[cobirds] Looking for Spring in Jackson County

Christian Hagenlocher and I birded around Jackson County this weekend hoping to add 5-10 birds to his year list.  His bad luck in Colorado continued when we failed to find any winter finches at the Moose Visitor Center while a large flock of Red-winged Blackbirds dominated the feeders.  After giving up on Rosy-Finches we decided the hike the Michigan Ditch Trail for Boreal Owl.  During the hike we saw and heard several Pine Grosbeaks (our only diurnal bird on the hike).  After the sun set we found ourselves eating dinner within a few hundred meters of the treeline on the stillest night I have ever experience up there.  Despite our best efforts and 3 miles of nocturnal hiking, we did not hear any owls.  We can't figure out why we didn't hear any and our best guesses were the brightness of the moon or the amount of snow on the trees dampened any sound the birds were making.  Thinking about basketball from other posts, this was the second time I have looked for Boreal Owls the night my college played in the NCAA tournament.  Both times my school failed to win, and I failed to find Boreal Owls. 

We spent this morning at the Coalmont Lek in North Park, and the sage-grouse were not present.  This could have been due to the early date, but the large snow drifts covering the traditional lek site could have played a role in not seeing or hearing any grouse.  I wonder whether the lack of a large flat area in late March will affect where the lek is located this year.  The highlight of the morning was seeing the car thermometer hit -21 on the drive back to Walden.  On our way back to Fort Collins, Christian picked up his 2nd year bird when a single Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch came into the feeders.

Good Birding,

Andy Bankert

Fort Collins

--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to cobirds+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.
To post to this group, send email to cobirds@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/cobirds/CAMvLbkhyopj4n6qawLin%2BQDB%2BdKQhuoVxguywk0QfHM7xKGdzQ%40mail.gmail.com.
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.