[cobirds] Going Up - rosy finches, pipits, pikas - Boulder County

Cobirds:

                A high elevation hike today (Saturday) in Boulder County.  St. Vrain Peak - 12,162 feet at summit.  To get to the St. Vrain Peak trail go to Allenspark and follow the Ski Road up to a "Y" in the road.  Go right and 1/2 mile in you'll come to a small parking area.  Passenger car safe, but you'll have to take it easy the last half mile.

 

               Great clouds of yellow pine pollen wafting up from Long's Peak Trail and Twin Sisters as seen from St. Vrain Peak - it's coating the leaves of elderberry, mountain maple, and car windshields.

 

Birds:

Brown capped rosy finch - 11 - including one immature - all foraging on snow fields

American pipit - 7 - all skylarking and foraging on snowfields - To see pipits skylarking in alpine tundra on a clear day is a defining moment in the Colorado Rockies.

White crowned sparrow - lots, in krummholtz, singing

Wilson's warbler - 15+ - in spruce and krummholtz up to treeline

Audubon's warbler - 12 - lower down in mixed aspen and conifer forests - singing

Hermit thrush - 6 - singing in dense conifer forests

Warbling vireo - from the parking lot up to treeline - 21 - songs, chases, alarm calls

Common raven - 1 - of course - flying over 12,000 feet

Ruby crowned kinglet - 10 - all singing

Mountain chickadee - 11 - at lower elevations

Broad tailed hummingbird - 16 - up to treeline

Cordllerian flycatcher - 12 - songs

Dusky flycatcher - 4 - songs at higher elevations

Lower elevations near Allenspark had lots of robins, jays, magpies, chickadees, and hummingbirds.

 

Flowers:  Alpine flowers above 11,000 feet have just started the next two weekends should be good, as the progression of blooms move up to 14,000 feet:

Alpine forget me not

Alpine sunflower

Dryads

Marsh marigold

Globeflower

Alpine cinquefoil

Sky-pilot

Moss Campion

Alpine phlox

Whortleberry

Elderberry ssp:

Pasqueflower

Alpine primrose

Purple violet

Dwarf clover

Alpine bluebells

Golden banner

Snow buttercup

Alplily

Pincherry

Pussytoes

Rockjasmine

And many others....

 

Mammals:  Pika, Marmot, Mule deer, Golden mantled ground squirrel,

And by sign:  Moose, Coyote, Bobcat

 

From the summit:  a haze of smoke and clouds to the east.  Clear and blue to the west, with dozens of snow covered mountains.  An excellent day for photographing Long's and Meeker to the north. 

 

John T (Tumasonis),  Louisville CO

 

 

 

 

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