This morning, at Denver Botanic Gardens in Denver, were an Olive-sided Flycatcher & a Brown Thrasher. (I previously saw an Olive-sided on Saturday, September 19th.) The flycatcher was ... flycatching ... from high in the trees along the western edge of the Gardens -- near the trail that leads to the Cheesman gate entrance. I also saw it on western edge of the "birds & bees trail." When the sun hit this bird's chest, it only showed a pail vest, but some of my better photos show, I believe, the vest and the white chest and throat. (My apologies if I got this one wrong.)
The Brown Thrasher was very difficult to spot. It was sticking in the shadows and brush along the southwest edge of the pond in the Gates Montane Garden (spot 20 on the map <http://www.botanicgardens.org/sites/default/files/butterfieldmap_11x8_5_2015_2.pdf>). I first noticed the bird when it flew into a small tree near the Conservatory Garden. A heap of bad glimpses amounted to a single good image of the bird -- longer billed and longer tailed than thrushes, a cinnamon-y back, and streaking down the chest and sides. I later relocated the bird with a house wren in the brush by the pond, and the thrasher was generous enough to eventually walk along the paved trail and hold still for some poorly lit photos before flushing as some other visitors approached. If you try to find either of these birds, you'll need to be prepared to be patient (and possibly disappointed). There is an educational event going on there today and many children and parents are visiting the Gardens. The birds may withdraw to wherever they go when I can't find them in the afternoon. Photos of both birds are here <https://birderbyaccident.wordpress.com/2015/09/21/olive-sided-flycatcher-brown-thrasher-denver-botanic-gardens-sept-21/> . Also at the Gardens are Dark-eyed Junco, Hermit Thrush, Green-tailed Towhee, Rock Wren, Wilson's Warbler, Orange-crowned Warbler, Yellow-rumped Warbler, MacGillivray's Warbler, Lesser Goldfinch, and a Blue-gray Gnatcatcher. This weekend yielded most of those birds as well as Common Yellowthroat, Turkey Vulture, Western Scrub-Jay, Townsend's Solitaire, Western Tanager, Clay-colored Sparrow, and Chipping Sparrow. - Jared Del Rosso Denver, 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/456a2764-a7c3-43e4-b898-07c709814290%40googlegroups.com. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
