Saturday

 

I went on an eagle quest at the Rocky Mountain Arsenal.  I saw lots of cool stuff, but I didn’t see any eagles.  I spent the afternoon at our daughter’s house for kids, grandkids, steak fajitas, and cheesecake.

 

Sunday, I went on a Rosy-finch quest.

 

I did my research.  Rosy-finches had been reported in the town of Ward the day before.  I’ve never seen a Rosy-finch.  They’re here in the high country in the winter and I’m not.  The town of Ward is at 9,500 feet.

 

I drove up Boulder Canyon.  By the time I got to Nederland it was snowing hard.  The highway turned slushy then straight to undisturbed snow pack.  I turned around and went right back into town.

 

I turned off the highway onto snow covered side streets and prowled for bird feeders.  I found one, parked right across the street from it, and started watching.  Nice high-country birds.  Steller’s Jays, Chickadees, a Red-breasted Nuthatche, Dark-eyed Juncos, Pine Siskins, but no Rosy Finches.  Didn’t expect a Rosy finch there anyway.  Nederland is only at 8,000 feet.

 

Well, after an hour, the snow let up, the sun came out (a little), the highway cleared up, and off I went to Ward.

 

I located two different feeders I could watch from the road in Ward.  Between them I added Downy Woodpecker, Clark’s Nutcracker, and Mountain Chickadee to the list, but no Rosy-finch.  It snowed hard and the wind picked up.

 

I still had time, and the highway was okay, so I headed off to the Fawnbrook Inn in Allenspark.  They have a feeder there I’ve been to before.  Not much chance of a Rosy-finch though.  Allenspark is only at 8,500 feet.  I did add Hairy Woodpecker to the list and got both White-breasted and Red-breasted Nuthatches though.

 

Back to Ward for one more shot.  Watching a feeder through my binoculars (I had talked to both the homeowners and gotten permission.), I saw two male and one female Pine Grosbeaks!  I had only seen that bird once before, years ago.  Then a Common Redpoll popped up onto the feeder.  That bird wasn’t even on my radar.  Life bird!

 

And finally, last new bird of the day, a Brown-capped Rosy-finch.  I got everything I wanted and more.

 

A quick trip down Lefthand Canyon to Boulder.  A walk in a Boulder Mountain Park for my exercise for the day.  (It felt good to get out of the car to stretch my legs.  It was still cold and windy, but at least I was out of the snowstorm.)  Then off to my daughter’s house for another visit and some good Chinese takeout.

 

A very good day.