Rocky Mountain National Park (1 Viewer)

I'm going to be backpacking through the heart of RMNP in Colorado Aug 19-22, and I was just wondering if there were any "hotspots" in the park for viewing birds? I'm hoping to see a Clark's nutcracker, gray jay and American dipper while in the backcountry...good odds for seeing those three? Just hoping to see some birds that aren't too common here in NE Missouri...

i think i've seen all of those birds in RMNP i saw most of those near estes park i'm not sure if i'm spelling that correctly but just keep your eyes open in habbit areas i've seen dippers all over colorado and only a few clark's nutcrakers but there all over the place in the rocky mountains if you know what ur looking for

I have seen the Clarks nutcrakers through out the park also many blue birds and several hummingbirds. Of course many Stellar jays and crows too. Of course the elk are visible in the evening most everywhere in Estes park to Rocky Moubntain National park. There are no special areas to see the birds , basically they are all over the park, hit or miss in many spots but they are there .The Blue birds like the open grasslands and the nutcrackers the thick pines. Hummingbirds can be seen in daylight to dusk , one even flew around our camp site checking out our tent , they are neat. We used a spotting scope for long range targets, mostly elk. If you have a good large objective binocular 42mm to 50mm. you can view the stars at night in the clear black skies. Truly a beautiful place , the mountains are very nice.If you go to any lake you may find a Osprey diving for trout , I seen it happen it is a nice viewing experience Enjoy.

There is a website you might like to look at that provides detail on Colorado birding by county. This is from their section on Rocky Mtn. National Park:

"An entire book has been written to describe birding locations within this beautiful, majestic National Park (Roederer 2002). White-tailed Ptarmigan can usually be found in summer in tundra along Trail Ridge Road near Medicine Bow Curve. In summer, Brown-capped Rosy-Finches sometimes frequent the Alpine Visitor Center (look for these elusive birds near the edges of permanent glaciers). In sub-alpine forest, watch for Dusky Grouse. Endovalley is an excellent location for spruce-fir species. Red-naped and Williamson's Sapsuckers prefer lower elevations in Ponderosa Pine forest with good stands of older Quaking Aspen, which provide nest sites. These nest holes may also serve Northern Pygmy-Owl, Northern Saw-Whet and Flammulated Owls (Rashid, 2005). Three-toed Woodpeckers may be found anywhere with dead trees. Picnic areas throughout the park attract corvids including Gray Jays and Clark's Nutcrackers. Black Swifts and Band-tailed Pigeons can be seen high over Bear Lake. "

The URL is : http://www.coloradocountybirding.com/county/bird_a_county.php?name=Larimer

I am headed for Colorado myself this weekend - but to the Breckenridge area. My experience in the mountains is that Gray Jay, Stellar's Jay, and Clark's Nutcracker are fairly easy to find, Dipper may be a bit harder, but that website will help, I'm certain. Have fun!