When the Tour eventually brings me to a far-away land, where most of the birds present themselves in a riotous display of color, will I look back at these first few days and shudder at the memory of a place where every new bird I saw was some shade of gray? Quite possibly.

That has indeed been the case so far. Though two nice birds were seen, but not well photographed, that provide the exceptions to that situation. Several White-Throated Swifts flew aereobatically at Mesa Verde, and verified the axiom, put forth by another writer, that one should never try to photograph swifts. Further south, I believe that I witnessed a Broad-Tailed Hummingbird at the feeders hanging from a roadside home, but my images are not the best for confirming that identification.

For a more representative sample, enjoy these gray (and brown) beauties, starting with this Dusky Flycatcher that paid a visit while I was having breakfast, also at Mesa Verde.

Then there is this Plumbeous Vireo, which is so self-conscious about its drab appearance that it wouldn’t face the camera.

No such anxieties for this Gray Flycatcher which perched proud showing its plumage of gray.

This Vesper Sparrow was nice to see, even though it is more brown than gray, because it is a species that I theoretically should have seen around my former home base sometime in the past, but never did.

Finally, I technically shouldn’t include this Black-Necked Sparrow, because I had a brief encounter with one earlier this year, so it is not a new bird for me. I am showing it here because I didn’t get a good image previously, and because even gray birds can look classy.

The count of new species for the Tour so far is a mere eight. I hope the pace will pick up before too much longer.