All, I manged a bit of time out over the last few days, some with and some without my family. A few highlights, some of which may just be not real notable as this is my first spring in CO. One thing that is amazing is that I can't go anywhere and not trip on a House Wren or Spotted Towhee right now!
*2 May 2015* South Valley Park, Jefferson Co. I hiked ~3.5 miles with my wife and daughter. 31 - Spotted Towhees and all singing males. I never saw a female. 3 - Blue-gray Gnatcatchers. These western birds "mew" very differently than easterns! Our yard in Littleton, Jeff Co Finally got a hummingbird at the feeder (female Black-chinned). Leave it to my almost 3 yr old to tell me there was a hummingbird at the feeder and low and behold I look around the side of the house and there was our first hummer at the feeder! She's quite the birder for being almost 3. Broad-tails have been heard for a few days, but I haven't seen one at the feeder yet. *3 May 2015* Chatfield SP, Douglas Co., while cycling Least Flycatcher calling by Kingfisher bridge (with at least 5 House Wrens). One Yellow Warbler on the Jeff Co side near the mouth of Deer Creek. The yellows here really slur their song like an American Redstart (I thought I heard a redstart there Saturday afternoon while cycling and pulling the kiddo, but wasn't completely sure, so I guess it was one of these western yellows). Lark Sparrows singing in both counties. I heard Broad-tails everywhere (guess I wasn't pedaling hard enough!) I also heard and then saw a pair of Brewer's Blackbirds south of Chatfield by the prairie dog town at Waterton rd and N Rampart Range rd. My first Brewer's since we moved here. Not bad for birding while out for a hard bike ride! *4 May 2015* Barr Lake SP, Adams Co, in the early morning rain for an hour by the Nature Center (no white-eyed vireo) 2 singing eastern Warbling Vireos Yellow Warbler - another western bird that sounds more like an Am Redstart to me. Managed to get some nice looks at the bird singing what is a very different song to me. Even the tone seems a little different than eastern yellow's. Weld Co birds: Lower Latham Res Numerous Marsh Wrens and a spontaneously calling Sora. Only found Least sandpipers with the usual Wilson Phals, Avcoets and Black-necked Stilts. Briggsdale area - at least 2 Brewer's Sparrows just south of the elementary school with usual grassland species, incl a couple Grasshopper Sparrows up the road. Murphy's Pasture area of Pawnee NG I took my time cruising down CR96 and had a lot of nice birds. Great looks at a couple McCown's Longspurs displaying. At least 6 Grasshopper Sparrows, and plenty of other sparrows to sort through. Interesting to see White-crowned Sparrows literally 4 miles from a shrub. This was the first time I'd seen Lark Buntings displaying. I could watch and listen to that all day. Checklist (photos incl): http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S23224126 Not especially notable, but I saw a N Mockingbird by one of the in-holdings in Pawnee. Took me 2 months to find one in CO and there was about 1 sec of excitement on that bird. Nothing notable at Crow Valley Campground. Morgan Co - Jackson Reservoir My first time there and I definitely need to learn how to bird the area, but didn't have enough time to explore thoroughly. Oodles of Western Grebes (800+) and some Eared Grebes 1 Sanderling popped up on the rocks by the boat launch 1 Forster's tern Nice looks at various plumages of Calif Gulls and some nice breeding plumage Franklin's Gulls (which are really under rated!). I didn't take many photos yesterday, but a few start here: http://www.pbase.com/shoeman/image/159951394 Good birding, Scott Somershoe Littleton CO Jeff Co. -- 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+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to cobirds@googlegroups.com. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/cobirds/CAJmtx%2BVvduJAimrFuaxpQauTWfsaQU00NRX1-3ZZifJ4%2BP0%3DTA%40mail.gmail.com. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
