Yuma County mini fallout, 4/28/16
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Daniel Maynard
Apr 29, 2016, 12:06:24 PM4/29/16
to CoBirds
Folks,
I encountered a mini fallout in Yuma County yesterday on my way home from work in Nebraska. If it had only been one or two weeks later, I'm convinced it would have been massive. As it was, it was still a little early. Still, it was a very, very good day in Northeast CO in April.
Some of my highlights included:
Three Harris's Sparrows,a White-throated sparrow, and a Red-bellied woodpecker in Laird on the Nebraska border
Among the dozens of Yellow-rumped Warblers and Orange-crowned Warblers dripping from the trees in Wray, I had a Prothonotary Warbler, a Yellow Warbler, and three Common Yellowthroats, all of which got themselves flagged in eBird. Somewhat surprisingly, a Least Flycatcher did not. Chimney Swifts have arrived in town.
More warblers at Stalker Lake. There were warblers in the sagebrush, warblers in the trees, and warblers on the ground. At one point, I was looking at 3 'Western' Palm Warblers, all perched on or underneath the same picnic table. Nearly every sparrow I looked at was a Clay-colored, though I did have a few Chipping, a singing Brewer's, and a singing Field Sparrow. The lake was covered swallows; I was actually surprised I didn't see a Purple Martin, but I did have the five other expected species (no Violet-green). Shorebirds included Baird's, Least, Semipalmated, Spotted and Solitary Sandpipers, and also 4 Willets, 32 Long-billed Dowitchers, Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs, and 1 Wilson's Phalarope. I flushed an American Bittern, which headed upstream, and also flushed an early Green Heron, which sat in a tree for a photo.
I encountered a mini fallout in Yuma County yesterday on my way home from work in Nebraska. If it had only been one or two weeks later, I'm convinced it would have been massive. As it was, it was still a little early. Still, it was a very, very good day in Northeast CO in April.
Some of my highlights included:
Three Harris's Sparrows,a White-throated sparrow, and a Red-bellied woodpecker in Laird on the Nebraska border
Among the dozens of Yellow-rumped Warblers and Orange-crowned Warblers dripping from the trees in Wray, I had a Prothonotary Warbler, a Yellow Warbler, and three Common Yellowthroats, all of which got themselves flagged in eBird. Somewhat surprisingly, a Least Flycatcher did not. Chimney Swifts have arrived in town.
More warblers at Stalker Lake. There were warblers in the sagebrush, warblers in the trees, and warblers on the ground. At one point, I was looking at 3 'Western' Palm Warblers, all perched on or underneath the same picnic table. Nearly every sparrow I looked at was a Clay-colored, though I did have a few Chipping, a singing Brewer's, and a singing Field Sparrow. The lake was covered swallows; I was actually surprised I didn't see a Purple Martin, but I did have the five other expected species (no Violet-green). Shorebirds included Baird's, Least, Semipalmated, Spotted and Solitary Sandpipers, and also 4 Willets, 32 Long-billed Dowitchers, Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs, and 1 Wilson's Phalarope. I flushed an American Bittern, which headed upstream, and also flushed an early Green Heron, which sat in a tree for a photo.
Terrible photo, but that's the best I could do with an iPhone and a pair of binoculars. At least it's in focus.
Beecher Island hosted a number of good birds as well, such as Northern Bobwhite, Osprey, Eastern Screech-Owl, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Eastern Phoebe, Eastern Bluebird, Northern Parula, another Harris's Sparrow, and another White-throated Sparrow.
102 total species in roughly a half-day of birding. There seemed to be birds in every tree. Here's hoping this weather produces some more great birds this weekend
--
Cheers,
Dan Maynard
Denver, CO
Denver, CO
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