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Home , Greater prairie chicken, Stalker (comics)

COLORADO APRIL 5–15, 2019

This displaying male Dusky Grouse at the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park was the avian highlight of the tour © Brian Gibbons

LEADERS: BRIAN GIBBONS & MICHAEL O’BRIEN LIST COMPILED BY: BRIAN GIBBONS

VICTOR EMANUEL NATURE TOURS, INC. 2525 WALLINGWOOD DRIVE, SUITE 1003 AUSTIN, TEXAS 78746 WWW.VENTBIRD.COM Winding our way into the Rockies from Denver, we enjoyed blue skies with a few clouds. Despite ideal conditions at 12,000 feet, Loveland Pass didn’t give us our hoped-for White-tailed Ptarmigan. We descended and searched around Silverthorne for finches. We finally found a flock of fosy-finches attending a feeder and were amazed as the swirling flocks came and went before us. Eventually we had scope views of a few Black Rosy-Finches and a few Gray-crowneds among the hundreds of Brown-cappeds. These

Loveland Pass at 12,000 feet where we searched for the White-tailed Ptarmigan © Brian Gibbons hearty beauties come down from their high elevation homes to winter in Colorado. We continued on our drive to Gunnison where we would be positioned for the rarest of our grouse. A frigid morning greeted us in the Gunnison sagebrush; fortunately, one male Gunnison Sage-Grouse strutted his stuff for more than an hour, flinging his filoplume ponytail repeatedly for some unseen females. Late morning, we climbed Monarch Pass, and the weather was good for finding a few high-elevation specialties. Michael heard an American Three-toed Woodpecker, but it took a half an hour to coax a fine female out of the Engelman’s Spruce forest; in the interim, a couple of Gray Jays entertained us in the scope. We had a leisurely drive over to Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park and were disappointed to learn that the extensive winter snows had allowed only a couple of roads to open in the park. We soaked-in the dramatic views and got our first looks at Cassin’s Finches. The roads would be our to locating a hooting male Dusky Grouse in the morning. The drive in netted us some Wild Turkeys and a Western , but we Part of the group at the Visitor Center overlook - Black Canyon of the parked abruptly Gunnison National Park © Brian Gibbons when Evening

Victor Emanuel Nature Tours 2 Colorado Grouse, 2019 Grosbeaks called repeatedly from the campground. We piled out of the vans and struggled to get the grosbeaks in the scope; most of our sightings were fly-bys. The explosive wing-flutter of a displaying male Dusky Grouse stopped us in our tracks. We crept down the road, and the strolled out from behind an oak tree, hooting, fanning his tail, and inflating the cranberry air sacs on his neck! We were all enraptured by this gorgeous creature for the next half-hour, with the Evening Grosbeaks only occasionally calling our eyes off the grouse. He performed a couple of distinctive wing-flutter somersaults and many bouts of hooting from the roadside before eventually melting into the oak woodland surrounding the campground. This would be the eventual avian highlight of the tour for many.

Colorado National Monument sandstone landscape on display © Brian Gibbons

The next morning found us in an entirely different landscape, the stark red sandstone cliffs, plateaus, and monoliths. This arid pinyon-juniper studded landscape was the back- drop for a few wonderful sightings as we climbed Rim Rock Drive. Pinyon Jays called at every stop; eventually we had great looks at this unique jay, and a Juniper Titmouse came out for a quick look too. From the clifftops we enjoyed the aerial antics of many

Victor Emanuel Nature Tours 3 Colorado Grouse, 2019 White-throated Swifts zooming past, occasionally at arm’s-length, as well as the stunning panorama before us. As we worked our way through the park, a group of took up residence right beside the road and were not nearly as impressed with us, as we stopped in the middle of the road. A long afternoon drive took us up the Colorado

Pinyon Jays were moving through Colorado National Monument at every stop © Brian Gibbons

River along I-70 through some amazingly scenic country. A quick stop in Glenwood Springs yielded just a couple of new . The drive up to Oak Creek was a highlight for the scenic mountain beauty, bare aspen groves intermingled with spruce forests still blanketed in their winter snows, and a few ravens and Golden Eagles that effortlessly soared overhead as we wound our way through the mountains to Steamboat Springs. The town of Oak Creek itself was a highlight, straight out of the Old West! Near Hayden we managed a quick sighting of a Falcon, but the hoped-for Sharp-tailed Grouse weren’t out for an evening show. The next morning we met in the dark, amazed that the winter storm hadn’t dropped a bit of snow on us. By the time we were leaving the parking lot, it was a drizzly mess of rain and snow, which would continue all the way out to the rolling grassy hills the Sharp- tailed Grouse call home. Miraculously the snow stopped, and we enjoyed the antics of the Sharp-tailed Grouse in display as they chased each other, often while still displaying. Heads down, wings bowed out, and stuttering feet all complemented their lavender air sacs. Back in town, after a delicious breakfast, Michael noticed a spruce tree full of Red

Victor Emanuel Nature Tours 4 Colorado Grouse, 2019 Crossbills; they clambered around, working the spruce cones over for the next twenty minutes while we all had great looks at these unique creatures. At this point we thought we had dodged the snowstorm; we climbed Ears Pass, and it was obvious that we hadn’t. It snowed on us continuously until we got into the middle of North Park at Walden. During lunch it really started to dump; more than four inches piled up on the Sharp-tailed Grouse displaying © Brian Gibbons vans while we dined at the Creek Café. An afternoon break was in order while we let the storm have its way. The next morning was frigid, ten degrees, as we drove slowly over the plowed but snow- packed roads. We made it out to the Greater Sage-Grouse lek just as it was getting light, a light snow still falling. They were there—the hulking male Greater Sage-Grouse were gulping air, strutting their stuff, and occasionally pummeling each other with their powerful wings. Apparently, it was all for naught, as we didn’t spy a single female all morning—they had more sense than to get out in that weather. While the lek activity was splendid, Moe’s announcement that he was seeing a cat was riveting; soon we were all looking at a distant Mountain Lion trotting through the sagebrush behind the lek. It disappeared behind a ridge only to reappear closer, give us a couple of glances, and then vanish behind the ridge. It may have had designs on a sage-grouse breakfast, and we may have interrupted its plans—a tour highlight, and a thrill for sure.

Mountain Lion prowling the sagebrush in North Park was superb © Brian Gibbons

With a brightened sky we decided to head toward Gould and the Moose Visitor Center of the Colorado State Forest State Park. As we climbed out of the valley, snowfall intensified, and the roads returned to their snow-packed state. In the heavy snow in Gould we watched as the finches swarmed the feeders; Brown-capped and Gray-

Victor Emanuel Nature Tours 5 Colorado Grouse, 2019 Greater Sage-Grouse displaying in fresh snow North Park © Brian Gibbons crowned Rosy-Finches, our first Pine Grosbeaks, and many Cassin’s Finches all visited the feeders to stock up for the storm. We lingered at the Moose Visitor Center while we

Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch near Gould during the snowstorm © Brian Gibbons

Victor Emanuel Nature Tours 6 Colorado Grouse, 2019 debated the merits of trying to get over Cameron Pass above 10,000 feet. We decided to go for it, and a half-hour of white-knuckled driving ensued. To our delight, shortly after cresting out the roads opened up, and we sailed down Poudre Canyon and into Fort Collins unscathed. Along the way we watched a few American Dippers in the Poudre River.

This Pine Grosbeak was part of the finch flock taking advantage of the feeders in Gould © Brian Gibbons

No trip to the Pawnee is complete without a start at the Silver Grill Café in Fort Collins. Cinnamon rolls, cinnamon roll French toast, , and fresh OJ were enjoyed by all. We raced out to the short grass prairie of the Pawnee and quickly found a fine male Chestnut-collared Longspur all by himself; the longspurs are usually in flocks early in the season. In our efforts to find more longspurs, we found a fine Ferruginous Hawk sitting on the ground. Still no McCown’s Longspurs, so we headed east to a large Prairie-Dog colony, the ideal habitat for the inappropriately-named Mountain Plover. Long-billed Curlews strolled off in the haze, and soon Michael called our attention to a pair of Mountain Plovers that were sizing-up potential nest scrapes. We eventually got nice scope views when the clouds rolled in and the heat-haze subsided. We wound our way through the prairie to a spot that has traditionally collected migratory flocks of longspurs; we were not disappointed. More than 2,000 longspurs

Victor Emanuel Nature Tours 7 Colorado Grouse, 2019 were roving the prairie and fields around us. Chestnut-collared and McCown’s were both represented. The only problem was that they seemed intent on settling into the fields just beyond the reach of our scopes. Eventually we got acceptable looks at McCown’s, but we needed to keep moving eastbound. As we rolled east, we came to the Wray area with its rolling grassy dunes, home of the Greater Prairie-Chicken. After learning about farming, ranching, fossils, and prairie-chickens from our host Bob Bledsoe, we had a great meal at 4 th & Main in Wray. The next morning was cloudy as we raced around the prairie trying to McCown's Longspur © Brian Gibbons

find the perfect spot to view the amazing cooing, hooting, and foot- stomping dance of the Greater Prairie-Chickens. A glowing in the east was the incipient sunrise, and we were lucky to have a few minutes of the golden sunshine illuminate the prairie-chickens before the clouds rolled in. Nearly thirty males performed for more than a dozen females while the local Burrowing Owls observed, unmoved by the males’ efforts. Eventually the females moved on, and we did as well. West of town we enjoyed some great birding adding Harris’s, Field, and Lincoln’s sparrows among the more common White-crowneds. A Merlin streaked by a couple of times, and a Brown Thrasher appeared on a fence. Nearby at Stalker Lake, a foursome of breeding-plumaged Horned Grebes was the highlight among many waterfowl including our first Wood Ducks and Blue-winged Teal. Greater Prairie-Chickens displaying © Brian Gibbons Just over the state line in Haigler,

Victor Emanuel Nature Tours 8 Colorado Grouse, 2019 Nebraska, a quick stop netted us a couple of looks at a Barn Owl near the ball fields. We quickly moved on to Kansas to position ourselves for our final grouse of the tour, Lesser

Lesser Prairie-Chicken displaying in Kansas © Brian Gibbons

Prairie-Chicken. Along the way we had some great looks at a couple of stunning Ring- necked males. We found ourselves in the frigid and windless prairie the next morning with the blackest sky you could imagine overhead, punctuated by a million stars and a broad smear of the Milky Way. We followed Mike and Larry down a powdery ranch road to an old school bus, which would serve as our blind for the ensuing Lesser Prairie-Chicken show. As we slid the windows open, we heard our first pops, gurgles, and cackles of the Lessers, but in the background a familiar voice came through, the cooing of a Greater Prairie- Chicken, as this was a mixed lek. Western Meadowlarks sang as the sun finally crested the horizon and began to take the chill off the night. We enjoyed our final lekking grouse on the of Kansas before heading back to Colorado. One last stop in the prairie netted us another look at Chestnut-collared Longspur and, finally, good scope views of a handsome male McCown’s before leaving the plains to head home.

Victor Emanuel Nature Tours 9 Colorado Grouse, 2019 ITINERARY

6 April 2019 Loveland Pass, Silverthorne, Monarch Ski Area & Pass 7 April Waunita Lek Gunnison Sage-Grouse, Monarch Pass, Gunnison area US 50, Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park 8 April Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park, Fruitgrowers Reservoir, Escalante Canyon 9 April Colorado National Monument, Glenwood Springs Veltus Park, Twenty Mile Road 10 April Routt County Road 46B, Yampa River Core Trail, Muddy Creek area of Routt National Forest, Coalmont lek 11 April Coalmont lek Greater Sage-Grouse, Walden area, Gould cabins, Moose Visitor Center Colorado State Forest State Park, Cameron Pass, Poudre Canyon 12 April Pawnee National Grassland, Bledsoe Cattle Company 13 April Bledsoe Cattle Company; Wray State Fish Hatchery; Stalker Lake State Wildlife Area; Haigler, Nebraska 14 April Hoeme Ranch North of Healy, Kansas; Arriba, Colorado

BIRDS

Waterfowl Anatidae Goose Branta canadensis Seen daily Aix sponsa Wray State Fish Hatchery Blue-winged Teal Spatula discors Wray State Fish Hatchery Cinnamon Teal Spatula cyanoptera Fruitgrowers Reservoir first Northern Shoveler Spatula clypeata Fruitgrowers Reservoir first Mareca strepera Stalker Lake American Wigeon Mareca americana Stalker Lake Anas platyrhynchos Seen daily Green-winged Teal Anas crecca Fruitgrowers Reservoir first Aythya americana Fruitgrowers Reservoir Ring-necked Duck Aythya collaris Stalker Lake Aythya affinis Walden & Stalker Lake Bufflehead Bucephala albeola Stalker Lake Common Goldeneye Bucephala clangula Colorado River Common Merganser Mergus merganser Fruitgrowers Res, Mtns & Stalker Lake Ruddy Duck Oxyura jamaicensis Fruitgrowers Res & Stalker Lake New World Quail Odontophoridae Colinus virginianus Heard near Wray , Grouse and Allies Ring-necked Pheasant (I) colchicus NE CO & KS Greater Sage-Grouse Centrocercus urophasianus Near Walden Colorado Gunnison Sage-Grouse Centrocercus minimus Waunita lek Dusky Grouse Dendragapus obscurus Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park Bird of the trip! Sharp-tailed Grouse phasianellus Near Steamboat in Routt County Greater Prairie-Chicken Tympanuchus cupido Amazing show near Wray Lesser Prairie-Chicken Tympanuchus pallidicinctus Great show north of Healy, KS

Victor Emanuel Nature Tours 10 Colorado Grouse, 2019 Meleagris gallopavo Near Montrose, NE CO & KS Grebes Podicipedidae Pied-billed Grebe Podilymbus podiceps Stalker Lake Horned Grebe Podiceps auritus Stalker Lake Western Grebe Aechmophorus occidentalis Fruitgrowers Reservoir Pigeons and Doves Columbidae Rock Pigeon (I) Columba livia Common Eurasian Collared-Dove (I) Streptopelia decaocto Common Zenaida macroura W Slope and Plains Swifts Apodidae White-throated Swift Aeronautes saxatalis Colorado National Monument Rails, Gallinules and Coots Rallidae American Coot Fulica americana Fruitgrowers & Stalker Cranes Gruidae Sandhill Crane Antigone canadensis Common in the mountains Plovers and Lapwings Charadriidae Killdeer Charadrius vociferus Walden & Plains Mountain Plover Charadrius montanus Pawnee National Grassland Sandpipers and Allies Scolopacidae Long-billed Curlew Numenius americanus Pawnee National Grassland Wilson's Snipe Gallinago delicata Near Wray Greater Yellowlegs Tringa melanoleuca Fruitgrowers & Stalker Gulls, Terns and Skimmers Laridae Bonaparte's Gull Chroicocephalus Fruitgrowers philadelphia Ring-billed Gull Larus delawarensis Stalker Lake California Gull Larus californicus Walden for a few folks Cormorants Phalacrocoracidae Double-crested Cormorant Phalacrocorax auritus Denver, Fruitgrowers & Stalker Herons, Egrets and Bitterns Ardeidae Great Blue Heron Ardea herodias Mountains & NE CO New World Vultures Cathartidae Turkey Cathartes aura Common Osprey Pandionidae Osprey Pandion haliaetus Nesting in Delta & Mtns Hawks, Eagles and Kites Accipitridae Bald Eagle Haliaeetus leucocephalus Mountains several nests seen Northern Harrier Circus hudsonius Most numerous on the plains Sharp-shinned Hawk Accipiter striatus Mountains and plains Cooper's Hawk Accipiter cooperii Mountains and plains Swainson's Hawk Buteo swainsoni Walden and plains Red-tailed Hawk Buteo jamaicensis Common Rough-legged Hawk Buteo lagopus Walden area Ferruginous Hawk Buteo regalis Pawnee National Grassland Golden Eagle Aquila chrysaetos several great sightings in the mountains Tytonidae

Victor Emanuel Nature Tours 11 Colorado Grouse, 2019 Barn-Owls Barn Owl Tyto alba Haigler, KS Owls Strigidae Bubo virginianus Near Wray a couple nests Burrowing Owl Athene cunicularia Near Wray Kingfishers Alcedinidae Belted Kingfisher Megaceryle alcyon A few flybys along rivers Woodpeckers Picidae Red-bellied Woodpecker Melanerpes carolinus Heard near Wray Red-naped Sapsucker Sphyrapicus nuchalis Colorado National Monument by Moe Downy Woodpecker Picoides pubescens Near Wray Hairy Woodpecker Picoides villosus Mtns, Fruitgrowers & near Wray Am. Three-toed Woodpecker Picoides dorsalis Monarch Pass female Northern Flicker Colaptes auratus Common Falcons and Caracaras Falconidae American Kestrel Falco sparverius Common seen daily Merlin Falco columbarius Near Wray Peregrine Falcon Falco peregrinus Colorado National Monument for some Prairie Falcon Falco mexicanus Mountains & near Walden Tyrant Flycatchers Tyrannidae Black Phoebe Sayornis nigricans Near Delta & Escalante Canyon Say's Phoebe Sayornis saya Seen daily Shrikes Laniidae Loggerhead Shrike Lanius ludovicianus Colorado National Monument & plains Crows, Jays and Magpies Corvidae Gray Jay Perisoreus canadensis Monarch Pass Pinyon Jay Gymnorhinus Colorado National Monument cyanocephalus Steller's Jay Cyanocitta stelleri Mountains Blue Jay Cyanocitta cristata Near Wray Woodhouse's Scrub-Jay Aphelocoma woodhouseii West slope mountains Clark's Nutcracker Nucifraga columbiana Monarch Ski & Black Canyon Black-billed Magpie Pica hudsonia Common American Crow Corvus brachyrhynchos Common Common Raven Corvus corax Common Larks Alaudidae Horned Lark Eremophila alpestris Common Swallows Hirundinidae Tree Swallow Tachycineta bicolor Steamboat Springs Chickadees and Tits Paridae Black-capped Chickadee Poecile atricapillus Common Mountain Chickadee Poecile gambeli Common Juniper Titmouse Baeolophus ridgwayi Colorado National Monument Nuthatches Sittidae Red-breasted Nuthatch Sitta canadensis Black Canyon White-breasted Nuthatch Sitta carolinensis Black Canyon

Victor Emanuel Nature Tours 12 Colorado Grouse, 2019 Pygmy Nuthatch Sitta pygmaea Silverthorne

Wrens Troglodytidae Winter Wren Troglodytes hiemalis Heard Wray Fish Hatchery rare! Dippers Cinclidae American Dipper Cinclus mexicanus Steamboat Springs & Poudre Canyon Kinglets Regulidae Ruby-crowned Kinglet Regulus calendula Wray Fish Hatchery Thrushes and Allies Turdidae Eastern Bluebird Sialia sialis Wray Fish Hatchery Western Bluebird Sialia mexicana Black Canyon Mountain Bluebird Sialia currucoides Common in the mountains Townsend's Solitaire Myadestes townsendi Black Canyon & Wray American Turdus migratorius Common Mockingbirds and Thrashers Mimidae Brown Thrasher Toxostoma rufum Near Wray Sage Thrasher Oreoscoptes montanus Black Canyon & Steamboat area Starlings Sturnidae European Starling (I) Sturnus vulgaris Common Waxwings Bombycillidae Cedar Waxwing Bombycilla cedrorum Steamboat & near Wray Old World Sparrows Passeridae House Sparrow (I) Passer domesticus Common Siskins, Crossbills and Allies Fringillidae Evening Grosbeak Coccothraustes vespertinus Best studies at Black Canyon Pine Grosbeak Pinicola enucleator Gould Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch Leucosticte tephrocotis Silverthorne & Gould Black Rosy-Finch Leucosticte atrata Silverthorne Brown-capped Rosy-Finch Leucosticte australis Silverthorne & Gould House Finch Haemorhous mexicanus Common Cassin's Finch Haemorhous cassinii Black Canyon & Gould Red Crossbill Loxia curvirostra Steamboat hotel! Pine Siskin Spinus pinus Steamboat American Goldfinch Spinus tristis Near Wray Longspurs and Snow Calcariidae Buntings Chestnut-collared Longspur Calcarius ornatus Pawnee National Grassland & Arriba, CO McCown's Longspur Rhynchophanes mccownii Pawnee National Grassland & Arriba, CO New World Sparrows Passerellidae Spotted Towhee Pipilo maculatus Black Canyon Chipping Sparrow Spizella passerina Near Wray Field Sparrow Spizella pusilla Near Wray Vesper Sparrow Pooecetes gramineus Pawnee National Grassland & plains Fox Sparrow Passerella iliaca Black Canyon Song Sparrow Melospiza melodia Common along streams Lincoln's Sparrow Melospiza lincolnii Near Wray

Victor Emanuel Nature Tours 13 Colorado Grouse, 2019 White-crowned Sparrow Zonotrichia leucophrys Plains Harris's Sparrow Zonotrichia querula Near Wray Dark-eyed Junco Junco hyemalis Common (Slate -colored Junco) Junco hyemalis/carolinensis Plains (Pink-sided Junco) Junco hyemalis mearnsii Mountains (Gray-headed Junco) Junco hyemalis caniceps Mountains Troupials and Allies Icteridae Yellow-headed Blackbird X. xanthocephalus Heard Only! Western Meadowlark Sturnella neglecta Common Red-winged Blackbird Agelaius phoeniceus Common Brown-headed Cowbird Molothrus ater Near Wray first & plains Brewer's Blackbird Euphagus cyanocephalus Near Wray Common Grackle Quiscalus quiscula Denver & plains Great-tailed Grackle Quiscalus mexicanus NE CO & KS New World Warblers Parulidae Yellow-rumped Warbler Setophaga coronata Near Wray "myrtle" Cardinals and Allies Cardinalidae Northern Cardinal Cardinalis cardinalis Near Wray

MAMMALS Squirrels and Allies Sciuridae Eastern Sciurus niger Mountains & Plains Red Squirrel Tamiasciurus hudsonicus Mountains Least Chipmunk Tamias minimus Black Canyon Wyoming Ground-Squirrel Spermophilus elegans Near Walden Golden-mantled Ground- Spermophilus lateralis Black Canyon Squirrel Thirteen-lined Ground-Squirrel Spermophilus Pawnee National Grassland & Arriba, CO tridecimlineatus Rock Squirrel Spermophilus variegatus Escalante Canyon Black-tailed Prairie-Dog Cynomys ludovicianus Plains White-tailed Prairie-Dog Cynomys leucurus Near Walden Gunnison Prairie-Dog Cynomys gunnisoni Mountain valleys near Gunnison Kangaroo Rat Heteromyidae Ord's Kangaroo Rat Dipodomys ordii Near Wray & Hares Leporidae Eastern Cottontail Sylvilagus floridanus Near Wray Desert Cottontail Sylvilagus audubonii Denver Mountain Cottontail Sylvilagus nuttallii Black Canyon Black-tailed Jackrabbit Lepus californicus Near Wray Dogs Canidae Canis latrans A few sightings mtns & plains Vulpes vulpes Gould Swift Fox Vulpes velox glimpsed in the night KS Weasels Mustelidae

Victor Emanuel Nature Tours 14 Colorado Grouse, 2019 American Badger Taxidea taxus Pawnee National Grassland Procyonidae Northern Procyon lotor A couple sightings in the dark Deer Cervidae White-tailed Deer Odocoileus virginianus NE CO & KS Odocoileus hemionus Common Cervus elaphus Black Canyon Antilocapridae Pronghorn Antilocapra americana Valleys & plains Bison, Sheep & Goats Bovidae Bighorn Sheep Ovis canadensis Colorado National Monument Cats Felidae Mountain Lion Felis concolor Amazing sighting near Walden

OTHER FAUNA American Racer Coluber constrictor flaviventris Stalker Lake

Mountain Bluebirds were common in the mountains © Brian Gibbons

Victor Emanuel Nature Tours 15 Colorado Grouse, 2019