Carpenter Ranch, Routt County, June 29th

[Ted Floyd]

Hello, Birders.

Twelve of us had a fine time at the Carpenter Ranch [PRIVATE], Routt County, yesterday, Saturday, June 29th. No rarities to speak of for us, but we pretty much cleaned up on all the expected specialty species of the ranch, finding:

5 Sandhill Cranes

a minimum of 11 Willow Flycatcher (an outstanding, perhaps unprecedented, breeding-season count for Colorado)

2 Veeries

5 Swainson's Thrushes

8 Gray Catbirds

3 Fox Sparrows

5 Bobolinks

Some other items of note:

a male Red-naped Sapsucker with extreme red on the head; we wondered if this bird had some Red-breasted Sapsucker ancestry

an unseen "Rufous-sided" Towhee with a funky, somewhat Eastern-ish song

Lots of Common Mergansers, including one hen with 14 chicks

Orange-crowned Warblers and Green-tailed Towhees singing on the dry hillsides

beautiful Cedar Waxwings everywhere

Thanks to the Carpenter Ranch and the Yampa River Birding Club for a great outing!

Ted Floyd

tedfl...@hotmail.com

Lafayette, Boulder County, Colorado