Eastern Phoebe,near Clement Park, Jefferson County

[Tina Jones]

Today, 4/12, I went to Johnston Reservoir this afternoon for a very small bit. The Reservoir is next to, and south of the Barnes & Noble bookstore, at the SE. corner of the intersection of Bowles and S. Wadsworth. It was snowing fairly hard, when I saw a bird pumping it's tail down, continually pumping it's tail. The movement of the tail got my attention. This bird was sitting about 6 feet up in a Russian Olive tree and 6 feet up from Johnston lake. It was 2 branches away from a perched American Robin. The Phoebe had a notch at the tip of the tail, with gray/olive breast and sides. The top of the bird's head was a darker gray than the gray on the sides of the bird. The upper parts were grayish brown. The underparts were mostly white except for the breast and sides. The bird did not stop pumping it's tail. I never thought I would see an Eastern Phoebe at Johnson reservoir, nor was I looking for one.

I do not think this bird would be easy  to see again. It flew to the Southeast corner of the lake and then proceeded to keep flying when I lost it.

This location is in Jefferson County.

Happy Birding!

Littleton, CO, Jefferson County