Crow Valley, Weld and Jackson Lake, Morgan highlights

[Steven Mlodinow]

Greetings All,

Today birding felt like a slog, with very low numbers of regular migrants (except Yellow Warblers and Swainson's Thrushes) and a fair bit of wind by mid-day.

In the end, somehow, I wound up with a day list of 117 species, birding basically Crow Valley and Jackson Lake.

1- Norma's Grove: nearly birdless

2- Weld CR 59 Ponds: water levels relatively high. No migrant shorebirds except a handful of Wilson's Phals

Crow Valley:

Red-eyed Vireo

Indigo Bunting

American Redstart

Gray Flycatcher

Bullock's x Baltimore Oriole

2 Veery

Mountain race Downy Woodpecker (same male there one month ago?)

Jackson Lake State Park:

Western Bluebird (near visitor center; photographed)

Mountain race Hairy Woodpecker

Ovenbird

American Redstart

Jackson Lake SWA:

There is a little slough just east of main entrance road as it heads south to lake with a flock of shorebirds including

1 BB Plover

3 Marbled Godwits

8 Stilt Sandpipers

13 White-rumped Sandpipers

I was standing at one spot at Crow Valley and heard an nighthawk. "Cool," I thought. Then I heard a Veery call from the same spot. "Wow !" I thought. Then an Ash-throated Flycatcher. "Holy Cow!!!" I thought. Neigh, it was a Holy Mockingbird, Batman. I should have known. Not even the best cow mimic can do that good of an Ash-throated Fly imitation.

Steven Mlodinow

Sleepless and delirious in Sterling, CO