Sparrow has landed

Since the season has ended at Grand Tetons, I have spent most of my time in Utah.  A few days birding at Great Salt Lake revealed that this is too early for most of the winter ducks to have arrived.  Thousands of Coots, and Shovelers, Ruddy Ducks and Eared Grebes, and many Avocets.  I love Avocets.  A photo from a few years ago.
     I spent a week in Moab, in the SE corner of Utah.  Fall is very pleasant and colorful in Moab. Yellow Cottonwoods, red sandstone cliffs, and blue skies reflected in the Colorado River.  2 photos from previous trips  in the area.  I also visited Hovenweep NP, a collection of  ancient structures built by the Puebloan people about 1200 AD (or CE).   I drove a loop thru Colorado and Denver to take care of a few errands.  Great Sand Dunes NP was a fun place to visit for the morning.  90 % of the park is undeveloped for preservation of the unusual landscape and habitats.  Visitors are allowed to hike on the dunes in the 10 % of the publicly accessible park.

By Monday of this week I had been accepted at Copper Mountain Ski resort for this winter.  I will be working with the guests who come to stay in the ritzy townhouses and condos.  Copper Mt is located one hour west of Denver on hwy 70, near Silverthorne.