I spent the day at Jackson Lake with a Fort Collins Audubon field trip. The weather was idyllic. The shallow lake continues to impress, and we tallied 18 species of shorebirds by walking onto the flats from the Lakeside Campground with the afternoon sun at our backs. This is the southwest quadrant of the lake. Nothing outstandingly rare. Rarest shorebird was AMERICAN GOLDEN-PLOVER (3), seen at great distance through scopes – two of these were near the outlet canal. Other uncommon shorebird species included: Black-bellied Plover –5 Semipalmated Plover – 1 Sanderling – 2 Red-necked Phalarope – 8 Pectoral Sandpiper – 6 Stilt Sandpiper - 2+
Some common species were present in low numbers: Semipalmated Sandpiper – 2 Western Sandpiper – 1 Willet – 1 (not surprising given the date) Long-billed Dowitcher – 3 The remaining 7 species were present in healthy numbers: Killdeer American Avocet Greater Yellowlegs Lesser Yellowlegs Baird’s Sandpiper Least Sandpiper Wilson’s Phalarope Surprisingly absent was Spotted Sandpiper and Marbled Godwit, and perhaps Solitary Sandpiper. One particularly bright juvenile Pectoral Sandpiper was impressively suggestive of juvenile Sharp-tailed Sandpiper, but we couldn’t turn it into this super-mega-rarity. On land in the thickets of the west side, the only uncommon migrant we could turn up was one first-fall Red-eyed Vireo at the Visitor Center. Several groups of Sandhill Cranes flying over throughout the day were a good sign that autumn is officially here. Nick Komar Fort Collins CO www.pbase.com -- 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 https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
