[cobirds] Mountain Chickadee, Rocky Mtn Natl Park (seriously?)

Please, let me explain.... :)

On Saturday, I saw and heard a Mountain Chickadee while at the highest point in the tundra field at Rock Cut along Trail Ridge road in RMNP. The elevation there is about 12,300 feet. I was pretty surprised, and I was wondering if anyone who has "Bob&Bob" handy can tell me what they say if anything about the highest elevation recorded for this species in Colorado. This area in particular is quite far in every direction from treeline, and is about as high elevation as you can go in the park without requiring a multi-hour hike.

The habitat up there is of course just open tundra, and it's well above any of the spruce-fir forest or even the krummholz (vertically by several hundred to 1000 ft, I think). The bird didn't hang out long, but it seemed well out of place. Has anyone else had Mountain Chickadee that high up and that far away from its usual habitat?

Thanks for humoring me,

Eric DeFonso

Fort Collins

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