Compiler: Joyce Takamine
Date: August 20, 2017
This is the Rare Bird Alert for Sunday, August 20 sponsored by Denver Field Ornithologists and the Bird Conservancy of the Rockies.
Highlight species include: (* indicates new information on this species)
NOTE: The RBA is now using the new AOU checklist and the order of families has changes.
Wood Duck (Boulder, Huerfano)
Bufflehead (Custer, Larimer)
Dusky Grouse (Eagle)
Yellow-billed Cuckoo (Baca, *Otero)
Greater Roadrunner (Baca, Huerfano, Otero)
Black Rail (Pueblo)
Black-bellied Plover (Kiowa)
Snowy Plover (Kiowa)
Long-billed Curlew (Boulder, *Crowley)
Stilt Sandpiper (*Crowley, *El Paso)
Dunlin (*Kiowa)
Pectoral Sandpiper (Alamosa, *Kiowa)
Semipalmated Sandpiper (Alamosa, Boulder, *Crowley)
Wilson’s Snipe (*Crowley, Otero)
Solitary Sandpiper (Boulder, El Paso, *Kiowa, Mesa, Montrose, *Otero, Rio Blanco)
LITTLE GULL (Pueblo)
Mew Gull (Larimer)
Lesser Black-backed Gull (Crowley, *Otero)
Black Tern (*El Paso, *Kiowa, *Otero)
Common Loon (*Kiowa, La Plata, Ouray)
Little Blue Heron (Boulder, *Weld)
Green Heron (*Otero)
SWALLOW-TAILED KITE (*Prowers)
Mississippi Kite (*El Paso, *Prowers, Pueblo)
Broad-winged Hawk (Prowers)
Lewis’s Woodpecker (La Plata, *Pueblo)
Red-headed Woodpecker (Adams, Elbert,*Kiowa, *Larimer, *Otero, Logan, *Prowers)
Acorn Woodpecker (Pueblo)
Williamson’s Sapsucker (Custer, Huerfano, La Plata, *Pueblo)
Ladder-backed Woodpecker (El Paso)
Merlin (Pueblo)
American Three-toed Woodpecker (Eagle, El Paso, Gunnison, *Larimer)
Gray Flycatcher (Boulder)
Great Crested Flycatcher (*Kiowa, Logan)
Cassin’s Kingbird (*El Paso)
Bell’s Vireo (Prowers)
Gray Vireo (Archuleta, Montrose)
Cassin’s Vireo (*Kiowa)
Gray Jay (El Paso, Gilpin)
Carolina Wren (Baca)
Bewick’s Wren (El Paso)
Veery (Gilpin)
Curve-billed Thrasher (*El Paso, Otero)
Brown-capped Rosy-Finch (El Paso)
Red Crossbill (Baca, *El Paso)
Pine Siskin (*Otero)
Evening Grosbeak (*Otero)
Northern Waterthrush (El Paso, *Kiowa, Saguache)
Golden-winged Warbler (*Routt)
Nashville Warbler (Logan)
Grace’s Warbler (*Pueblo)
Cassin’s Sparrow (*El Paso)
Rufous-crowned Sparrow (Otero)
Clay-colored Sparrow (Baca, Eagle, *El Paso)
Brewer’s Sparrow (El Paso, Huerfano, Montrose, Otero, Rio Blanco, *Weld)
Black-throated Sparrow (Montrose)
Lark Bunting (Custer, *El Paso, *Jackson, *Weld)
Fox Sparrow (San Juan)
Northern Cardinal (Prowers)
Dickcissel (Baca, Boulder, *El Paso, *Kiowa, Larimer)
Bobolink (Boulder)
ALAMOSA COUNTY:
---On August 15 at Blanca Wetlands, Bez Bezuidenhouf reported Semipalmated Sandpipers and 20
Pectoral Sandpipers.
ARCHULETA COUNTY:
---On August 17 at Reservoir Hill, Ben Bailey reported Gray Vireo.
BACA COUNTY:
---On August 13 at Picture Canyon, Renee Casias reorted 2 Chihuahuan Raven, 2 Rufous-crowned Sparrows, and Painted Bunting.
---On August 17 at Two Buttes SWA below dam, Nick Komar et al reported Greater Roadrunner, 3 Yellow-billed Cuckoo, heard Carolina Wren, Dickcissel, heard Red Crossbill, 6 Clay-colored Sparrows.
BOULDER COUNTY:
---On August 13 at Lagerman Reservoir, Peter Burke reported 3 Long-billed Curlew. On August 14 at Lagerman Reservoir, Chris Owens reported 3 Long-billed Curlews.
---On August 16 at Walden Ponds, Jeff Parks reported juv Little Blue Heron and 6 Semipalmated Sandpipers; Jack and Ryan Bushong reported Little Blue Heron and 2 Semipalmated Sandpipers and Solitary Sandpiper. On August 17 at Walden Ponds, Tracy and Luke Pheneger reported 2 Wood Ducks, 2 Semipalmated Sandpipers, 2 Solitary Sandpipers, and Little Blue Heron. On August 18 at Walden Ponds, Willem van Vliet reported Little Blue Heron.
---On August 17 at Magnolia Campgound/trails Stephen Chang reported Gray Flycatcher.
CROWLEY COUNTY:
---On August 17 at Lake Meredith, John Drummond et al reported 3rd-cyc Lesser Black-backed Gull. On August 18 at Lake Meredith, Jim Rowroth et al reported Lesser Black-backed Gull.
---On August 17 at Lake Meredity Feedlot Sewage Ponds, Nick Komar reported 7 Stilt Sandpiper and 3 Semipalmated Sandpipers.
---On August 18 at Lake Meredith Feedlot Sewage Ponds, Rayan Adams et al reported 8 Stilt Sandpipers, 10 Semipalmated Sandpipers. On August 19 at Lake Meredith, Feedlot Sewage Ponds, Jay Withgott reported Long-billed Curlew, 12 Stilt Sandpipers, 13 Semipalmated sandpipers and Wilson’s Snipe.
CUSTER COUNTY:
---On August 17 at DeWeese Reservoir, Kurt Mize reported f-type Bufflehead, 6 Williamson’s Sapsuckers, f-type Lark Bunting.
EAGLE COUNTY:
---On August 14 at Vall Ski Resort, David Suddjian reported 4 American Three-toed Woodpeckers (family group), and 4 Dusky Grouse.
ELBERT COUNTY:
---On August 15 on CR 89, Cheri Phillips and Maureen Blackford reported juv Red-headed Woodpecker and Clay-colored Sparrow.
EL PASO COUNTY:
---On August 18 at Venetucci Farm, Van Truan reported Mississippi Kite.
---On August 10 at Bear Creek Park West, David Tonnessen reported 22 flyover Pinyon Jay.
---On August 11 and 12 at Clear Spring Ranch, Steve Brown banded Northern Waterthrush. On August 17 and 18 at Clear Spring Ranch, Steve Brown banded Northern Waterthrush.
---On August 17 at Adams Open Space, Cathy Bondy reported 3 Mississippi Kites.
---On August 18 at Fountain Creek Regional Park, Nick Komar et al reported Mississippi Kite. On August 19 at Fountain Creek RP, Nick Komar el al reported Mississippi Kite and type 2 Red Crossbill.
---On August 14 on Elk Park Trail, Rod Schmidt reported American Three-toed Woodpecker and Gray Jay.
---On August 14 on Pike’s Peak Summit, Rod Schmidt reported 3 Brown-capped Rosy-Finch.
---On August 15 on Ramah Rd W and CR 93, Cheri Phillips and Maureen Blackford reported 2 Clay-colored Sparrows and Brewer’s Sparrow.
---On August 16 on S Peyton Hwy, Don Marsh reported 2 Red-headed Woodpeckers and 2 Curve-billed Thrashers.
---On August 16 on BIrdsall Road, Gloria Nikolai reported 2 Curve-billed Thrashers and Mississippi Kite. ---On August 17 on Handover Rd, Diego Blanco reported Curve-billed Thrasher; Drew Beamer reported Curve-billed Thrasher and 4 Cassin’s Sparrows.
---On August 17 at Chico Basin Ranch (fee area), Drew Beamer reported Curve-billed Thrasher and 7 Cassin’s Sparrows; Diego Blanco reported 6 Curve-billed Thrashers, 2 Brewer’s Sparrows and 4 Cassin’s Sparrows. On August 17 at Chico Basin Ranch, Cynthia Hudson et al reported Ladder-backed Woodpecker, Curve-billed Thrasher, 7 Solitary Sandpipers, and 10 Cassin’s Sparrows. On August 18 at Chico Basin Ranch, Dick Porter et al reported 5 Solitary Sandpipers, 3 Curve-billed Thrashers, 3 Brewer’s Sparrows. On August 18 at Chico Basin Ranch, John Drummond et al reported Bewick’s Wren and Ladder-backed Woodpecker. On August 19 at Chico Basin Ranch, Jim Rowoth el at reported 5 Curve-billed Thrashers, 9 Cassin’s Sparrows, 3 Clay-colored Sparrows, and 20 Lark Buntings.
---On August 19 on Santa Fe Ave in Fountain, Nick Komar et al reported 4 Mississippi Kites.
---On August 19 at Ramah Reservoir SWA, Alan Ketcham reported 2 Stilt Sandpipers, Black Tern, 2 Cassin’s Kingbirds, Dickscissel.
GILPIN COUNTY:
---On August 15 on Rollins Pass Rd east side, Steve Mlodinow reported Veery.
---On August 15 at Knights of Phythias Cemetery, Steve Mlodinow reported Gray Flycatcher.
HUERFANO COUNTY:
---On August 16 at Orlando Reservoir, Jay Withgott reported 3 Wood Ducks.
---On August 18 at Lathrop SP, Sharon Cormier-Aagard reported heard Greater Roadrunner, f Williamson’s Sapsucker, 3 Brewer’s Sparrows.
JACKSON COUNTY:
---On August 19 on CR 34 near Walden, Bob Friedrichs reported f – type Lark Bunting.
KIOWA COUNTY:
---On August 17 at Abode Creek Reservoir (Blue Lake), Nick Komar reported from NE Shore Snowy Plover, Long-billed Curlew, and Black-bellied Plover. Nick says that access is terrible.
---On August 20 at Kiowa Creek at CR 40, Steve Mlodinow reported Great Crested Flycatcher and 2 Northern Waterthrush.
---On August 20 at Upper queens/Neeskah Reservoir, Steve Mlodinow reported 6 Solitary Sandpipers, Caspian Tern, 2 Red-headed Woodpeckers, 3 Great Crested Flycatcher, Cassin’s Vireo.
---On August 20 at Neenoshe Reservoir, Steve Mlodinow reported Upland Sandpiper, Dunlin, Pectoral Sandpiper, Solitary Sandpiper, 65 Black Tern, Common Tern, 16 Red-headed Woodpeckers, 6 Northern Waterthrush, Dickcissel.
LA PLATA COUNTY:
---On August 16 at Vallecito Reservoir, David Dunford reported 2 Common Loons, 5 Lewis’s Woodpeckers and Williamson’s Sapsucker.
LARIMER COUNTY:
---On August 12 at Topminnow NA (East Horsetooth Gravel Pit), Brandon Nooner reported f-type Bufflehead.
---On August 14 at Horseshoe Reservoir, David Wade and Nick Komar reported Mew Gull.
---On August 16 at Reservoir Ridge NA, John Shenot reported ad f Dickcissel.
---On August 18 at Emmaline Lake train in spruce forest above Pingree Park, Libby Edwards reported 6 American Three-toed Woodpeckers
---On August 19 at Estes Park, Debra Corpora reported Red-headed Woodpecker.
LOGAN COUNTY:
---On August 15 at Tamarack ranch SWA, Shannon Skalos and Andrea Mott reported Red-headed Woodpecker, 2 Great Crested Flycatchers and Nashville Warbler.
MESA COUNTY:
---On August 14 at Grand Junction WA, Mike Henwood and Carol Ortenzio reported Solitary Sandpiper; Mark and Denise Vollmar reported 3 Solitary Sandpipers. On August 15, Mike Henwood and Eileen Cunningham reported 1 juv Solitary Sandpiper (cinnamomea) at Fuita SP and 2 Solitary Sandpipers (1 ad, 1juv) at Horsethief SWA.
MONTROSE COUNTY:
---On August 16 at Airport Lake, Coen Dexter reported 2 Solitary Sandpipers, Gray Vireo, 2 Brewer’s Sparrows and Black-throated Sparrow.
OTERO COUNTY:
---On August 18 at Cheraw Lake, Jim Rowoth and Kurt Mize reported Wilson’s Snipe and Black Tern.
---On August 18 at Higbee Valley Road, Doug Faulker et al reported 4 Greater Roadrunners, 2 Red-headed Woodpeckers, 2 Curve-billed Thrashers, 2 Brewer’s Sparrows, Rufous-crowned Sparrow.
---On August 19 at Holbrook Reservoir, Bernard Morris reported Green Heron and Lesser Black-backed Gull. On August 18 at Holbrook reservoir, David Tonnessen reported 2 Solitary Sandpipers, Lesser Black-backed Gull, 13 Black Terns, Red-headed Woodpecker, flyover calling Evening Grosbeak.
---On August 19 at Rocky Ford SWA Ryans Ponds, David Tonnessen reported Yellow-billed Cuckoo, 3 Red-headed Woodpeckers and flyover calling Pine Siskin.
PROWERS COUNTY:
---On August 10 Bryant Will found a juv SWALLOW-TAILED KITE in Lamar which was refound by Janeal Thompson, Tammy Gonzales, Jane Stulp, and Duane Nelson near Oak and 14th.
---On August 17 at Lamar Community College, Nick Komar et al reported 26 Mississippi Kites, Broad-winged Hawk, Bell’s (eastern) Vireo, and 3 Northern Cardinals.
---On August 19 at Willow Creek Park, Bernard Morris reported SWALLOW-TAILED KITE circling overhead with kettle of Mississippi Kites and 2 Red-headed Woodpeckers.
PUEBLO COUNTY:
---On August 14 at Pueblo Mountain Park, Monday Birders reported Williamson’s Sapsucker and 3 Grace’s Warblers. On August 17 at Pueblo Mountain Park, Ryan Adams reported Acorn Woodpecker, 2 Williamson’s Sapsuckers and 3 Grace’s Warblers. On August 18 at Pueblo Mountain Park, Nathan Pieplow et al reported 5 Williamson’s Sapsuckers, Merlin, 3 Grace’s Warblers. On August 19 at Pueblo Mt Park, Mark Holmgren et al reported 2 Williamson’s Sapsucker, 2 Lewis’s Woodpeckers and Grace’s Warbler.
---On August 16 at Pueblo Reservoir, Jay Withgott found 2 juv Little Gulls at South Shore Marina. The Little Gulls were also reported by Dale and Joel Adams at South Marina; Brandon Percival reported the
Little Gulls by picnic Shelter near South Shore Headquarters; Nick Komar and others reported the Little
Gulls at east end of Pueblo Reservoir.
---On August 17 at Lake Minnequa in Pueblo, Jay Withgott and Mark Holmgren reported 2 Mississippi Kites.
---On August 18 at Nepesta Road Marsh, Scott Somershoe reported hearing Black Rail.
RIO BLANCO COUNTY:
---On August 8 at Jensen SWA, Steve Patterson reported 2 Solitary Sandpipers and Brewer’s Sparrow.
ROUTT COUNTY:
---On August 19 along Yampa Core Trail in Steamboat Springs, Machael San Miguel reported ad m Golden-winged Warbler about 100-200 yards upstream from where trail corsses Trafalager Dr just behind “Flour Mill” camp.
SAGUACHE COUNTY:
---On August 17 at Russell Lakes SWA, Riley Morris reported Northern Waterthrush
WELD COUNTY:
---On August 19 at Norma’s Grove, Gene Rutherford reported 5 Brewer’s Sparrows, 12 f-type Lark Buntings.
---On August 18 at Firestone Gravel Pits (view from road) Carl Starace reported 2 juv Little Blue Heron.
Denver Field Ornithologists Field Trips:
The DFO Field Trip for Sunday, August 20 will be to Eastern Boulder County led by Ira and Tammy Sanders. This trip is full.
Good Birding,
Joyce Takamine
Boulder