Steamboat to Silverthorne; raptors
cwn...@comcast.net
This morning, driving from Steamboat Springs to Silverthorne, I had a Ferruginous Hawk along Hwy 40 about 12 miles north of Kremmling (Grand County) as well as a Golden Eagle about 5 miles north of Kremmling. Along Hwy 9 north of Silverthorne beyond where the road goes to Heeney, there was a Rough-legged Hawk.
In the Heeney area, not too much happening: 3 Eurasian Collared-Doves, 2 Townsend's Solitaire's, a Downy Woodpecker, and several Black-capped and Mountain Chickadees along with the ubiquitous Black-billed Magpies.
The strangest sighting may have been a single Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch at a feeder off of Blue Ridge Rd., Silverthorne. It may be the first time that I have had just a single Rosy-Finch.
In the afternoon, I skied at Keystone (Summit County) and found a flock of ~20 Rosy-Finches at the top of North Peak. All were Brown-capped with the exception of 2 Gray-crowned R-F's, one of the Hepburn subspecies.
Charlie Nims
Silverthorne, CO