CObirders, On a bike ride around Lake Estes today, Julie and I stopped to watch a small group of warblers in the Matthews/Reeser Bird Sanctuary. Among a handful of yellow-rumps and one bright male Wilson's warbler was a gorgeous yellow-throated warbler. A buffy wash on the underparts suggests it was a first fall bird.
I didn't get an ID look at the bird on first sighting, so we spent an hour chasing the flock Attu-style, i.e. on our bikes. Seen first at the east end of Warbler Alley, we followed the birds east to The Narrows nearly to the bridge over the river and then back all the way to Night-Heron Pond, where Julie found the bird again for me. We had five minutes at close range with it, and then it was gone again. It was not relocated by a group of birders later in the afternoon. It was a sneaky bird, hanging around the yellow-rumps but not with them. It seemed to like better the company of a couple of chickadees associated with the flock. This is the second record for this species at Lake Estes since comprehensive records began in 1996. That was a May bird that several locals got to see. Julie and I were at another part of the lake and hustled over, but we missed the bird by about 15 seconds. It was not seen again. A nemesis bird in the making and a close call for me today of keeping it so. Scott Roederer Estes Park --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ Colorado Field Ornithologists: http://www.cfo-link.org/ Colorado County Birding: http://www.coloradocountybirding.com/ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.as/group/cobirds?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
