very late White-throated Swifts, Pueblo County, Lake Pueblo State Park

[mar...@juno.com]

Hi all,

This afternoon, about 1:45pm, I found at least 4, maybe more, White-throated Swifts flying and actively feeding over the Arkansas River below the dam, west of Osprey Picnic area near an old bridge abutment on the banks of the river. I walked west along the river and continued to see these birds in this area of the river until I left at 2:30pm. They were quite low over the river and surrounding trees, clearly visible and easily identified.

This is very late for these birds; Brandon Percival tells me there are no December (Winter) records for this area. No photos, sorry.

Cheers,
Margie Joy
Pueblo West, CO

[DAVID A LEATHERMAN]

Margie,
That is crazy.  Somebody has to get photos.  Only insects I can think of they might be getting are midges, which would be present anywhere there is unfrozen water.  Desperados is all I can figure.   Wonder if any swift is known to have wintered in the northern part of its range by going into torpor in south-facing cliffs warmed by the sun?   If poorwills are suspected of doing it, maybe swifts can, too.  Great report.

Dave Leatherman

> --
> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group.
> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to cobirds+u...@googlegroups.com.
> To post to this group, send email to cob...@googlegroups.com.
> To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/cobirds/20151202.164722.10142.0%40webmail13.vgs.untd.com.
> For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.

[Brandon K. Percival]

I took photos of one of like 200 White-throated Swifts on November 1st that Margie Joy and I saw (which was the latest ones for Colorado I believe at the time).  Last week, another birder in Pueblo saw around six White-throated Swifts near Pueblo Reservoir (hopefully the e-bird reviewers will accept this sighting, as it is quite valid).  Seems like some of the 200 White-throated Swifts that were around on 1 November are hanging around.  I'll do my best to get a photo, if I see them around Pueblo this week and after.  Maybe I will find them on the Pueblo Reservoir CBC, since Rock Canyon is usually part of my area.  The Arkansas River in Pueblo always has bugs in the winter, which help a variety of birds live there, like phoebes, warblers, pipits, etc. all winter long usually.  It has been warm this fall in Pueblo, except recently, though it is warming up again.  Great find Margie!!

 

Brandon Percival

Pueblo West, CO

---

From: DAVID A LEATHERMAN <daleat...@msn.com>
To: Margie Joy <mar...@juno.com>; COBIRDS <cob...@googlegroups.com>
Sent: Wednesday, December 2, 2015 4:58 PM
Subject: RE: [cobirds] very late White-throated Swifts, Pueblo County, Lake Pueblo State Park