Met up with Janis and worked with her a bit. For all the work Janis has done for us this year, we actually just met her for the first time. She trained on our software at the Denver office, so some of us had met her, but not Judy and Me. Janis and her husband Brian are staying here at the state park while she does jobs in the Roaring Fork Valley (Glenwood Springs, Carbondale, Basalt, and Aspen. It was fun getting to know her. We’ll meet up again in November when we both attend the conference in Orlando. Rifle Gap didn’t look like a very birdy place at first, except for the constant drone of hummingbirds exploring every crevice of the coach until we put out the feeders. The nectar feeder got overwhelmed with hummingbirds; all Black Chinned with the exception of the magnificent amber Rufous Hummingbird flashing himself at us. The seed feeders got house finches and pine siskins. A walk in the sage, rabbitbrush, and juniper got vesper sparrows, blue gray gnatcatcher, and black throated gray warbler. Bluebirds filled the fields. A gang of fifty pinyon jays blew through the trees. The lake and inlet got herons, blackbirds, and swallows. Judy had a Wild Kingdom Moment. A golden eagle overhead dove on a great blue heron and took it right out of the air. He ate it on the ground. There was an immature golden eagle around too. Altogether we got 36 species: Canada goose Mallard Clark’s grebe Great blue heron Turkey vulture Golden eagle Mourning dove Common nighthawk Black chinned hummingbird Rufous hummingbird Northern flicker Western wood pewee Say’s phoebe Western scrub jay Pinyon jay Black billed magpie Common raven Violet green swallow Northern rough winged swallow Cliff swallow Barn swallow Blue gray gnatcatcher Western bluebird Mountain bluebird American robin Black throated gray warbler Green tailed towhee Chipping sparrow Vesper sparrow Red winged blackbird Western meadowlark Brewer’s blackbird Common grackle House finch Pine siskin American goldfinch
Rifle Gap State Park
Well, apparently sea salt in the works does not negatively affect satellite reception. Now it’s working just fine again and I’m pretty sure the sea salt is still in there.
Better internet tonight. Here is our updated map:
Rifle Gap State Park
Cool nights in Glenwood Canyon; in the fifties. Big swing into the eighties, maybe even touching ninety before the afternoon cool-down. Turned the heater on for a few minutes this morning to take the chill off. Haven’t done that in about six months.
West on Interstate 70. Rifle Gap State Park.
That’s the Gap in the middle, across the lake. It’s a gap in a very long ridgeline. No phone. Our internet is supposed to work from anywhere, but it’s borderline too (It may need some work again. We’ve had thunderstorms each night. The horn, the part that receives the signal, is a sealed unit. If the horn gets moisture in it the internet stops working. Once before, a few years ago, the horn got moisture in it and had to be replaced. I went on the roof today and looked at the horn to see if it had any moisture (you can look in through the transparent lens). I couldn’t see any. I did see about a quarter inch of salt lying in the bottom of it though. I’m guessing that the horn is no longer a sealed unit and the salt is the result of our winter life on the beach.)1,490 miles from Port A.
Glenwood Canyon
Not so many birds here, final count 23, but some cool ones. Getting some good year-birds: Canada goose Mallard Turkey vulture Red tailed hawk Mourning dove White throated swift Black chinned hummingbird Eastern kingbird Steller’s jay Black billed magpie Violet green swallow Northern rough-winged swallow Barn swallow American robin Cedar waxwing Yellow warbler Yellow-rumped warbler Western tanager Spotted towhee Bullock’s oriole Pine grosbeak House finch American goldfinch
Glenwood Canyon
Hot by noon. Cooled by an afternoon shower by 2.