Hello, Birders.
It was a great day today, Sat., Sept. 6, at Greenlee Preserve, Boulder
County. I saw two life birds for the site: Cassin's Kingbird and Loggerhead
Shrike. Also a Townsend's Warbler and a Northern Waterthrush. And a
stupefying amount of Wilson's Warblers. Also noted were Dusky Flycatcher,
Plumbeous Vireo, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, and Clay-colored and Brewer's
sparrows.
The rest of the story:
The weather was wild. When I started, right around 4am, skies were clear,
the winds were calm, and Uranus cast its soft blue-green glow on the
rooftops and treetops. Well, not quite, but, seriously, Uranus is high in
the sky now and easily seen as it wends its way through Pisces. And calling
by migrants was very light: just one or two Chipping Sparrows, Wilson's
Warblers, and Vesper Sparrows.
Around 5am, so just barely the start of astronomical dawn, calling picked
up quite a bit--as if the birds knew something was coming?
Just before 6am, dew point was achieved. Being there for dew point is
spellbinding; I've knowingly experienced dew point only a few times in my
life. It's awesome to stand there and watch as everything suddenly sparkles
in the dawn's early light. I have to say, I had no idea there were so many
spider webs in Colorado!
Then a steady west wind kicked in, then an impressively dense fog, and then
a low cloud ceiling that wouldn't blow out till mid-day.
The Wilson's Warbler fallout was amazing. Just after sunrise, every tree in
the preserve seemed to have about half a dozen. My 1x1 count for the day
was 94, and I suspect there were many more. Other warblers during the day
included 7 Orange-crowns, 4 MacGillivray's, 1 yellowthroat, 6 Yellows, and
the aforementioned Townsend's and Northern Waterthrush. Also, I wonder if I
saw a Hooded Warbler; I only glimpsed a warbler, yellow below, that fanned
its tail and showed nice white outer rectrices. What else could it have
been? But I just couldn't get on it for a definitive look.
Sparrows were okay, with 1 Green-tailed Towhee, 2 Clay-colors, a Brewer's,
and 10 Chipping.
As to the Cassin's Kingbird, it was hanging out in a dead tree on the
northwest corner of Waneka Lake (so near the southwest corner of Greenlee
Preserve). The Cassin's was conveniently near a Western Kingbird, and it
obligingly called a few times. The shrike--a juvenile, I believe--was off
to the east of the reserve proper, in a row of Russian olives along the
edge of the organic farm ("Thomas Open Space").
By early afternoon, it was sunny and warm, with a nice showing by raptors
(Turkey Vulture, Osprey, Cooper's, Swainson's, Red-tail), sundry water
birds (including 10 Wood Ducks and 131 Blue-winged Teal), Broad-tailed and
Rufous hummingbirds, a Solitary Sandpiper making a go-figure beeline
straight north, and some latish Chimney Swifts amid the many
still-lingering Barn Swallows.
Other odds and ends out there today: 13 wood-pewees, all of which seemed
reasonable for Western; 2 Dusky Flycatchers; 1 Plumbeous and 2 Warbling
vireos; 3 White-breasted Nuthatches, one of which wasn't necessarily the
expected nelsoni ("Rocky Mountain") subspecies; 1 Blue-gray Gnatcatcher; 2
Cedar Waxwings; 2 Lazuli Buntings and a Lazigo spuh; and 2 Lesser
Goldfinches.
eBird checklist here:
http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S19756453
Ted Floyd
Lafayette, Boulder County, Colorado
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