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January 17 & 18, 2009: Photographing Rosy-Finches
led by Debbie Barnes

Participants:
Saturday: Leslie Holzmann, Jeannie Mitchell, Patrick Shaffner, Pam Godfrey and Kathy Passehl
Sunday: Risë Foster-Bruder, John Drummond, Frank Dodge, Bill Shankster and Judy Dugan

Saturday: The weather was wonderful for January—mid to upper 30's with little to no wind. We saw lots of raptors sitting on power poles on the way up and a coyote below Woodland Park heading into the woods. We didn't find many birds in Cripple Creek, but Victor really produced some great sightings, including a fox. We had around 200 Rosy-Finches! Most were Gray-crowned, with a few Black and Brown-capped thrown in. We even got three Hepburn's Gray-crowned Rosy-Finches, visiting from the coast. On the way home we got a nice surprise with a young Mountain Goat feeding beside the road. Everyone went home with some wonderful images and a few tips to help them with their bird photography.

Our birds for the day: Red-tailed Hawk, Rough-legged Hawk, Clarks Nutcracker, Steller’s Jay, Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch (including Hepburn's), Black Rosy-Finch, Brown-capped Rosy-Finch, American Crow, Common Raven, Pine Siskin, Dark-eyed Junco (Pink sided, Oregon, Gray-headed, White-winged), Mountain Chickadee, House Sparrow, European Starling, Red-winged Blackbird, Black-billed Magpie.

Sunday: This day's trip was slightly cooler, with a small breeze that probably affected what we saw. We had the same poor luck in Cripple Creek, but the drive up to Victor produced some nice birds. In fact, our day was characterized by raptors. First we saw an interesting second-year dark-morph-ish Rough-legged Hawk. That was followed by a Prairie Falcon. While we were looking at a few finches, we heard a Northern Pygmy Owl vocalizing and moving around us trying to avoid the crows and jays that were harassing it. We didn't get a look at it, but it was a cool encounter. We also had fly-bys of another second year light-morph Rough-legged Hawk and a second year Golden Eagle!

The Rosy-Finches were not as numerous as on Saturday, but we did see them. A flock of about 75 fly around us but didn't land. Everyone was disappointed but philosophical about the small numbers of Rosy-Finches seen.

Our birds for the day: Red-tailed Hawk, Rough-legged Hawk, Prairie Falcon, Golden Eagle, Northern Pygmy-Owl, Townsends Solitaire, Clarks Nutcracker, Steller’s Jay, American Crow, Common Raven, Pine Siskin, Dark-eyed Junco (Pink sided, Oregon, Gray-headed, Slate-colored), Mountain Chickadee, Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch, Black Rosy-Finch, Cassins Finch, House Sparrow, European Starling, Red-winged Blackbird, Black-billed Magpie.