Colorado Rockies - July 2005
Bird/Species Trip List

American White Pelican – Barr Lake, and other lakes along I-25 when returning to the airport.
Double-crested Cormorant – Lake Estes
Great Blue Heron – first near Barr Lake, then Estes Lake and other wetland areas in RMNP
Great Egret – seen near White Pelicans en route back, for size comparison
Snowy Egret – prairie ponds near Interstate
Canada Goose – common, seen in agricultural fields, Lake Estes, darling huddled group of ducklings on a cold afternoon by Sprague Lake
Mallard – our most common duck, seen daily
Ring-necked Duck – a pair at Sprague Lake and a female with just hatched young up the Cub Lake drainage in a beaver pond
Turkey Vulture – seen almost daily
Swainson’s Hawk – first a great view on an irrigation pivot near Barr Lake, then an adult flying on our travel day, and a few in the park
Red-tailed Hawk – best sighting near Holowell Park and then at McGregor Ranch. A regular subject of voice imitation by local jays.
American Kestrel – seen while driving, between Denver and Estes
Merlin – see flying at high speed, carrying prey, above Calypso Cascades in the Wild Basin area
Prairie Falcon – great scope views for all, high on a tundra perch our day up on top of the world.
Killdeer – seen in several wetland settings, best sighting at Sheep Lakes, RMNP
Spotted Sandpiper – seen while on our bog-slog (alias Snipe hunt) in RMNP
Common Snipe – we CERTAINLY earned this bird, slogging through its habitat as we looped around the Elk exclosure structure near the Alluvial Fan Trail!
California Gull – seen close to Lake Estes in residential area flying
Rock Pigeon – common around Estes Park
Band-tailed Pigeon – group of seven seen well in burn area above Calypso Falls
Mourning Dove – common in the prairie, a few others while in the mountains
White-throated Swift – a special trip to see these, flying very high, above Twin Owls rock formation in RMNP
Calliope Hummingbird – a perched male near Twin Owls, and another in our bog slog wetland area
Black-chinned Hummingbird – great look, spotted by Phil, at the feeders so abundantly attended by Broad-tailed Hummingbirds at Fawn Brook Inn.
Rufous Hummingbird – seen several times afield, including feeding on Indian Paintbrush at nearly 12,000ft. on Trail Ridge Rd,, also at Fawn Brook feeders.
Broad-tailed Hummingbird – very common and seen daily, including a few perched birds, then LOTS of them at Fawn Brook Inn at the feeders
Red-naped Sapsucker – our most common woodpecker, seen nearly every day
Williamson’s Sapsucker – great looks at a young bird at Sprague Lake, then an adult at a couple of locations while in the park
Downy Woodpecker – good views for all while hiking, then super looks while it drank nectar at the feeders at Fawn Brook!
Hairy Woodpecker – seen on our hike by Upper Beaver Meadows, working a dead pine, posing for us…
Northern Flicker – seen daily, and added to the ‘baby’ list when seen feeding young at Upper Beaver Meadows
Western Wood Pewee – numbers seem very low for this usually common bird, heard at Barr Lake, and seen near Sheep Lake on the pine clad ridge across from the lakes on day one.
Willow Flycatcher – excellent looks on the hike up to Cub Lake
Least Flycatcher – also seen, in wetland area near the Mallard group en route to Cub Lake.
Hammond’s Flycatcher – heard several locations, then seen near Twin Owls
Dusky Flycatcher – likely this species were the owners of our fledglings seen above Upper Beaver Meadows picnic area – adults were not calling, and never still, but tail length and habitat should clinch it… not a ‘life-list’ look!
Cordilleran Flycatcher – super looks at adults feeding young, very vocal young that put on quite a show.
Say’s Phoebe – an uncommon bird in RMNP, we were surprised to see this bird very well on a small knoll above the meadows en route to Beaver Meadows.
Cassin’s Kingbird – Barr Lake area
Western Kingbird – very common on telephone wires and around Barr Lake while at lower elevations in the grassland
Eastern Kingbird – Barr Lake and surrounding grasslands
Tree Swallow – very common in the mountain areas, also seen at Barr Lake. Most memorable were the limbs full of fledglings, being attended by several adults, along the river on our Snipe Hunt.
Violet-green Swallow – the most common swallow on our journey in the mountains, most memorable swirling about the cliff face at our alpine lunch spot near the snowfields.
Bank Swallow – Barr Lake
Cliff Swallow – near bridges and buildings, best looks near the beautiful stone church near Allenspark, collecting mud at the edge of the pond
Barn Swallow – abundant
Horned Lark – alpine near Rock Cut pulloff
Steller’s Jay – always a hit, posing for us at picnics and the many turn-outs we stopped at for geology, photography and sightseeing
Clark’s Nutcracker – great talk by Alex on their ecology, they posed for us at several pull outs, and flew back and forth in the mountain setting much of the day
Black-billed Magpie – lots of family groups, lots of young begging, at all picnic sites for sure!
American Crow – very common, excellent looks to compare to ravens
Common Raven – great flight shows, seen daily
Black-capped Chickadee – seen our last morning while hiking
Mountain Chickadee – our regularly seen chickadee, wonderful views of parents feeding young at Sprague Lake
Red-breasted Nuthatch – best seen above Upper Beaver Meadows, heard several locations
White-breasted Nuthatch – seen several locations, also at Upper Beaver Meadows
Pygmy Nuthatch – seen on day one, and on our last day near the Catholic stone church we stopped to photograph, new for several on the trip
Brown Creeper – lovely tame family group observed at Endovalley, and another working a log near our knees on the Calypso Cascades trail.
Rock Wren – heard only, from the ‘tors’ rock features at alpine
House Wren – very common, seen daily, with family groups
Ruby-crowned Kinglet – also feeding young and seen nearly each day
Mountain Bluebird – a trip favorite for many, seen in several locations
Townsend’s Solitaire – distinctive wing markings, best seen while up in the alpine
Hermit Thrush – secretive – seen once in thick forest while hiking to Cub Lake
American Robin – one of our most common birds, lots of fledglings
Gray Catbird – a great spot by Phil, on our trail to Cub Lake
Brown Thrasher – Janet picked up this one, seen at Barr Lake
American Pipit – great behavioral sightings of several feeding on insects hatching off snowfields. Fairly common above tree line.
Loggerhead Shrike – one seen on telephone wires near airport
European Starling – towns and agricultural areas coming and going to Estes Park
Yellow Warbler – Barr Lake
Wilson’s Warbler – several locations in willow stream bottoms in the mountains, a loner, likely post breeding at Barr Lake
MacGillivray’s Warbler – seen by Peg only – seen in thick shrubs near one of the small lakes
Western Tanager – such beauty! Our best sighting was in a small aspen grove at the parking lot for Twin Owls
Chipping Sparrow – we did not pick up this fairly common sparrow until our last morning walking up to the burn area in search of woodpeckers
Vesper Sparrow – seen in with the Chipping Sparrows, less common than expected
Song Sparrow – riparian areas
Lincoln’s Sparrow – we actually got repeated and very good looks at this lovely sparrow, best looks on our “snipe hunt”, at the time we also spotted the Mule Deer.
Dark-eyed Junco – by far our most common bird, lots of striped plumage juvinales
Red-winged Blackbird – pond areas and Lake Estes
Western Meadowlark – seen near the airport coming and going
Brewer’s Blackbird – lower elevation wet areas, smaller lake near Lake Estes
Brown-headed Cowbird – we watched one being fed by Mountain Bluebirds, ugh!
Yellow-headed Blackbird – Barr Lake
Common Grackle – Barr Lake and prairie ponds
Bullock’s Oriole – great views at Barr Lake

Mammals
Least Chipmunk
Colorado Chipmunk
Yellow-bellied Marmot
Black-tailed Prairie Dog (near airport)
Red Squirrel
Wyoming Ground Squirrel
Golden-mantled Ground Squirrel
Aquatic Shrew
Mountain Cottontail
Desert Cottontail (Barr Lake)
Pika
Mule Deer
White-tailed Deer
Elk
Coyote

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