Summitville Road

We headed south up Summitville Road to one of the hot spots listed in the “Rawinski” --along Pinos Creek south of Del Norte.  It was sunny and cold as we started up Schrader Creek Road. The hike was pleasing but not much was stirring.  After about two miles we walked back towards the truck and saw a Townsend’s solitaire and some mule deer in the distance. We heard a Clark’s nutcracker and a chic-a-dee-dee-dee.

Further up the road after the pavement ended we stopped and went into the forest.  A red-tailed hawk flew from a tall pine and we heard a nuthatch. Then, twenty yards ahead in a small pine tree, we observed a small flock of pine grosbeaks.

We hoped that if we could get farther up the road to 11,000 feet we might see a ptarmigan. The road began dry but was snow covered as we climbed in elevation.  We decided it would be best to turn around before we got stuck.  However, in turning around the truck did get stuck, but with cool calm Diane directing me we got out by backing up. It is true what they say about a four-wheel drive truck, “It will just get you struck in a more isolated place.”

We stopped at the”Chicken Foot” and ate lunch, hiked a little and enjoyed the fabulous mountain vistas.

Later we rolled down the Summitville Road. We stopped to see a loggerhead shrike and a Stellar’s jay.

Back in Del Norte we strolled along the river walk and saw juncos, a chickadee, a downy woodpecker and magpies.

Field Notes 12.2.12

 A trip down South River Road in Alamosa County started with a sighting of two foxes lounging in the morning sun on top of a haystack. They leaped off the haystack and ran away before we could take what would have been a fantastic photo.

Further on two great horned owls roosted in a bare deciduous tree while a northern harrier cruised low over the fields searching for rodents. We saw our first bald eagle of the winter season at the top of a tree near Conejos CR 26. Other sightings included a loggerhead shrike on a wire and a ground squirrel scurrying through the chico.

 

We stopped at LaSauses to count birds at our Earth Team wetland. We saw another loggerhead shrike and the usual assortment of winter birds including juncos, northern flickers, ravens and sparrows. We spent a little time observing a large flock of rock doves roosting on a nearby metal barn.

Driving east on Conejos CR Z we saw a porcupine in a tree and an American kestrel.

At the northeast end of Smith Reservoir, our final stop of the day, we saw a large number of ducks take flight in perfect synchronization as we approached in the truck. On the open water we saw mallards, common goldeneyes, and a common merganser. Horned larks lifted from the ground cover and then disappeared into the brush ahead of us. Several mule deer loped along the north shore.

 

Field Notes 11.25.12

Our last sighting of sandhill cranes in autumn 2011 was November 7. This year we were surprised to see eight cranes still in the Valley as we drove along Rio Grande CR 3E just south of Home Lake.

At the lake, which was mostly frozen, there were Canada geese, a gull, American coots and a bufflehead. We then went up the road to the south entrance of Rio Grande State Wildlife Area and ambled towards the river. During the hike we saw a northern harrier with reddish undersides, indicating that it was a juvenile. Flying nearby was light gray adult harrier. In the trees along the river chipping sparrows, Brewer’s sparrows and juncos flitted among the willow shrubs. A red-tailed hawk flew overhead and a common merganser swam peacefully in the river.  A stop at the Monte Vista National Wildlife Refuge auto loop yielded sightings of mallards and an American kestrel.

Field Notes 11.18.12

Based on a report of a greater roadrunner sighting, we drove to Great Sands Dunes National Park. After checking in at the visitor center, we hiked a trail that wound from the visitor center to the dunes. While scanning the chico, we saw a coyote lazing in the sun. We looked up to make certain no Acme Safes would drop on us. Beep, Beep. 

We didn’t see the roadrunner but it was a beautiful day and a nice hike.

 

Field Notes 11.16.12

 The San Luis Valley is really a large place and we have ranged over a better part of it during our one-year odyssey to see as many birds as we can in the Valley.  So far we have seen over 180 birds.  On this field trip we went to the western alluvial plain below the Crestone Needles. Following the trail guide in the Rawinski we headed up Hwy.17 to the Black Canyon.

As we drove north we saw sandhill cranes loafing in a field east of the highway. We also saw a red-tailed hawk diving at unseen prey and pronghorns racing across the chico.  As we turned east across Saguache County Road G we saw a golden eagle flying on a thermal and a peregrine falcon sitting on a pole. We drove north on a rugged dirt track to the Black Canyon trailhead. Many horned larks darted across the road and disappeared in the brush. Ravens cawed across the sky and magpies dropped in and out of trees.  The trail continues to Orient Mine, where during summer evenings large numbers of Mexican free-tailed bats leave the mine in a spectacular scene that thrills spectators.

We drove over rugged tracks and dirt roads until we found ourselves heading back down Hwy. 17.

Field Notes 11.4.12

 At MVNWR  

Illness had kept me inside for a couple of weeks but I was feeling better and my good “doctor”--Diane-- needed sun and fresh air, those inoculants against cabin fever.  We headed west along Alamosa CR 8, with a Diane-inspired turnaround to see a young prairie falcon looking forlorn and motherless on a wooden fence post. We stopped at the CR 8 woodlot to eat our sandwiches. We viewed the fields and sky. Numerous sandhill cranes crisscrossed overhead, their distinctive calls magnified by the crisp autumn air.

On the Monte Vista National Wildlife Refuge auto loop we identified a bufflehead, American coots, mallards and northern shovelers.  We saw a hawk – probably a young red-tailed – on the wing. On the west side of Colo. 15 we watched a herd of pronghorns loping through the chico and several prairie falcons atop power poles.

At Home Lake

The lake was crowded with American coots, Canada geese and several buffleheads. Swimming among the Canada geese were four greater white-fronted geese.  These unusual geese, with their pink bills and white face patches, were distinctly different from the Canada geese. This is one of the interesting aspects of bird watching--the randomness.  Earlier while we were at the MVNWR we had talked about just heading home, but decided instead to continue on undaunted and stop at Home Lake. If we had continued home daunted we would have missed the rare sighting of the greater white-fronted geese.

Field Notes 10.11.12

We found ourselves in that nether time before the fall migration, before the big flocks had started moving around. We found ourselves at the Alamosa National Wildlife Refuge. The flat but varied terrain along the Rio Grande is a great place for this kind of birdwatching.  During the two-mile hike you pass stands of willows and wetlands. There are abundant spots for shorebirds on the banks of the low-running Rio Grande. You hike through large open areas where the big sky reveals several species of raptors.

In this nether time when birds moving around the Valley are few and far between it is still possible to see some good birds. At the Refuge today Diane and I saw an osprey scouting for fish in the river. Near a field in the dry grasses we saw a vesper sparrow, sitting so still we could see its chestnut wing patches and white eye rings.

We glimpsed some ducks, hard to identify in the late afternoon sun. They flew up and down the river, some taking to the Chicago Ditch.

A family of sandhill cranes flew overhead--Mother, Father and Child.