Upland Sandpiper, Boulder, 2:30 AM

[Nathan Pieplow]

I wasn't planning on starting the Global Big Day by listening to nocturnal migration.  But my dog scratched at the door, so I took her out just now in the misty overcast night, and I heard lots of Swainson's Thrushes, giving their Spring Peeper-like Weet calls from overhead.  Then a Spotted Sandpiper.  Then the Holy Grail of nocturnal migration on the Front Range: the "Kwiddywit!" of an Upland Sandpiper.  It called about 10 times as it flew from south to north.

My high-pitched hearing is not good, so I doubtless missed lots of warblers and sparrows.  Everything must have been flying low in the slight mist.  There was a flight call every 5-10 seconds or so.  If anybody's awake in this area right now, step outside.  It's one of those mythical nights that Ted Floyd has been raving about for years.

Nathan Pieplow

Boulder