Colorado Part 1 April 6-9

I am enjoying Tropical Birding's "Chasing Chickens" tour in Colorado. The featured birds are various grouse and prairie chickens that put on spectacular displays on their communal leks. We are also targeting many other species and have already seen some great ones.

April 6 was a travel day. We met for dinner in Denver. There are four other guests and our leader is Dorian Anderson, who led the Minnesota and Massachusetts trips in February.

We headed north from Denver into high elevations where winter weather still prevails. The highlights of the day were all three North American rosy-finch species: Black, Gray-crowned, and Brown-capped. Unfortunately I could not get a photo of the stunning Black Rosy-finch, but he other two are still very attractive.

Gray-crowned Rosy-finch

Brown-capped Rosy-finch

While walking through a residential neighborhood, we were surprised to see two young moose.

Cassin's finch was another nice addition to my year-list and life-list.

We are driving about 200 miles a day as move from place to place in search of our target birds. Friday morning we were up early to arrive at the Greater-Sage Grouse lek well before dawn. There were about 60 birds putting on quite a show.

The male is an impressive bird even before he starts his transformation.

As two yellow air sacks on the breast are inflated the white collar becomes more prominent.

Plumes on the back of the head are erected and the tail is lifted revealing a striking pattern.

As the bird continues to puff up, its head is obscured.

In just a few seconds, the bird has become unrecognizable.

The view from behind is also impressive.

As we birded our way towards Craig, we saw many more birds including this Wilson's Snipe.

This American Dipper was another highlight. We watched it building an large mud nest underneath a bridge.

Saturday morning was another early start as we drove to the the Sharp-tailed Grouse lek outside the mining town of Craig. There were about 20 birds putting on a private show for the hens and our van full of birders.

The Sharp-tailed grouse is a smaller bird with a less dramatic display.

Before beginning his dance, the male is a rather plain bird.

After inflating its purple air sacs, spreading its wings, and raising its tail, the males run around in a display that must surely make all the hens swoon.

The lek is on private property . The owner's house sits on top of a hill with a commanding view of a vast expanse of land. We stopped in for a visit and some refreshments, and we saw a herd of pronghorn pass by.

As we drove away, we were startled to see this golden eagle sitting on a fence post a few feet from the road. I took this photo from inside the van.

We made a few more stops on our way to Grand Junction including Coal Canyon where we saw this Black-throated Sparrow.

A group of hikers encouraged us to take a side trail where we would be able to see wild horses including some newborns. We tried to explain that we were focused on birding, but they were quite insistent. They finally got the picture when I said we appreciated the tip, but wild horses could not stop from birding.

I am now more than halfway to my goal of 700 birds, but it will get harder and harder to find new ones.