We woke up to about 6 inches of fresh snow on the ground. It was still pretty cloudy and a bit chilly. But after indulging in “Pancake Thursday” at McDonald’s we decided to take a short walk at Estes Lake. The sky couldn’t decide whether to break out in beautiful sunshine or let the snows fall again. We could see some flakes in the sky, so we were a bit wary. The snow had already melted off of the walking path at Estes Lake but the bridge was still pretty thick with snow and we were glad we wore our boots. In the distance we saw three people with binoculars scoping the area. As we approached, one of the “birders” said to Philip, “What are you doing out here without your binoculars? There are many new birds today and the sightings are even better after a fresh snow!” Philip replied that he left them in the car because we were just taking a nice walk. Scott proceeded to tell us all of the birds that we had missed. Did you see the Lincoln Sparrow? Or the Vesper Sparrow? The Song Sparrow? The Lincoln Sparrow? How about the newly arrived American Wigeon? By that time we did not want to hear any more!
 
We quickly walked back to the car to get our binoculars and Sibley book. We started looking for some of the birds that were seen in the area. As we walked on, we bumped into Bob, one of the guys that Scott had been birding with. He showed us where the Lincoln Sparrow was…and we even saw a few more. He quickly identified the Song Sparrow, Savannah Sparrow and the Pipit. We told him how different the species of sparrows were from the east coast, which is where we had done most of our birding before relocating to Estes Park. As we walked on, we saw the American Wigeon in the river looking for food. We even saw 2 Wilson’s Snipes among the rocks. The American Dipper flew up the river and under the bridge. Many Yellow-rumped Warblers were flitting around along the shore. There was a Pipit along the shore among the rocks along with the two varieties of Juncos. Way out in the water on a lonely island we could see our first Avocet. Wow! This was a great day for birding! What great birding resources Lake Estes and the Matthews-Reeser Bird Sanctuary are!
 
We stopped for lunch and went home for an hour or so. By that time the skies had really cleared and we thought it might be nice to walk around the entire lake…just for fun! Of course, we brought our binoculars and bird book and even our list of “The Birds seen at Estes Lake.” There was now a Belted Kingfisher searching for food emitting his shrill cry. The Northern Flicker was flying from tree to tree. Two Great Blue herons were seen overhead. Out in the lake, we could see a Bufflehead and another American Wigeon. Our first Cedar Waxwing of the season flew into the bush nearby. They were probably looking for berries. The Swallows were searching for insects as they pirouetted in the sky. Two Ruby-crowned kinglets played in the shrub. As we rounded the lake, there were many Kildeer scurrying along the shore foraging for food. They are so unique with their dark brown rings around their necks. Bluebirds sat on the fence-posts sunning themselves. We got to see both the Mountain Bluebird and the Western Bluebird. We were surprised to see some Willets running in between all of the rocks along the shore. Their beaks are so long for such a little bird! Out in the lake, we could see some Ring-necked Ducks swimming around. On the island were some White-faced Ibis. An Osprey circled above and we wondered where the Osprey would make a home this year. The place was abundant with Mallards, Canadian Geese, 10 American Coots, Buffleheads, a Lesser Scaup and 4 Eurasian Collared-Doves. We couldn’t complain about a thing!
 
I guess the lesson that we learned was that we will never leave home (or our car) without our binoculars and bird book…especially when we’re walking at Estes Lake…. and especially when we bump into Scott Roederer, the author of “Birding Rocky Mountain National Park”.
 
If you happen to be walking around Estes Lake and need some bird identification information, just ask anyone with binoculars… they are probably from the Estes Park Bird Club and they will be happy to help you… as they all are a great (and knowledgeable) group of people.