[cobirds] Happy choice of campsite. Chaffee County

I was looking for a campsite in late afternoon along the Castle Rock Gulch road,

County Road 188, when I saw a place where an old earthen dam had created a very 

small lake--maybe 3 olympic pools worth.  I was very wary of the spot, knowing

that it might be plagued by swarms of mosquitos at dusk, even though 6 or 8 Violet-greens were swooping over the water.  Instead of unloading, I took a walk along the

road for a while, then decided to risk it.  Well, that oasis in a otherwise arid (and

currently drought-stricken?) area produced 20 species that evening and early the

next morning, all seen up-close-and personal in the shrubs and small pines.  They

were all the usual suspects for 9000', but still.  Highlights were the 6 PM visit of a

Sharp-shinned or maybe Cooper's grabbing supper, the 7 PM arrival of a small group

of Common Nighthawks, the croaking of Ravens from the tops of the towering PreCambrian "castles" on the far side of the (dry) creek, and the continual show put on

by the swallows.  Perhaps somewhat unusual was the group of Lark Sparrows.  

All this and --no mosquitos!!

David Gulbenkian Jeffco

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