We started the day in Glenwood Springs, and an early visit to Veltus Park, on the Roaring Fork River. This was a nice birding stop.
Next stop was Apsen, for a visit to art galleries. We drove over Independence Pass east of Apsen, and stopped at Fairplay, a 19th Century pioneer village.
Fairplay looked strangely familiar at first, for some odd reason. We realized why when we discovered the other name for the village: South Park City! Yes, this is the village from the TV show!
A peaceful morning on the Roaring Fork River, Glenwood Springs (Melissa's photo)
A beautiful view at Independence Pass, east of Apsen
One of the higher elevation passes of the trip
South Park City! (Fairplay, Colorado)
BIRDING: The birding highlight of the day was Veltus Park, in Glenwood Springs, in the morning. This is a small urban park near downtown, along the Roaring Fork River. The target was the Lewis' Woodpecker, which we found, but we also saw quite a bit more. At first we did not find the woodpecker, but we spotted another RED-NAPED SAPSUCKER, an unid EMPIDONAX FLYCATCHER, BLACK-HEADED GROSBEAK, AMERICAN ROBIN, NORTHERN FLICKERS, many juvenile BLACK-BILLED MAGPIES...
We had the customary HORNED LARKS and AMERICAN PIPITS at Independence Pass.
At Fairplay, we saw a nice close up juvenile MOUNTAIN BLUEBIRD.
Veltus Park, Glenwood Springs (and most of the photos below are from here also): Female Black Headed Grosbeak
Red-Naped Sapsucker
Northern Flicker (Red-Shafted Race (Melissa's photo)
Great shot of a juvenile Robin taken by Melissa
Great flight shots of a Black-Billed Magpie (above and below, taken by Melissa)
Above and below: Lewis' Woodpecker!
Empidonax Flycatcher at Veltus Park (any guesses?)
Mountain Bluebird at Fairplay (South Park City) (Melissa's photo)
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