The snow was forecasted several days ahead. I was hoping for less than an inch because Christmas Bird Count was Sunday, the 14th. Sunday morning I swept 5 inches of snow off Silver truck !! I would meet the group of birders in Eagle, CO about 20 miles to the west. All went well with the driving and I was assigned to section 2, riding with Bill and Kathy in their Subaru.
We drove up Valley Rd (Gypsum Canyon Rd or FS 412) into White River National Forest. The red dirt road goes thru grasslands and pastures, later climbing in elevation to a Pinyon-Juniper forest. Snow was still falling, temperature was about 35 F. Birds were doing the smart thing, staying hidden in dense thickets and out of the storm. For our morning's efforts, 14 species were tallied. Highlights were a Rough legged Hawk chasing a young Red tailed Hawk, a Dipper standing on a rock in a grey, cold-looking creek. Photo above: Not a creature was stirring, not even a Chickadee.
I had today off as well, so I picked up the snowshoes and boarded the bus up to Beaver Creek Village. Mountains across the valley were covered in a blanket of snow. The Nordic Center opened 2 days ago. My old wooden snowshoes caused quite some excitement when I went in to find a map. 2 men photographed them with smartphones !
Gray-white skies and falling snowflakes have been what's happening here for the past 10 days. Yesterday morning blue sky appeared and I took a few photos. I found a camera-shy Magpie hiding in a Spruce tree.
