Rocky Mt Park

Last Saturday I drove north to RMNP and arrived quite early.  Elk were very active in the meadows at Moraine.  Bugling males were very exciting to listen to. A dominant bull with full antlers sang, splashed across a creek, and battled a bush.  I did not see any fighting, the big males seemed to be more interested in the females.  One large male sat in a field 100 feet from the road and did his bugling sitting down.  Another bull walked between the parked cars and stood 10 feet away from a man doing video with his iPad.  That bull was not afraid of people !
     I drove up Trail Ridge Road to the summit, and found it very windy. Tundra plants are almost finished blooming. I felt like I would be blown off the mountain so I descended back down to the valley.  Aspen leaves are golden on some hillsides, and still green in dense clumps in lower forests.  Sprague Lake was very pretty to walk around.  I found a few birds:  Pygmy Nuthatches, Grey-headed Juncos, Mountain Bluebirds, American Pipits, and Townsend's Solitaires.
    I was lucky to get a camp space, most of the campgrounds are all reserved. 




Arctic Gentian

I was lucky to stop for a "Moose jam"  and even better to get a few photos of Mama Moose and her little calf.









The Rockies are a very old mountain range and the peaks are rounded from erosion.  This is so different from the sharp craggy Tetons that are much younger. 

I decided to post this photo anyway.  The bold Elk meets technology

early September

Smoke from the big wildfires in California and Washington covered Denver with blue-grey haze for more than a week.  I was reminded of the old saying  "Red sky in the morning, sailors take warning."  What about a red sun in the morning ?
     Local bird experts say migration has barely started.  Warm temperatures are keeping birds to the north longer than usual. Sunday a week ago I joined a day-trip to NE Colorado visiting Prewitt and Jackson Reservoirs as well as several playa ponds.  The leader did a proper ebird report and used 8 checklists !!  Highlights were Baird's Sandpipers, Stilt Sandpipers, Wilson's and Red-necked Phalaropes, Red-headed Woodpeckers, and Franklin's Gulls. A Dickcissel and a Long-billed Curlew had wandered in from another state. They are not usually found here.

     Labor Day weekend I went out each morning. Saturday with a small group at Cherry Creek State Park. A group of Forster's Terns was fun to watch. Other highlights were a Sora who came out of the reeds to be seen, a Solitary Sandpiper, and 3 species of Grebes (Western, Eared, and Pied billed).  Swainson's Hawks are gathering for their trip south.
     Sunday to Pawnee Grasslands, also in NE Colorado.  In the Cottonwood groves Wilson's and Townsend's Warblers were foraging for insects, along with the Flycatchers.  This is a well known stopover for Hammond's, Dusky, and Cordilleans.
     Monday I took Dolphin-kayak to Barr Lake State Park.  That poor boat has not been in the water for a long time.  It spent the winter and spring in a barn on my friend Sandy's property.  I was able to bring it to Denver a few weeks ago.

No photos of shorebirds or warblers.  :(   The top picture is a pond behind the library, home to a successful Cormorant and Snowy Egret rookery.
     Belmar Park has a boardwalk/ gazebo area on shoreline that is home to several Barn Swallow nests.  The 2nd photo is the only picture I was able to capture of the adult Swallow feeding a fledgling. 
     These 4 little ones are almost ready to try their wings.