Chatfield SP and Ken Caryl Valley 7/28

[David Suddjian]

Water levels in Chatfield Reservoir are more or less back to "normal", although there is still lots of extra standing water in upland areas that were flooded recently. Other than Killdeer and Spotted Sandpipers, my only shorebirds were 2 Marbled Godwits and a Willet at the Marina Sand Spit. A segment of the trail upstream of Kingfisher Bridge on the JeffCo side is now walkable. So I did. I was excited to see a Yellow-billed Cuckoo fly in front of me at mid-canopy height, perching briefly before moving on. Also here was an adult Red-eyed Vireo feeding a begging juv., and four Least Flycatchers included 2 begging juvies. An Eastern Phoebe was upstream of Kingfisher Bridge.

At Ken Caryl Valley there was an Ash-throated Flycatcher north of Massey Draw between the Lyons and Dakota formation hogbacks. It was even calling. An earlyish Sage Thrasher was my first in the area this season.

David Suddjian

Littleton, CO