Several of my Girl Scouts from my church were able to go camping with me this week in Colorado. We visited Rocky Mountain National Park and enjoyed lots of hiking, fishing and yes-bird watching. Some of them also like to look at the flowers and try to id them.
Highlights
1. Helping my girls id birds and flowers - basically "turning them on to nature".
2. Adding an American Dipper which has been that bird that I could never find.
3. Enjoying the scenery and lovely cool mountain air.
Notable Bird list:
Note: That I was the leader of the group and had only a small amount of time to bird over the three days. I didn't list all the common birds such as robins and house sparrows, etc.
1. Ring Neck Pheasant
2. American Avocet
3. Pine Siskin
4. Common Raven
5. Broad Tailed Hummingbird
6. Clark's Nutcracker
7. Stellers Jay
8. Olive sided Flycatcher
9. American Dipper
10. Savannah Sparrow
11. Lincoln Sparrow
12. Violet Green Swallow
13. Northern Rough-winged Swallow
14. Mountain Chickadee
15. Black Capped Chickadee
16. House Finch
17. Brown headed Cow bird
18. Red winged Blackbird
19. Mallard
20. Double Crested Commorant
21. Wilson's Warbler
22. Osprey
23. Black Billed Magpie
Day 1 - Put three girls, another adult and I into the car. We were packed. Driving out on the interstate through Kansas I was able to spot an American Avocet in a ditch next to the road and a Ring Necked Pheasant in a newly plowed field. Road construction is good for something besides fixing the roads. Arrived at the cabin in Golden Gate State Park after dark. It is a wonderful place to stay.
Day 2 - That morning at the campsite, I had a common raven and a few others that I couldn't see or id. Drove up to Rocky Mountain National Park and took several short hikes. Up in the Alpine country it was about noon and very windy-no birds. At our lunch stop we were acompanied by a Clark's Nutcracker and a Steller's Jay. I handed the girls my books and let them make an ID--they liked it and from then on were borrowing my book to look at the pictures. They concluded that birding wasn't easy but it was fun. Next on a ranger led hike on the west side of the park, the ranger described how to find an American Dipper and from that point on at every stream they were searching the rocks for the little gray bird with a very short tail but alas not dippers. We did hear an Olive sided flycatcher -"quick free beer" and it was a great opportunity to teach the girls about bird songs. We also found a Pine Siskin's nest and watched for a while.
Day 3 - Decided to stay close and fish in the lake at Nederland. This turned out to be a wonderful birding spot with a stream and lots of willows. The lake was beautiful. The willows were alive with Savannah and a few Lincoln's Sparrows. I was rounding one of the willows on the trails that lined the stream when a yellow warbler nearly hit me in the face. After several looks I ddebated whether it was an orange crowned or a Wilson's warbler. I decided the yellow was to bright for an orange crowned. As I walked the river back a fast flying gray bird stopped on a rock right in front and yes--it was an American Dipper feeding its fledgling. We all were able to watch the fledgling for quite a while. It was able to only make short flight from rock to rock. The girls got a kick out of all those deep knee bends. The stream also was a treasure of swallows with Violet Green, Northern Rough-winged, and Barn Swallows. On the lake we had a Mallard with a single chick and a Double Crested Cormorant.
Day 4 - Went on a hike and had a few birds including more sparrows and a Black Billed Magpie. The girls got interested in the flowers as well and took pictures. They were using my flower field guide and enjoying it. In the afternoon we went back to the lake at Nederland and the hot birding spot. The only new bird added was an Osprey and I was able to teach the girls about bird behavior as a method of ID. We watch the Osprey dive into the water to catch its fish. In a tree I spotted five Mountain Chickadees and later a black capped chickadee stopped. Also added that day was a house finch, cowbirds and blackbirds.
Day 5- Driving back home the only bird I spotted was a rough legged hawk. It gave me a long look at its underside by flying alongside the highway for a while.
Sounds like a great trip and a wonderful experience for the girls.
Yes it was. These girls are from a low income housing project and none had ever seen a mountain. When we arrived into the mountains it was dark. The next day turning onto the highway to drive from the campsite up to the National Park, I caught the expression on their face when the big (14,000 footers) came into view. It is moments like that that make all the work worth it.