[cobirds] Park County July 21

My son Stephen and I visited areas in the northwest part of the county mostly, ending up at the west side. Audubon's Yellow-rumped Warblers had come down out of the forest at various places to join flocks of Mountain Bluebirds in the wide open reaches of South Park, such as along CR 34. Nesting Eared Grebes in the large natural pond along CR 34 were still sitting, sitting, sitting. A juvenile Prairie Falcon along the road near the pond was amazingly confiding, glaring intently but reluctant to flush from the fence post perch. A smaller pond at about 2.5 miles from Highway 285 had an adult Green Heron, rare in Park. 

We drove up to Georgia Pass on CR 54, but birding was mostly rather quiet in the forests there until we reached the uppermost elevations of the road. There we had numerous Pine Grosbeaks, Gray Jays, Type 5 Red Crossbills, etc., and some Golden-crowned Kinglets. A family of Am. Three-toed Woodpeckers was not far from the pass. A begging juv. American Dipper at the French Creek crossing put on quite a show, and several families of Red-naped Sapsuckers were delightful. A juv. Northern Goshawk was 2.5 miles up CR 54 from CR 35.

The drive up to Boreas Pass also had nice encounters with Pine Grosbeaks, crossbills and Gray Jays, as well as an Am. Three-toed Woodpecker.

At Salt Creek Road (Pike NF Road 435, northwest of Antero Junction -- a very pleasant birding road) we enjoyed a moderate number of Common Nighthawks including a loose flock of 19. In the 2 hours we were there it seemed like there was a steady eastward movement of nighthawks moving down the valley toward South Park, but it was hard to tell if they weren't doubling back and passing more than once. A family of Spotted Sandpipers was near to fledging on a blasted out beaver pond. I spied a pair of Ruby-crowned Kinglets working overtime to feed a giant juvenile Brown-headed Cowbird. RCKIs seem to work overtime all the time, but these appeared all the more frenetic in their efforts to feed the gaping cowbird. 

David Suddjian

Littleton, CO

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