We have a few bird species in the Bear Creek Watershed that rarely descend out of the high mountains (only possibly during migration or significant weather events), and, to potentially see them we need to go up higher.  In summer these birds include Hermit Thrush, American Pipit, Wilson’s Warbler, Lincoln’s Sparrow, and White-crowned Sparrow.  Other species found throughout the year almost exclusively at higher elevations are White-tailed Ptarmigan, Canada Jay, Clark’s Nutcracker, and Pine Grosbeak.  Finally, there are the three species of Rosy-Finches, all three of which are among the highest breeding birds in North America – Brown-capped on the higher peaks of the Southern Rockies – primarily Colorado; Gray-crowned up in the Brooks Range, Cascades, Sierra Nevada, and the Northern Rockies of Canada; and Black in the Northern Rockies and adjacent ranges from southern Wyoming to central Montana.  In winter they all generally descend to lower elevation high desert, intermountain parks, valleys, and even out on to the plains.  However, one of the interesting aspects of Rosy-Finch behavior is that they readily move elevationally, routinely going up and down the mountains as dictated by the weather.  What that means for us locally is that on a nice winter day Rosy-Finches may be all the way up in the highest couloirs of Mount Blue Sky, and then the next day, following a snowstorm, they may all be down at Red Rocks or out in South Park.

Here in the vicinity of Evergreen Lake, we rarely see Rosy-Finches though they may be passing by high overhead on a regular basis.  In summer the Brown-capped Rosy Finches will be found on the upper reaches of Mount Blue Sky and the Gray-crowned and Black Rosies will be breeding somewhere to he north of us.  In the winter, though, on a slightly blustery, semi-snowy day the three species can often be found just a bit to west of us up in the spruce-fir forest above 9500 ft.  AND, this is exactly where we found them this past Saturday.  In visiting a couple of homes up near Mestaa’ehehe Peak, we saw around 110 Brown-capped Rosy-Finches, and a few Gray-Crowned and Black Rosies.  In addition, we got good looks at Canada Jays and Clark’s Nutcrackers.  Seeing Rosy-Finches is never a guarantee, so we were lucky to see a few in their swirling flocks coming in to briefly blanket the bird feeders before swirling off en masse to an adjacent tree or over the horizon.

Migration is upon us, and almost every day is going to bring new surprises.  Try and get out when you can.

Mestaa’ehehe Pass, Mar 4, 2023
Number of Taxa: 16
Number of participants: 14

1 Bald Eagle
1 Red-tailed Hawk
5 Hairy Woodpecker (Rocky Mts.)
7 Canada Jay
11 Steller’s Jay
2 Clark’s Nutcracker
2 Common Raven
46 Mountain Chickadee
2 Red-breasted Nuthatch
6 White-breasted Nuthatch
2 Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch
2 Black Rosy-Finch
110 Brown-capped Rosy-Finch
1 Dark-eyed Junco (Slate-colored)
2 Dark-eyed Junco (Oregon)
6 Dark-eyed Junco (Gray-headed)