Timnath (Larimer) Buff-breasted Sandpiper - NO

[Andrew Bankert]

The number of searchers for #Larimer421 reached double digits this morning (if you count in binary).  I did a counterclockwise loop around the reservoir to check the area where the sandpiper was yesterday early in my trip.  Dave Wade showed up a little later and did a clockwise loop, and when we met up at the north end of the reservoir neither of us had seen the Buff-breasted Sandpiper.  There were a decent number of birds around, including better shorebird diversity than last week with 7 Pectorals, 7 Stilt Sandpipers, 10 Long-billed Dowitchers, and 3 Wilson's Phalaropes.  The songbirds were also on the move with a sharp increase in the number of Yellow-rumped Warblers.  Dave's phone died, so there is a slight chance that the Buff-breasted could have flown to the original area after I left and I don't know about it. 

Yesterday, Sean Walters and I had planned on hitting Timnath (but probably would have missed the buffy since we typically bird the west/north sides of the reservoir), but our morning stop at Cobb Lake State Wildlife Area took much longer than expected since we got caught up in bringing our eBird list to 80 species.  Although we didn't have anything too unusual, we did have a good diversity of warblers (7 species) and sparrows, along with some other migrants including an Olive-sided Flycatcher, Lazuli Bunting, and Ruby-crowned Kinglet.  As we were leaving, a House Sparrow brought our list to 80 species, and had we had time to bird into the afternoon we would have likely broken 100 species in Larimer County east of I-25 since I had about 25 species at Timnath this morning that we did not find at Cobb Lake yesterday.

Thanks to Jack for finding another addition to the Larimer County list!

Good Birding,

Andy Bankert

Fort Collins

[David Wade]

I also failed to relocate the Buff-breasted Sandpiper after circling the entire reservoir. I noticed that Andy saw about 10 Pectorals and I only saw 1 so it is possible some shorebirds slipped through our dragnet, including the Buff-breasted. However, I have the feeling this guy was a one-hit wonder and is no longer around. I ran into Joe Mammoser who also saw the Buffy yesterday. He said the last time he saw it was right before a Peregrine Falcon swooped into and scatter the flock of birds containing the Buffy. He then saw the Peregrine  fly into a tree to eat it's catch, unknown if the Buffy was the victom. My suspicion is the falcon ate it or, at least, scared it so bad it left, but who really knows? I did manage to pick out a Caspian Tern resting in a flock of gulls. Other notables included 9 Stilt Sandpipers, 3 Rock Wrens in the rocks of the dam, 2 American Pipets, 1 Blue-gray Gnatcatcher and an unexpected Pine Sisken.

David Wade
Ft Collins CO