Gunnison Sage Grouse
©Loius F. Swift

This trip was throughout ornithologically exciting and scenically spectacular. To see our target bird, the Gunnison Sage Grouse, displaying on the lek was a phenomenon! We felt as if we were live in a National Geographic Special!

Led by Colorado resident, Bob Bradley, the ten of us arrived at the very COLD viewing site at 5:00 a.m. We were greeted by a volunteer monitor who whispered the satisfying words, "The birds are here." When it finally became light enough it was a thrill to see 30 Grouse (an unusually high number for this year) with ten males performing the mating display ritual.

As the male's breast expanded, balloon like, long black head feathers were tossed crisply over the head and bill while the tail feathers fanned in a circle of stiff points. The inflated bird strutted briefly, collapsed, then started right over again. The event lasted about three hours until the females flew off and the tired males, after posturing at each other, gave up, too.

Participants enjoyed birding various sites near Cortez and Dolores, CO, and Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park enroute to Gunnison. After visiting the lek Bob led the enthusiastic group to Grand Junction stopping at Hart's Basin near Delta and to the beautiful snow-laden mountains of Grand Mesa and dramatic Colorado National Monument the next day. A Three-toed Woodpecker pounding on an old fir tree right next to the road at 11,000 feet gave the group a final tattoo ending a marvelous trip.

There were 75 bird species seen and heard. Several people got life birds. Here's the list:
Gunnison Sage Grouse, Canada Goose, Mallard, Ring-necked Duck, Green-winged Teal, Bufflehead, Northern Shoveler, Common Goldeneye, Barrow's Goldeneye, American Wigeon, Lesser Scaup, Ruddy Duck, Common Merganser, Northern Pintail, Cinnamon Teal, Redhead, Double-crested Cormorant, Ring-billed Gull, Franklin's Gull, American Coot, Gadwall, Sandhill Crane, Great Blue Heron & rookery.
Pied-billed Grebe, Eared Grebe, Western Grebe, Killdeer, Common Snipe, American Crow, Common Raven, Turkey Vulture, Bald Eagle pair & nest, Golden Eagle, American Kestrel, White-throated Swift, Belted Kingfisher, Great-tailed Grackle, Northern Harrier, Rough-legged Hawk, Red-tailed Hawk, Peregrine Falcon, Red-naped Sapsucker, Northern Flicker (red-shafted), Three-toed Woodpecker, Lewis' Woodpecker, European Starling, Wild Turkey, American Robin , Mountain Bluebird, Western Bluebird, Evening Grosbeak, Gray Jay, Scrub Jay, Pinyon Jay, Steller's Jay, Clark's Nutcracker, Western Meadowlark, Violet-green Swallow, Tree Swallow, American Magpie, Red-winged Blackbird, Say's Phoebe, Mountain Chickadee, Lesser Goldfinch, American Goldfinch, Mourning Dove, Rock Dove, House Finch, House Sparrow, White-crowned Sparrow, Horned Lark, Lucy's Warbler, Dark-eyed Junco (Oregon & Pink-sided), Rock Wren (heard), Spotted Towhee (heard).

Hart’s Basin proved to be a very exciting stop, We heard the call of Sandhill Cranes but had a little trouble locating them. It was because they we so far up in the air. It’s always remarkable to find how far their call carries. We then saw a Golden Eagle land in a tree across the basin. Suddenly, six Franklin Gulls landed on the shore. They had a beautiful brilliant pink wash covering their complete breasts. It was a little reminiscent of the wash on a Roseate tern but much brighter. Recently, a birder from Nebraska said on the Internet “I have easily seen 10's of thousands of Franklin Gull's over the years, but have never seen any, let alone so many, that were this bright shade of pink.” A birder from Norway answered the message saying “I have seen the same with Black-headed Gull, and sometimes Common Gull here in Norway. The pink tinge is due to a shrimp that the birds eat. Bob Bradley and I remarked that we had never seen Franklin Gulls with such a bright pink wash on their breasts.

Participants on the trip were: Bob Bradley, leader; Joan Barker, Charlie Brenner, Eleanor Campbell, Tillie Chew, Joyce Goodman, Chuck Kangas, Chuck Richard, Andree Tarby and Betty Wilde.

Ann Bradley prepared a sumptuous meal for the entire group on Saturday night.