The previous time through, Dillon looked like this, rain and snow mix.
Dillon
This last time over, however, completely different.
Aspen
So here we are, ensconced in Basalt. A new job in Aspen, twenty miles up the valley. This is the only campground along the whole Roaring Fork Valley, so we always stay here for Aspen work. We got a better spot than we usually do. Most of the sites are back-to-back utilities. It’s a tight park. This time we got a back-in spot along the back fence. Roomier. Much better. We don’t usually see cedar waxwings, but we get to see them every day here this trip. Nice looking bird. Next week…. Our friends at the Physics Center in Aspen. We’ve been doing that job for about twenty years.
Time flies
We’re off to Aspen. While we were at St Vrain, we did a half-day birding trip to Pawnee National Grasslands seventy miles northeast. Bill will remember the grasslands, we took a hike there to Pawnee Buttes. Judy and I went there for one bird, the chestnut collared longspur. We put four birds on the target list, just in case: the chestnut collared longspur, McCown’s longspur, mountain plover, and burrowing owl. We didn’t get the chestnut collared longspur. We did get two out of the four; two new life birds for us, the McCown’s longspur and burrowing owl. Eight burrowing owls altogether, and flocks of McCown’s longspur. Had a close encounter with a mountain plover. Made eye contact. Naked eye, no binoculars, but there in the grass, maybe fifty yards away, a plover head looking right at me. As I raised the binoculars, I could see his head lowering. By the time the binocs were up, there was no sign of him. I kept locked on that exact spot and walked right to it, but there was still no sign of him. Nothing moved, he just disappeared in the grass. Didn’t get a good enough look to count him. No chestnut collared longspur, but two new birds…. And a good reason to go back.
St Vrain State Park
We’ve left Northwest Colorado and headed back down for five days with the kids on the front range. Craig was good, the job went well, saw lots of birds, and even got in a game of racquetball with the executive director, my first racquetball in months. Didn’t get to explore the surrounding countryside as much as we wanted; maybe next time. No freeway routes for the ride back to the front range. We took the scenic route, highway 40 east through Steamboat, Rabbit Ears Pass, and Muddy Pass. Highway 14 through Walden in North Park (the moose viewing capitol of colorado), Cameron Pass north of Rocky Mountain National Park, and down the long winding Poudre Canyon to Fort Collins, then south to Longmont. We’re at St Vrain State Park. It used to be Barbour Ponds County Park. They’re upgrading it. Nice pads and electric at all sites. Next year they’ll have some full hookup sites. It keeps getting better and better for us. Meanwhile, family for the Fourth of July.