Just past the high-point of Trail Ridge Road (at 12,183 feet), we stopped at "Rock Cut" for pictures. There were over a dozen 12,000-foot peaks visible in all directions. Glacier-fed lakes dotted the sides of the snow-capped peaks. While stopped, George and I were taking photos of the fairly tame Yellow-bellied Marmot, Gray Jays, Clark's Nutcrackers, and Steller's Jays.
We descended into Estes Park and headed for the Pizza Hut. We were hungry, but we mostly wanted to find the Dipper under the bridge next to it that Ron and Karen Wagner had seen just two weeks before on the VENT tour. Again, we struck out, but we found the pizza with no problem. We re-entered the park and drove to Moraine Park Campground. Nearby, we found a pair of Cordilleran Flycatchers, Pygmy Nuthatch, House Wren, and a Cooper's Hawk. On the road to Bear Lake, Babe finally spotted her first American Dipper. Mark had decided to do a solo hike to a spot that had potential for Black Swifts but, unfortunately, he didn't find any. Meanwhile, we birded Little Horseshoe Park, hoping for Three-toed Woodpecker. Despite many Three-toed 'signs' at the base of the dead trees, none were spotted. What we did find was a flycatcher that flew closer than my binoculars could focus. Its three-part song identified it as my 'life' Hammond's Flycatcher.
We next set our sights on the Wild Basin area along Route 7. This is where Ron and Karen had seen some good birds, including their only Three-toed. Their information directed us right to the nest tree of a Williamson''s Sapsucker pair. The brightly-colored male made a few deliveries to the female inside the hole. Just up the road at their Three-toed spot, we encountered several Red-naped Sapsuckers and more Hammond's Flycatchers, but none of the woodpeckers we saw were missing toes. So, we left, passed through Boulder around dusk, and finally reached the Motel 6 in Denver well after dark.
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