Two happy birders from Virginia! Day One to Pawnee National Grasslands. Day Two in Rocky Mountain National Park. 18 Life Birds and a lot of fun! Here are some of the photo highlights:
Rocky Mountain National Park Summer 2021 Reservations?
We’re getting lots of questions about access to Rocky Mountain National Park this summer. After first saying there would not be any reservation system this summer, the park recently announced a timed-entry reservation system for park access May 28 through October 11. There are two parts to this new system. First, if you wish to...Continue reading
New Image Gallery
We occasionally get requests from our clients and friends for a copy of one of our photos taken during our guided tours. We’ve partnered with Fine Art America to offer some of our favorite images which can be purchased in a wide variety of wall art styles and sizes and many other products. Thanks for...Continue reading
10 Favorite Colorado Birding Resources
UPDATED JANUARY 2020! There are many excellent resources for learning about Colorado’s great birding opportunities. Here is a list of 9 of my personal favorites. I don’t intend this to be an exhaustive list–just a sampling of the books and online resources I use most often. And I would be remiss if I didn’t mention...Continue reading
Ferruginous Hawk
This beautiful Ferruginous Hawk was soaring along the road to Rabbit Mountain yesterday. This species and Rough-legged Hawk are the only North American hawks with fully feathered legs (plus Golden Eagle.) This photo shows the rusty leg feathers that give rise to its name–“ferrugo” is Latin for “iron rust.”
Northern Pygmy-Owl
One of the birds we get a lot of inquiries about is Northern Pygmy-Owl. We were recently walking in one of our favorite local birding spots. This morning was pretty quiet bird-wise and it was more walking than birding until a couple of Gray Catbirds caught our attention with their scolding notes. Looking up in...Continue reading
Blue Grosbeak
Blue Grosbeak is a common summer resident across much of Colorado. We recently had a chance to photograph a cooperative male bird. This also gave us a chance to explore one of the neat features on the Panasonic G9 camera. One of the camera options is called Pre-Burst. Using this setting, we can focus on...Continue reading
Lewis’s Woodpecker
Lewis's Woodpecker feeding young bird.Continue reading
A Tale of Two Grasslands
One of the great experiences of birding in Colorado is visiting both the Pawnee National Grasslands and Rocky Mountain National Park. The title of this post is a bit tongue-in-cheek for while the Pawnee National Grasslands (PNG) is a true grassland, the alpine tundra found at the highest parts of Rocky Mountain National Park (RMNP)...Continue reading
How did Lark Bunting become the State Bird of Colorado
One of the species that many birders hope to see when they visit Colorado is the Lark Bunting. Neither a lark or a bunting, this species is most closely related to the sparrows. Lark Buntings are common summer residents especially in the eastern Colorado Plains. One of the interesting aspects of Lark Buntings in Colorado...Continue reading
Five Keys to a Great Colorado Birding Adventure
We spend a lot of time preparing and researching birding trips for clients. Typically, our focus is on exactly where to find the western and mountain birds that bring birders to Colorado. But to make for a successful birding adventure, we also need to plan for all the logistics and details that make the difference...Continue reading
December in Colorado – Day Three
On December 10 (Day Three of our Colorado birding tour), we were met early by Marcel Such who is a student at Western State Colorado University in Gunnison and the four of us (Marcel, Jeff Kietzmann, Christian Hagenlocher, and I) headed to the west end of Blue Mesa Reservoir (created in 1966 along 20 miles...
December in Colorado – Day Two
On Day Two of our Colorado birding tour, Jeff and I were met at our hotel early (5 a.m.!) by Christian Hagenlocher who currently lives and works in Buena Vista. Christian is a terrific birder and knows this part of Colorado like the back of his hand. In the darkness, we drove west from Buena...Continue reading
December in Colorado – Day One
Many of our Colorado birding tours are focused on north-central Colorado to well-known hotspots including Rocky Mountain National Park and the Pawnee National Grasslands. In early December, we organized a custom three-day trip that ventured south and west for some of Colorado’s other regional specialities. Jeff from Florida had a very specific list of species...Continue reading
Fall Birding in Colorado
Visiting birders to Colorado tend to fall into two main categories: Many come in April for a Colorado “Chicken Tour” to enjoy the grouse, prairie-chickens, and ptarmigan. Another major wave of birders visit in the breeding season (May-July) for the great variety of Colorado specialities. But the fall season also offers tremendous birding opportunities. Rocky...Continue reading