Western Slope of Rocky Mountains; Eagle, Pitkin & Garfield Counties, Colorado

June 18-29, 2018

Didn’t realize my visit with sister-in-law, Barb Fretz, would provide me with so many birding opportunities. But she and my brother, Bruce (who passed in 2012), had done much hiking in Aspen where they had lived so Barb was more than ready to spend time outdoors with me. 

Very recently, she moved to the lower elevaton of Basalt for heart-health reasons yet had no qualms about hiking a trail along Independence Pass from 9300 to 9600’!  

Saw just a handful of birds in this beautiful thick aspen/juniper forest but got my best look ever at a CORDILLERAN FLYCATCHER. Its olive green back looked like velvet in the forest shade.  A BROWN CREEPER, BROAD-TAILED HUMMINGBIRD and AMERICAN ROBIN rounded out my list for this one-hour hike over uneven upward trail. For those of you down in the hot hot Valley of Phoenix, our temperature for this hike stayed at about 68°F! [I'll be back with you all way too soon!]

At Maroon Bells, where the lake sits at 9600’, we climbed the slightly inclined trail for good views of the waterfall. Two birds stand out in my memory from that visit: the RED-NAPED SAPSUCKER and the AMERICAN DIPPER taking food to its nest.

RED-NAPED SAPSUCKER trying to stay out of sight on back side of very skinny tree

Beneath this pedestrian bridge at the center vertical support was an AMERICAN DIPPER NEST

AMERICAN DIPPER NEST

I tucked down in the bushes to get a photo of the Dipper at the foot bridge

I watched the Dipper come and go to the nest. Sometimes it would swim beneath the surface of the water right there, but most often it flew a short distance upstream before returning with food that it delivered directly to the nest on its return. Then, it would perch for take-off once again.

AMERICAN DIPPER

I'm on left of sister-in-law, Barb Fretz

The Golden-mantled Marmots were fascinating to watch as we waited for our bus to return down the mountain.

GOLDEN-MANTLED MARMOT

I'm a bit at a loss to explain the purple cones on this fir tree. Google gives various sources, one of which is Korean Fir tree. They certainly caught my attention!

INDIAN PAINT BRUSH is another attention-getter on the dark forest floor

While Barb went many places with me, she was also instrumental in connecting me to other bird leaders. 

She set me up with Liz Bokram, field-trip leader of the Roaring Fork Audubon group to bird the Crystal River Trail from the bridge in Carbondale. Since I left my camera battery plugged in back at the house, I was without photos except with my iPhone.

Liz Bokram with me along Crystal River Trail.
Tree Swallows made a nest in the box the Audubon group installed there.

Best sightings for me at that location were the: LEWIS'S WOODPECKER, young PINYON JAY, and CEDAR WAXWING.

After the group walk ended, Liz kindly drove me to various places for more birding, including the Crystal River Fish Hatchery, Blue Creek Open Space and Spring Park Reservoir. Wonderful birding day!

At the Fish Hatchery, two OSPREY in the same tree begged for a photo that I couldn't begin to get with my phone. One was on the nest; the other higher in the same tall cottonwood.

Blue Creek Open Space along the Roaring Fork River offered good forest birds including another LEWIS'S WOODPECKER, WESTERN WOOD-PEWEE, CORDILLERAN FLYCATCHER, 5 YELLOW WARBLERs (with nest) and at least six (6) HOUSE WRENS, including fledglings begging from various tree limbs to be fed. 

SPRING PARK RESERVOIR, located in a higher elevation, provided excellent views down over the valley below us, as well as birds on the water. Liz had another appointment so we didn't use the spotting scope but numerous CANADA GOOSE were joined by at least one (1) TRUMPETER SWAN. I would return to this spot a few days later to look for an earlier report of SANDHILL CRANEs (nada), and was able to photograph the TRUMPETER SWAN.

TRUMPETER SWAN

Many days, I birded right beside Barb's condominium next to a private lake and marsh. 

Barb's front yard from patio: marsh along diversion stream for lake.

Molting Drake MALLARD tucked into the edges of the riparian stream 

Saw an abundance of YELLOW WARBLERs every day, and learned to stand and watch a grove of tall cottonwoods at the far end of the lake off the paved walking path.

DOWNY WOODPECKER

BLACK-CAPPED CHICKADEEs

BARN SWALLOW (above and below)

BLACK-BILLED MAGPIE (previously a jinx for photos; finally one cooperated)

A visit with Barb to Aspen Center for Environmental Studies (ACES) turned out to be auspicious; I was able to sign up for the last spot available on an upcoming outing along the Frying Pan River from Basalt to the Ruedi Dam.  [The reason for the unusual name of the river is that when a group of trappers were attacked by a band of Ute Indians, only two men survived, one of whom was injured. Leaving his wounded friend in a cave close by, the last man left to summon help, but not before hanging a frying pan in a tree so that he could find the cave again on his return.[1][4][5 - Wikipedia.

Rebecca Weiss and Mark Fuller led about sixteen of us on this all-day (7-hour) outing.
We all introduced ourselves with first names and I found everyone to be friendly and quickly lined up a ride to the library after we were finished so I could meet Barb for a ride home.

Beginning in Basalt, we birded two trails along the Roaring Fork (just below its confluence with the Frying Pan River). One trail was on the side accessed by the public library; the other by parking at the Rocky Mountain Institute. It was about 7 a.m. when we got out of our cars at the Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI). The group noticed immediately that the head of that project was also arriving to go to work: Amory Lovins!  He is cofounder and Chief Scientist of Rocky Mountain Institute where he has been working on energy efficiency projects (and more) for decades. I recognized his name from articles I'd read about him back in the 1970s. Nicollette (who writes for newspapers) was able to give us more details about the work of the Institute. Their building is the most energy efficient for its size at its elevation of any in the country (or world?). Apparently, architecture itself makes a tremendous impact on our environment.

We made many stops along the Frying Pan River as the morning progressed. Not only did we see a variety of birds; nests were pointed out to us, too.

LEWIS'S WOODPECKER

SONG SPARROW singing from its rock perch out in the river

WESTERN WOOD-PEWEE

Distant RED-TAILED HAWK

Sue, in our car, made a great spot of a COMMON MERGANSER as we drove along the narrow road beside the Frying Pan. At the first opportunity to pull off safely, all our cars stopped to let us hike back a bit to see if it would still be on the rock where she had spotted it.  Sure enough!

COMMON MERGANSER that had been busy preening

All cleaned up, the merganser settled back down on the rock giving us great looks.

A LAZULI BUNTING was another good sighting by Rebecca who had scouted the area the previous day. It was quite distant and flew off before I could snap a photo.

Many VIOLET-GREEN SWALLOWs were flying over the river; this one perched

One of our stops involved walking up a meadow.

Rebecca Weiss, leader, carrying the scope

There we picked up a few good sightings: DUSKY FLYCATCHER, CORDILLERAN FLYCATCHER, WARBLING VIREO, WESTERN TANAGER and BLUE-GRAY GNATCATCHER. At the barbed wire fence, it was suggested we stop as the ranch on the other side belongs to Neil Diamond. (I still harbor a bit of celebrity celebration that gave me a bit of a rush at that info, but not as much of a rush as a Life Bird!)

Terrible photo, but I love this bird: WESTERN TANAGER

Back at the river, I searched and searched for the CORDILLERAN FLYCATCHER nest and finally...finally found it.

Look closely at that wide-eyed Cordilleran on its nest. It appeared to get up and roll eggs before sitting back down. Note how its nest is hidden on a shelf of rocks.

On our way to the next stop, someone mentioned that of the couple I met as Aran and Margo (an interracial couple), Margo was not only a writer of the book but worked on the movie, too, of HIDDEN FIGURES: the history of NASA's black female scientists. Some of you may have read the book or seen the movie. Margot on our bird outing was Margot Shetterly! She said her husband, Aran, was the birder.

There was a nest at the next stop, too.

AMERICAN DIPPER made a nest in this accumulated moss. Its hole with stick pointing out faces downstream.

A steep path led down to the edge of the river; three women went down immediately. Unusual for me, I held back!  I think Angelica was one of them; Margo was another.

Margo Shetterly, author of HIDDEN FIGURES coming up from the Frying Pan River Dipper Nest

When we reached Ruedi Dam, Rebecca set off at a good pace uphill for something. Her long legs, probably accustomed to hiking these mountains, were no match for me and I found myself lagging. But the short trek up was worth it.  An adult BALD EAGLE was perched on a narrow utility tower next to a very large eagle nest with a tiny little head and neck stretched out trying to look out over it. Mark suggested that behavior aged the young one at about ten days to two weeks old.

Adult  BALD EAGLE keeping watch over its nest

Eventually, the second adult returned--presumably with food as the young one dropped down out of sight.

Ruedi Dam was the final stop of this exceptional birding day!

ACES (Aspen Center for Environmental Study) also has a working ranch down in Basalt!
Barb and I stopped by one evening just to get the lay of the land so I could bird it the next morning. Everyone was very friendly and I got all the details I needed.

So, the next morning Barb dropped me off at the parking lot at 7:15 a.m. with an agreement to return about 10:30. Excellent day!

Have you heard of INDIAN RUNNER DUCKS?  These have been raised at the ranch and are not yet fully grown. Just recently released to the pond, they also swim.

Note how closely together they huddle in this new experience.

Female RED-WINGED BLACKBIRD

Male RED-WINGED BLACKBIRD

BLACK-BILLED MAGPIE were numerous

KILLDEER

When I reached the Roaring Fork River, I could find no trail but bushwhacked a short distance to a fence. Unable to go farther, I returned to the mulched picnic table and bench beside the river.
As I sat on the bench, a Mule Deer appeared on the other side. We both viewed one another for a long while without moving. When it turned its head to look downstream, so did I. A flotilla of CANADA GOOSE were swimming upstream.

Looking at the deer across the river from the bench at Rock Bottom Ranch

The deer continued to look back at me - to make sure I didn't harm the geese???

Look how closely the CAGO resemble rocks in the water

The trail from the River led back to the parking lot where I had started birding a couple hours before.

Building at Rock Bottom Ranch to host classes and visitors

Not yet 10:30 (meeting time for pick up by Barb), I decided to walk the road and could easily have walked all the way back to her place. (approx a mile or two)

The fields along the way were filled with Prairie Dogs. Although they reminded me of the Gunnison Prairie Dogs we have in the White Mountains of Arizona, they might have been Black-tailed Prairie Dogs.

Slight black tip on tail.

Barb came along before I got to the end of the spur road. As we drove the short distance back to her place, I realized that, definitely, my two-week visit with her had been a Rocky Mountain High for me!

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