Yellow-throated Warbler, Lincoln County 5/22/13

[Daniel Maynard]

Folks,

After work today I was sitting outside in the parking lot of the Holiday Inn Express in Limon, enjoying a cold beverage and the warm evening, when I heard a warbler chip that I knew was not one of a certain seven or eight species that I don't have to look at to ID. I quickly located my optics and was floored when I saw that the bird in question was a Yellow-throated Warbler. The only trees around are a few little planted things that look like tiny hackberries but probably aren't, and a lone pine abutting the Micky D's parking lot. The bird flew into this pine along with a Yellow Warbler (which makes exactly 2 more warblers than I would expect to ever occur at this location), and as far as I know is still there.

Addendum to Limon Holiday Inn parking lot sighting: about two weeks ago, I had a Common Poorwill in this same parking lot, and it too flushed over toward the neighboring McDonalds. A week before that, a Nashville Warbler was in the small pine at the S end of the parking lot. This is practically an eBird hotspot! In fact my list from this parking lot now trumps anything I've seen at a nearby private ranch in Lincoln Co for the year. Who would've thunk it.

BTW, Elbert County is only a few feet away, but this bird was decidedly in Lincoln.


Cheers,
--
Dan Maynard
Boulder, CO
Currently (and frequently) in Limon