We have been enjoying a nice midsummer visit in Estes Park in Larimer County. Today we took a late morning walk at the Matthews-Reeser Bird Sanctuary at Lake Estes. We were delighted to see a Northern Waterthrush doing its distinctive tail bob next to a Spotted Sandpiper, similarly bobbing. The bird was on the east side of the pine-covered peninsula that juts into Lake Estes along the water line. The lake level has gone down a bit in the last few days, so there is a nice area for foraging along the water's edge. Checking eBird, I was surprised to find no reports of Northern Waterthrush in Colorado from July 1 until today. So our bird appears to be the first reported fall migrant.
On our way back to our car, we spotted a post-breeding-plumage male Lark Bunting in the grassy area between the concrete trail through the Sanctuary and the water outlet from the power plant. It was hunting in the grass and occasionally sitting on the fence by the maintenance yard. eBird shows only one other sighting of this species off the plains since July 1, four birds in Little Horseshoe Park in Rocky Mountain National Park on July 10. \ So nice to see some post-breeding migrant passerines. Jim Nelson Bethesda, Maryland -- 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/32121023.2875409.1470427672475.JavaMail.root%40vms170019.mailsrvcs.net. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
