Northern Parula and N Waterthrush at Home Lake Area

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Just maybe things are finally happening in the San Luis Valley. We have been cold and migration has lagged the front range considerably. But maybe things are finally changing.

A male Northern Parula was in the willow trees on the west side of Home Lake this morning. This species is rare in the San Luis Valley. Then at the nearby Wright-Schriver SWA, there were 2 Northern Waterthushes in one of the shrubby wetlands (all in Rio Grande County).

Hundreds of Yellow-rumped warblers are around the lake. A six warbler day is tough to come here by so have to be happy with the birds of today. (N Waterthrush, Com Yellowthroat, Yellow, YR, N Parula, and MacGills).  

Yesterday, five of us did a big day. We had a decent start in the morning, but the thunderstorms washed out the afternoon completely. We ended with 117 species, which is well below our normal big days.

John Rawinski

Monte Vista, Colorado