Today's trip to Chatfield and Waterton added three species for the Big Month - two target species that are specialties of the area and one extra. The targets were American Redstart and Red-eyed Vireo. The extra was Broad-winged Hawk. This brings the tally to 178, I think.
The *American Redstarts* (a pair) and *Red-eyed Vireos* (3 singing) were both along the trail along the South Platte on the west (JeffCo) side upstream of Kingfisher Bridge. This is a known area, but I mention it here in case anyone wishes to search for them. They were all on the section of trail upstream of the end of the paved part of the path, beginning 150-200 yards or so past the end of the paved area. Two* Broad-winged Hawks* began in the same area, but moved toward Kingfisher Bridge. One seen well was a 1 year old bird, the other was less well seen, but both were heard calling as they perched. Both were down below the canopy withing the heart of the riparian corridor. I don't expect the hawks will linger there long. Other species along the Platte upstream of Kingfisher were about 13 *Least Flycatchers* (3 on the Douglas side, 10 on the JeffCo side), the continuing *Eastern Phoebes* near Kingfisher Bridge, an adult *Bald Eagle*, an *Osprey*, *Wood Ducks*, and the usual plethora of *House Wrens* and *Yellow Warblers* accented by *Yellow-breasted Chats *and *Gray Catbirds*. Waterton was less active than on other recent days, but the morning was warming up rapidly by the time we got there and it was evident that a number of migrants there recently had moved on with the improved weather. Still very pleasant birding (I recommend starting by 6 am there). One of the *Eastern Phoebes* there was in evidence, zipping out from the concrete structure near the small dam in a manner suggesting a nest is present there. This is a great place to relax and enjoy many singing *Gray Catbirds*! I had hoped we might add Indigo Bunting for the Big Month, as it is a good place for them, but today any buntings were oddly scarce. David Suddjian Ken Caryl Valley Littleton, 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/CAGj6RorFGs045n%3DKizpAZQhNmiLL%3D0Z0br8mkJk3FnO4C3M94w%40mail.gmail.com. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
