With my biggest nemesis bird in the bag (see previous post), it was all a cherry on top for my Colorado trip. I was interested in seeing the Pawnee Grasslands at some point but Melissa expressed interest in crossing into Wyoming, so we planned on making a day trip to Laramie and looping around to do the grasslands in the evening. Usually we do a morning walk so I looked up some hotspots nearby and also took the advice of a worker at the hotel to visit the Poudre Canyon west of Fort Collins and we landed on The Gateway Natural Area in Poudre Canyon. Poudre means powder in french. Apparently the naming comes from some French trappers that were hunkering down in the area and hid a cache of gun powder in the area and that's how it got its name. Its a beautiful spot!
Golden Eagles breed in this canyon.
This Golden Eagle perched on the rocks on the opposite side the river.
My main reason for picking this spot was the multiple reports of Northern Pygmy Owl including recently fledged chicks. However, the ranger in the park told me they had been moving out of the nesting tree and were going to be hard to find. Luckily I ran into another birder and he gave me some pointers on the general area where they had been hanging out and after scanning all the trees in the canyon I found one way in the distance.
It was barely visible in the shade of this Ponderosa Pine. I saw a trail way on the other side of the canyon that looked like I would have a better vantage so I hiked around.
Northern Pygmy Owl - it was still very far off but with the sun allowing a better view.
Two-tailed Swallowtail Butterfly
Lazuli Buntings were singing all through the canyon.
Yellow-breasted Chats were silent.
Weidemeyer's Admirals were flitting around the canyon happily.
Black-headed Grosbeaks abounded.
It was hard to leave but we had an itinerary with a lunch stop in Laramie. Melissa found out that the best restaurant in Laramie on TripAdvisor just happened to be called Sweet Melissa's and was a vegetarian place so we just had to try it. It was delicious!
This rest stop in Wyoming had an interesting Lincoln monument which ended up being a foreshadowing to the most common bird in the area.
The place we were heading to after lunch was supposed to be a 3 mile hike called Hidden Falls, but the trailhead was supposed to be on Crow Creek and Google maps brought us to the wrong Crow Creek trailhead in Medicine Bow National Forest. We figured it out after about 30 minutes but it was a pleasant walk anyway.
Lincoln's Sparrows were positively everywhere on this trail.
White-lined Sphynx MothThe correct Hidden Falls was actually in Curt Gowdy State Park about 10 miles away and it didn't take long to find it as this park had much better signage.
Green-tailed Towhee
Common Merganser
Common Merganser chicks!
Another Golden Eagle
Western Flycatcher
Unfortunately we were way behind schedule and my plan to visit the Pawnee Grasslands was abandoned. It will have to wait for a future trip.
Stay tuned for Day 4 which included our day at Emerald Lake in Rocky Mountain National Park.
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