misc. Summit County sightings

[Charlie Nims]

The past 2-3 days, I have been mixing up skiing and birding in Summit County.  Here are some of my birding observations.   

In the Wildernest area of Silverthorne, I had all three Rosy-Finch species.   At the Silverthorne water treatment plant on Friday there were 6 species of duck including Barrow’s and Common Goldeneye.  Off of Blue Ridge Rd., I had a flock of 18 Gray-crowned Rosy-Finches and 7 Pine Grosbeaks.  Around Green Mountain Reservoir, there were Evening Grosbeaks, Gray-crowned Rosy-Finches, Mountain Chickadee and Townsend Solitaire.   Further north in Grand County, south of Kremmling, I had an adult Bald Eagle.  

Perhaps the most unusual sighting was a Great Blue Heron flying over the Blue River near the Silverthorne shopping outlets.

Anecdotally, there are more Gray Jays around the ski areas than I have seen in many years.

All sightings reported to eBIrd.

Charlie Nims

Bartlett, NH\Silverthorne, CO