A Glimpse at a Few Birds of Southwestern Colorado

Recent winter snowstorms brought a couple of feet of powder snow to southwestern Colorado's ski resorts, prompting me to make a last minute weekend trip to the area for two days of skiing. I never considered bringing my heavy DSLR and telephoto lens on the slopes, but I nonetheless paid close attention to birds that shared the forested and snowy mountains with us skiers.

For the most part, two types of birds - both corvids: ravens and gray jays - appeared near the ski trails. It's possible that some of what I thought were ravens, were in fact crows. I make this speculation because some of these black birds were smaller than the turkey-size ravens I see in Arizona, and many were in large flocks.

Along the roads between the Wolf Creek and Purgatory Resorts, I saw a few other birds, including yet another corvid, the magpie. Numerous birds-of-prey, including red-tailed hawks, perched from power poles and tree branches besides the highways. I also noticed some mountain chickadees in my Durango hotel's parking lot. And at a stop along the scenic route through the Navajo Nation in Arizona, I might have photographed a red crossbill - my first encounter with this finch!

Alas, this was first most a ski trip, and second a road trip to get to Colorado and home. Next time, I'll plan a dedicated birding trip in the Rocky Mountains.