All, I manged a bit of time out over the last few days, some with and some without my family. A few highlights, some of which may just be not real notable as this is my first spring in CO. One thing that is amazing is that I can't go anywhere and not trip on a House Wren or Spotted Towhee right now!
*2 May 2015* South Valley Park, Jefferson Co. I hiked ~3.5 miles with my wife and daughter. 31 - Spotted Towhees and all singing males. I never saw a female. 3 - Blue-gray Gnatcatchers. These western birds "mew" very differently than easterns! Our yard in Littleton, Jeff Co Finally got a hummingbird at the feeder (female Black-chinned). Leave it to my almost 3 yr old to tell me there was a hummingbird at the feeder and low and behold I look around the side of the house and there was our first hummer at the feeder! She's quite the birder for being almost 3. Broad-tails have been heard for a few days, but I haven't seen one at the feeder yet. *3 May 2015* Chatfield SP, Douglas Co., while cycling Least Flycatcher calling by Kingfisher bridge (with at least 5 House Wrens). One Yellow Warbler on the Jeff Co side near the mouth of Deer Creek. The yellows here really slur their song like an American Redstart (I thought I heard a redstart there Saturday afternoon while cycling and pulling the kiddo, but wasn't completely sure, so I guess it was one of these western yellows). Lark Sparrows singing in both counties. I heard Broad-tails everywhere (guess I wasn't pedaling hard enough!) I also heard and then saw a pair of Brewer's Blackbirds south of Chatfield by the prairie dog town at Waterton rd and N Rampart Range rd. My first Brewer's since we moved here. Not bad for birding while out for a hard bike ride! *4 May 2015* Barr Lake SP, Adams Co, in the early morning rain for an hour by the Nature Center (no white-eyed vireo) 2 singing eastern Warbling Vireos Yellow Warbler - another western bird that sounds more like an Am Redstart to me. Managed to get some nice looks at the bird singing what is a very different song to me. Even the tone seems a little different than eastern yellow's. Weld Co birds: Lower Latham Res Numerous Marsh Wrens and a spontaneously calling Sora. Only found Least sandpipers with the usual Wilson Phals, Avcoets and Black-necked Stilts. Briggsdale area - at least 2 Brewer's Sparrows just south of the elementary school with usual grassland species, incl a couple Grasshopper Sparrows up the road. Murphy's Pasture area of Pawnee NG I took my time cruising down CR96 and had a lot of nice birds. Great looks at a couple McCown's Longspurs displaying. At least 6 Grasshopper Sparrows, and plenty of other sparrows to sort through. Interesting to see White-crowned Sparrows literally 4 miles from a shrub. This was the first time I'd seen Lark Buntings displaying. I could watch and listen to that all day. Checklist (photos incl): http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S23224126 Not especially notable, but I saw a N Mockingbird by one of the in-holdings in Pawnee. Took me 2 months to find one in CO and there was about 1 sec of excitement on that bird. Nothing notable at Crow Valley Campground. Morgan Co - Jackson Reservoir My first time there and I definitely need to learn how to bird the area, but didn't have enough time to explore thoroughly. Oodles of Western Grebes (800+) and some Eared Grebes 1 Sanderling popped up on the rocks by the boat launch 1 Forster's tern Nice looks at various plumages of Calif Gulls and some nice breeding plumage Franklin's Gulls (which are really under rated!). I didn't take many photos yesterday, but a few start here: http://www.pbase.com/shoeman/image/159951394 Good birding, Scott Somershoe Littleton CO Jeff Co. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/cobirds/CAJmtx%2BVvduJAimrFuaxpQauTWfsaQU00NRX1-3ZZifJ4%2BP0%3DTA%40mail.gmail.com. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
