We just arrived in Colorado for a spring visit. Saturday afternoon I birded the east end of Lake Estes, primarily in the bird sanctuary area. I had been reading about this area for a couple of years on the listserv, and I can definitely say it lives up to its billing as a great location in spring migration. It was a gray, cold afternoon but the birds were popping. As I started out, I ran into local birders Scott Rashid and Judy Wright who told me about lots of interesting birds, many of which I went on to see during my walk.
I saw 39 species plus non-singing Traill's flycatchers which I presume to be Willow. Highlights for me were a female American Redstart flycatching over the stream flowing by the path (joining the many Yellow Warblers and Traill's Flycatchers engaged in the same pursuit), 3 Northern Waterthrush, a Veery right by the trail (foraging close to a Swainson's Thrush for a nice comparison), a Brown Thrasher, Common Yellowthroats, Black-headed Grosbeaks, a Cliff Swallow, a nice male Bullock's Oriole, more Lincoln's Sparrow than I have ever seen, and at least 58 Spotted Sandpipers. A truly wonderful afternoon. My complete list from eBird is below. Jim Nelson Bethesda, Maryland Location: Estes Park--Lake Estes Observation date: 5/28/11 Notes: Very gray day. Temperature low 50s. No precipitation during period of count. Number of species: 39 Canada Goose 28 Mallard 4 Turkey Vulture 1 Spotted Sandpiper 58 Rock Pigeon 3 Mourning Dove 1 Broad-tailed Hummingbird 3 Downy Woodpecker 1 Alder/Willow Flycatcher (Traill's) 12 American Crow 2 Common Raven 6 Violet-green Swallow 3 Barn Swallow 5 Cliff Swallow 1 Mountain Chickadee 2 Red-breasted Nuthatch 3 Ruby-crowned Kinglet 7 Veery 1 Swainson's Thrush 4 American Robin 13 Gray Catbird 11 Brown Thrasher 1 Cedar Waxwing 35 Yellow Warbler 25 Yellow-rumped Warbler (Audubon's) 6 American Redstart 1 Northern Waterthrush 3 Common Yellowthroat 6 Green-tailed Towhee 4 Chipping Sparrow 10 Song Sparrow 4 Lincoln's Sparrow 32 White-crowned Sparrow 1 Black-headed Grosbeak 3 Common Grackle 5 Brown-headed Cowbird 1 Bullock's Oriole 1 House Finch 3 Pine Siskin 18 American Goldfinch 2 -- 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.com/group/cobirds?hl=en.
