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

Hot Springs, South Dakota to Laramie, Wyoming

I am posting this a little late, but after spending the night in Hot Springs, Wyoming, we headed for Laramie, Wyoming.  It was a fantastic day for raptors, starting with a golden eagle.  Throughout the day, we saw about 9 other golden eagles.  Right after this one we saw a rough legged hawk. 

 Soon after we came across this dark morph ferruginous hawk.

Here is another golden eagle near Pathfinder NWR, with the Laramie Mt. Range in the background.

And across the road from this eagle, was another golden eagle, with a magpie close by.

A few more miles down the road was another golden eagle.  I have never seen so many golden eagles in one day!

On the drive to Laramie....

snow accumulation near Laramie, WY

Fall Road trip, days 1 and 2

Alex arrived in Rapid City on Friday, November 20.  From the airport, we went to Canyon Lake Park, where we found all the same birds I had been seeing during the previous week.  Here is Alex scoping out the lake.

The next day, we left Rapid City and drove to Mt. Rushmore.  Here is Alex and I at Mt. Rushmore

We found this brown creeper on a nature trail at Mt. Rushmore

brown creeper

Next, we headed for Custer State Park.  Here, we saw many pronghorns and bison, including this herd of pronghorn crossing the road.

In our travels through the Black Hills, we came across 6 gray jays foraging in the road.  I finally got some good pictures of them.

We also saw a prairie falcon and two golden eagles.

Our next stop was Wind Cave National Park.  There was a herd of 105 pronghorn in one area, and also two bald eagles in a prairie dog colony.

bald eagle and pronghorn

prairie dog gathering nesting material

We then headed to the park headquarters and did a one hour tour of part of the wind caves.  Currently there are 133 miles of caves known, and more are discovered with every expedition trip.

"cave popcorn" in Wind Cave

"boxwork" formation in Wind Cave

american crow, Wind Cave National Park

After spending the night in Hot Springs, South Dakota, we headed for Laramie, with a few stops along the way.  Here are the highlights.

ferruginous hawk (rufous morph) in WY

(same bird as above)

Throughout the day we saw 9 golden eagles.  This one was near Pathfinder NWR, where we saw most of

them on HWY 220.

black-billed magpie

golden eagle

We ended the day in Laramie, which seems to be covered in snow.  Hopefully there isn't too much snow.  Tomorrow we will head towards Estes Park, with an ultimate destination of Rocky Mountain National Park, before checking out a few wildilfe refuges on the way.