad as it looked.

                                               

                                               

Along the way, we came across some ravens harassing a few golden eagles.

                                               

            (photo by Alex Lamoreaux)

Eventually the snow let up, and we made it to Poudre Pass.  This was supposed to lead us to Arapahoe National Wildlife Refuge.  In the canyon we saw a few golden eagles and a northern shrike.

              

However, this snow storm in the mountains forced us to turn around after about 20 miles, when the road started to get covered in an unpleasant black ice; a little too much for the sunfire to handle.

                                                  

We turned around and headed for Estes Park, Colorado.

           

         Estes Park, CO