About Valley View Hot Springs:
http://www.olt.org/
Location: Valley View Hot Springs - near Villa Grove, Colorado
Map: http://www.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=villa+grove+CO&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=37.598824,56.689453&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Villa+Grove,+Colorado&ll=38.189659,-105.814776&spn=0.018248,0.02768&t=h&z=15
Observation date: 6/8/10
Number of species: 8
Northern Flicker - Colaptes auratus 1
Warbling Vireo (Western) - Vireo gilvus [swainsoni Group] 3
http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/warbling_vireo/id
American Crow - Corvus brachyrhynchos 1
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher - Polioptila caerulea 1
American Robin - Turdus migratorius 4
Black-headed Grosbeak - Pheucticus melanocephalus 2
http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Black-headed_Grosbeak/id
We truly enjoyed our visit to Valley View Hot Springs. The resort features 4 different mountain soaking pools tucked up in the Sangre de Cristo mountains - all mountain fed and heated geothermally (ranging in temperature from 89-96 degrees. Closer to the cabins and campground is a swimming pool and a hot tub (kept at a scorching 104 degrees). Oh, and the entire resort is clothing optional.
I was able to sit in the mountain pools and watch the nearby trees for any bird activity. One could hear a cacophony of bird calls emintaing from the surrounding forest (the Rio Grande National Forest, in fact) making for a fantastic spot to leisurely bird. While watching from the pool I spotted a Black-headed Grosbeak, a new Lifelist addition (178!), bounding about the branches of a small tree. I was able to see him clearly several times over the afternoon - his plumage an excellent identifier.
I heard the call of a small bird (I figured a warbler) coming from the forest. I heard this call all afternoon, yet I was never able to get a good look at him. After we swam for an hour or so I decided to hike up to the top of one of the hills to take pictures. While in a small grove of trees I heard the warbleresque call again - prompting me to look up into the branches. I tried a trick I learned from a Pete Dunne book, The Art of Pishing, an imitated call that sounds like a Titmouse's scolding call. I pished (yes, that is the word for it) and almost immediately the Warbling Vireo bounded down the branches to get a closer look at what was making the noise. Huzzah for pishing! And Huzzah for 179 on my Lifelist!
After several hours at the springs we decided to head north to Salida where we would stay the night. While driving back along the county road we spotted a single Pronghorn Antelope (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pronghorn_antelope) grazing near the road. Shelli quickly grabbed the camera and took a number of photos as he raced off, then stopped to assess us again. The photos turned out fantastic - several are posted above.
-Top photos courtesy of Shelli.
-Warbling Vireo photo courtesy of John Harrison, via Wikipedia
-Black-headed Grosbeak photo courtesy of Hal Brown, Cornell Lab of Ornithology
-SPQ 6/16/2010
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