Colorado Birding Bonanza - Dream Yr Update (part 2)
GREGORY.B.MILLER@bge.com
Wed, 23 Dec 1998 12:56:57 -0500
"Hi. This is Greg Miller. You don't know me. I'm a birder
from Maryland who'd like to see some Brown-capped Rosy-Finches.
Kim Potter from Rifle mentioned your name as the person to talk
to about seeing Rosy-Finches."
[Pause]
"I'm sorry, Don. Is this a bad time to call?"
"No, no. It's just that it's been so warm." I'd heard this
how many times now? "A couple weeks ago I had maybe 300
Rosy-Finches coming to my feeder. Nearly ate me out of house and
home, too." (I think my heart was up inside my throat now.)
"Snow's all gone though and so are all the finches."
The Friday morning air in Gunnison on December 18 was brisk,
clear, and refreshing. At a chilly 5 degrees, I shivered a
little as I scraped off the ice on my 4WD pickup truck. Inspite
of everybody's word on the Rosy-Finches, I found myself quite
optimistic this morning, still elated over the ptarmigans from
yesterday. I was excited to be Out West again, too. Gunnison's
at an elevation of 7,700 feet. I had never been here in the
Winter. What new birding adventures would I have here? I hopped
into my frigid cab and sat down next to a one liter bottle of
ice. Oops! I had left it in the truck overnight.
I drove several miles West of town and followed Don's
directions to his house along the Gunnison River. At the base of
a sage-covered hill, beyond the huge cottonwood-lined Gunnison
River, I found Don Radovich's home, nestled in a very pretty
setting. A flock of Red-winged Blackbirds waited in a tree as I
got out of my truck. Several Black-capped Chickadees seemed
excited at my arrival. I walked to the door and knocked.
Inside, Don was on the phone and I met two other Gunnison
birders, Ron Meyer, a retired doctor, and Jim Berry, a retired
college professor. I immediately noticed the beautiful paintings
gracing the walls of Don's home and commented on them. The
artist had captured the jizz--the life-likeness--as birds looked
alive, painted in excellent detail and in vibrant color, all of
them in proper habitats. From the realness of the look and feel
of the painting, I could tell the artist had actually seen the
bird. This attention to detail is surprisingly not all that
common. What I did not realize is that these were Don's
paintings. I was truly impressed.
There were no Rosy-Finches at the feeders this morning, but
after a few phone calls, one of the Gunnison birders had tracked
down a feeder that had a dozen Rosy-Finches of all three species.
I was jubilant. Don was busy so the rest of us piled into Jim's
pickup and drove over to the home of Jim Greer, a professional
guide. The Greer house was at a higher elevation and was
surround by sage hills. Upon arrival, however, we found out that
a small falcon, an American Kestrel had flown in and chased off
all the birds. We were all graciously served some tea by our
host while we waited for the finches to return..but they never
did. Jim Berry had to leave early for a prior obligation so he
dropped us off back at Don's house. Ron Meyer started making
calls to birders in Crested Butte, 40 miles to the North and
about 1,200 feet higher in elevation.
Don kindly showed me his art studio which had a window
overlooking the river. A current sketch of a Green Heron was on
a drawing board, a box containing Liquitex acrylics lay open at
my feet, and open text books were scattered around the room. As
Don showed me some of his paintings, my eyes were immediately
drawn to some plates he'd done. Warblers...tiny, colorful
migrants, many of which winter in the tropics. The plates were
exquisitely done, too. I enjoyed a look at a tiny little black
and white warbler with a fiery orange face and throat--a
Blackburnian Warbler--one of my favorites. It is difficult to
capture the intensity of the orange coloration on this little
bird. When it breaks out of leaf-cover in the spring, the shear
beauty of this little creature often brings oohs and ahhs from
the viewers. It is a stunning bird. Don's painting had captured
its likeness with incredible authenticity.
These plates, I found out, had been reproduced in "A Guide
to the Birds of the West
Indies" by Herbert Raffaele, James Wiley, Orlando Garrido, Allan
Keith and Janis Raffaele, which was published this year. Don
Radovich painted the plates for the warblers. I felt privileged
to see the originals and to meet the artist, too.
Ron Meyer had no current information on the Rosy-Finches,
but gave me directions on where to look in Crested Butte. Jim
Berry called while I was Don's house to talk about maybe doing
dinner together. I mentioned that I'd left a leather carry-on in
the back of his truck. He gave me directions to his house and I
drove over. We chatted about his upcoming trip to Arizona. I
asked him if he was going to look for the Rufous-capped Warbler
or the Rufous-backed Robin. He didn't know about either one, but
was excited about the prospects.
Don called Jim from his house. Five Brown-capped
Rosy-Finches were at his feeders right now! As we were walking
out, Jim saw a bird at his feeder. I stopped in my tracks. Was
that a Rosy-Finch? I thought I saw some pink on it, too. My
binoculars were inside my truck, too close to the feeders. Jim
went back inside and got his Nikons. The bird was indeed, one
Brown-capped Rosy-Finch! Wow! How lucky is THAT?!??!! I hopped
in my truck and drove back down to Don's house to try to see five
birds and maybe get some video footage. But alas, the birds were
gone.
I drove over to the lake to see the Barrow's Goldeneyes.
The birds were pretty far out and I only found one Barrow's close
to shore. It flew when I got my videocam...birds know this,
don't they? I traveled back to Don's house, but the feeders only
had a Downy Woodpecker and a Mountain Chickadee. I headed North
to Crested Butte and spent the last two hours of daylight driving
around searching for flocks of Rosy-Finches. Nada. Crested
Butte was an interesting ski town, however, and they were gearing
up for the Extreme Olympics in mid January. I met Jim Berry and
his wife at Donita's and had a delicious Mexican dinner.
A couple dozen birders, bundled in winter garb, met at
7:15am at Ron Meyer's house in Gunnison. Saturday, December 19
was the date for the Christmas Bird Count for Gunnison, Colorado.
I was excited today. A new Count in which to participate and my
birthday. I felt lucky. Maybe I'd see some more Rosy-Finches.
Or, who knows?
I joined Jim Berry's group in the Northwest quadrant. We
had a fun day out birding. Highlights for me included finding a
pair of Wood Ducks, seeing a perched Merlin at close range, and
observing a Northern Shrike catching and carrying off a mouse.
The brightly colored, male Wood Duck is one of the most beautiful
of North American ducks. I was pleasantly surprised to find out
that this gem had never been recorded on a Gunnison Count. Neat!
And seeing the medium-sized falcon, the Merlin, perched was a
real treat. I have often seen them flying, but rarely have I
seen them sit--and so close, too! This hawk is a powerful
predator and always looks like it's flying with a
reason--straight and direct. The Northern Shrike is a small,
black and gray predator from the Far North, that only reaches the
Lower 48 during the winter months. This near robin-sized bird
certainly looks more like a Mockingbird than a hawk. For its
size, however, it's a might mite.
I watched eagerly as the shrike dove from a fence post and
hit its prey once with its talons and the second time with its
powerful, hooked beak to the back of the little rodent's head.
The limp mouse was held in the predator's beak as it carried it
back to the top of the post. It picked briefly at the mouse
before carrying it off, clutched in its talons. The mouse was at
least a quarter the size of its captor. It seemed impossible
that the Northern Shrike could fly away with it, but it did.
What a treat to observe!
We all gathered again back at the Meyer household for a
pot-luck dinner and to tally the totals for the day. It was a
pleasure mingling with the friendly Colorado birders, listening
to the day's stories, and getting the day's totals. What a great
day!
The snow and cold weather had missed most of Southwestern
Colorado. I watched the Weather Channel intently. Denver was
already getting snow. I wondered if I'd encounter any
difficulties heading back for my return flight Sunday evening.
I-25 South of Denver had been closed temporarily. If I came in
from the West on I-70, I'd have to go through the Eisenhower
Tunnel at 11,000 feet.
I was a little frightened Sunday morning, December 20, to
see the predictions for the day. It was worse than I had
imagined. Nearly a foot of snow was predicted at the higher
elevations with strong winds and Arctic temperatures. Blizzard
was not a word I wanted to think about today. I left Gunnison at
9:00am. On some last minute local advice, I decided to try
approaching Denver from the Southwest on Rt. 285. This turned
out to be a very fortuitous decision as I encountered very little
snow, even though the wind and cold were brutal. As I listened
to the radio, I heard the Emergency Broadcast System (not a test)
for the winter storm warning for several counties just to the
North of me. There was currently heavy snow, extremely cold
temperatures, and high winds. I counted my blessings as I made
it safely to the Denver International Airport. I didn't mind
that I was four hours early. The combination of nasty weather
and holiday traffic in the airport was enough motivation to be
there early.
I arrived home at 2:30am on Monday morning. Totally
exhausted once again, I was somewhat happy that my Year was going
to end sometime soon. It was tough getting to work Monday
morning. In my email at work, I had a brief note from Al
Levantin. The winter weather had brought back the Rosy-Finches
to his feeders--hundreds of them. Aaaargh. I guess I just have
to go back to Colorado another time. <grin>
---end of Colorado Birding Bonanza (part 2)---
Greg Miller
Lusby, Maryland, USA
home) gregorym@erols.com
work) gregory.b.miller@bge.com
www) http://www.erols.com/gregorym