Hello, Birders. Earlier "today," Wednesday, June 3rd, during the 3 a.m. hour, I heard 8 Swainson's Thrushes migrating over Lafayette, Colorado, in the course of 15 minutes. Assuming it was a pretty steady passage, that's about 30 per hour. Yesterday, Tuesday, June 2nd, I heard a Swainson's Thrush singing in the rain outside my office window, also in Lafayette, pretty much throughout the morning. And over at nearby Greenlee Preserve, there were at least 2 vocal Swainson's Thrushes (flight calls and chip notes) holed up in the dense shrubbery on the northside of Waneka Lake. Also yesterday at Greenlee Preserve there were at 5 or more Western Wood-Pewees (which do not breed at the site) and 1 presumed-migrant Willow Flycatcher. I heard and saw my first Boulder County Common Nighthawk of the year flying north, high over Greenlee Preserve, on Monday, June 1st, and I heard and saw 2 more yesterday at the same site, Tuesday, June 2nd. So stuff is still on the move. June is a great month for migration in Colorado: In the early part of the month, you can find White-rumped Sandpipers and Yellow-billed Cuckoos and stuff like that in the Front Range region, and by the end of the month, Marbled Godwits, Rufous Hummingbirds, and so forth are already on "fall" migration. One last thought, regarding nighthawks. As others have noted recently, they've just gotten back--to the Front Range region, anyhow. It's interesting, though, to consider that they're back in far eastern Colorado by mid-May or earlier. For example, they were a constant sound in the night sky during the Fox Ranch, Yuma County, trip back on May 16th-17th of this year. It's well-known that Common Nighthawks return to eastern North America (e.g., Pennsylvania) several weeks earlier than they do in western North America (e.g., California), and I guess I'd always assumed that the temporal pattern of return-dates is expressed in a smooth gradient from east to west across the continent. But maybe that's not the case. Maybe there's a big break-point in Colorado somewhere? Anyhow, I never seem to hear any Common Nighthawks in Boulder County till right around June 1st--2 or 3 weeks later than when I first start hearing them out on the eastern plains. Ted Floyd [email protected] Lafayette, Boulder County, Colorado ------------------------------- Ted Floyd Editor, Birding ------------------------------- Please support the American Birding Association: Click on http://www.goodsearch.com/?charityid=884482 to search the internet. Every search provides support to the ABA's programs in Education, Conservation, and Publications. Please visit the website of the American Birding Association: http://www.aba.org _________________________________________________________________ Lauren found her dream laptop. Find the PC that’s right for you. http://www.microsoft.com/windows/choosepc/?ocid=ftp_val_wl_290 --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ Colorado County Birding: http://www.coloradocountybirding.com/
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