Hello, Birders. Hannah and Andrew and I birded around Boulder County today, Friday, May 1st. Highlights for us included 1 Glossy Ibis, 3 apparent Glossy x White-faced Ibis hybrids, 1 probable Short-billed Dowitcher, 1 tantalizing Chaetura swift, and 1 Black-and-white Warbler. Other sightings included Wood Duck, Great Egret, Black-crowned Night-Heron, Semipalmated Plover, Solitary Sandpiper, Semipalmated Sandpiper, Western Sandpiper, Least Sandpiper, and Long-billed Dowitcher. Species seen in decent to great numbers at most or all stops included Blue-winged and Cinnamon Teals, Western Grebe, American White Pelican, American Avocet, Wilson's Phalarope, Audubon's Warbler, and Vesper Sparrow. Violet-green Swallows and especially Chipping Sparrows were conspicuous and abundant. Here's the low-down: For 15 minutes starting at 2:40 a.m. (sans Hannah and Andrew) I heard 6 Chipping Sparrows fly over Greenlee Preserve. The winds were southeasterly, quickly shifting to northerly. I suspect the wind-shift is what caused the great birds across eastern Colorado today; a southeast-to-north shift--with precip to boot--is as good as it gets in spring in eastern Colorado. Boulder Reservoir. We saw 375+ (!) Chipping Sparrows here, almost all of them in the grass and sparse trees on the south shore of the reservoir; we also saw 400+ Violet-green Swallows. The north shore had a probable Short-billed Dowitcher, but we couldn't induce it to vocalize, so I'm not sure. Also, 3 Ospreys and 250+ American Coots. Lagerman Reservoir. 1 Osprey, 1 Semipalmated Plover, 1 Least Sandpiper, 3 Long-billed Dowitchers, 11 Franklin's Gulls, and our only Savannah Sparrow of the day. Walden Ponds. 1 Semipalmated Plover, 4 Semipalmated Sandpipers, 1 Western Sandpiper, and 1 Least Sandpiper.
Valmont Reservoir. 12 Ruddy Ducks, 250+ American Coots, and 1 Rock Wren. It was neat to see two different double-digit flocks of high-flying Chipping Sparrows drop in (or "fall out") for a visit. Teller Lake No. 5. 2 Great Egrets, 1 American Pipit, and 3 Brewer's Sparrows. Prince Lake No. 2. In a flock of 84 earthworm-eating Plegadis ibises, 1 slam-dunk Glossy and 3 that looked quite intermediate--thus, hybrids, I assume? Anyhow, great looks along the roadside. Andrew wanted to "save" the earthworms. Hannah said the Glossy was "boring," which, in an objective sense, relative to White-faced, is true. By the way, I saw one of the apparent hybrids defecate, and it occurred to me to go procure a fecal sample for the hard-working folks on the Colorado Bird Records Committee... :-) Also at Prince Lake No. 2, in a large flock of swallows (all 6 species) over the lake's surface was a Chaetura swift with a pale throat and a pale rump; it looked small, but that could have been wishful thinking. But here's a much more tantalizing point to consider: We *heard* it. I haveta say, those sharp, shrill, well-enunciated chips sure sounded good... Finally, there was another nice real-time Chipping Sparrow fallout here. Greenlee Preserve. 1 female Black-and-white Warbler--the first warbler we saw here, and my first for the site. Also 8 Wood Ducks, 1 Pied-billed Grebe, 1 Black-crowned Night-Heron, 1 Solitary Sandpiper, 3 Blue-gray Gnatcatchers, and 4 Orange-crowned Warblers. ------------------------------- Ted Floyd Editor, Birding ------------------------------- Please support the American Birding Association: Click on http://www.goodsearch.com/?charityid=884482 to search the internet. Every search provides support to the ABA's programs in Education, Conservation, and Publications. Please visit the website of the American Birding Association: http://www.aba.org _________________________________________________________________ Windows Live™: Keep your life in sync. http://windowslive.com/explore?ocid=TXT_TAGLM_BR_life_in_synch_052009 --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ Join us at the 2009 Convention in Alamosa: http://cfo-link.org/convention/index.php You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group. To post to this group, send email to cobirds@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to cobirds+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.as/group/cobirds?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
