What would you get if you crossed a lark sparrow with a meadowlark? Whatever it might be, it would probably look quite a lot like a dickcissel. Dickcissels were this week’s stars in northeast Colorado. This sparrow-sized bird with a big voice has puzzled taxonomists for years. The species apparently evolved to take advantage of temporary weed patches left in the wake of the enormous herds of wandering bison. As the plains ecosystem was altered by man, dickcissels adapted. They have a strong affinity for alfalfa fields. But they remain more or less nomadic, here one year and totally absent the next five or ten. July, 2009 marked the largest incursion of dickcissels in this part of the Great Plains since at least the 1970s. The males can be found on power lines overlooking alfalfa or shrubby habitats. They have at least two loud songs, both manifestations of “dickcissel” – one buzzy and one clearly whistled.

The week’s nature list is as follows:

Birds:

Canada goose

Wood duck

Gadwall

Mallard

Blue-winged teal

Redhead

Wild turkey, Rio Grande subspecies

Northern bobwhite

Pied-billed grebe

American white pelican

Double-crested cormorant

American bittern

Great blue heron

Turkey vulture

Mississippi kite

Swainson’s hawk

Red-tailed hawk

Ferruginous hawk

Northern harrier

American kestrel

American coot

Killdeer

Greater yellowlegs

Spotted sandpiper

Baird’s sandpiper

Wilson’s snipe

Ring-billed gull

Rock pigeon

Eurasian collared-dove

Mourning dove

Barn owl

Burrowing owl

Common nighthawk

Chimney swift

Belted kingfisher

Red-headed woodpecker

Downy woodpecker

Northern flicker

Western wood-pewee

Western kingbird

Eastern kingbird

Say’s phoebe

Loggerhead shrike

Warbling vireo

Blue jay

Bank swallow

Northern rough-winged swallow

Cliff swallow

Barn swallow

Black-capped chickadee

House wren

American robin

Northern mockingbird

Brown thrasher

European starling

Yellow warbler

Common yellowthroat

Spotted towhee

Cassin’s sparrow

Brewer’s sparrow

Lark sparrow

Lark bunting

Grasshopper sparrow

Blue grosbeak

Dickcissel

Red-winged blackbird

Yellow-headed blackbird

Western meadowlark

Common grackle

Great-tailed grackle

Brown-headed cowbird

Bullock’s oriole

House finch

American goldfinch

House sparrow

Mammals:

Eastern cottontail

Fox squirrel

Pronghorn

Whitetail deer

Herptiles:

Bullfrog

Lesser earless lizard

Northern leopard frog

Plains blackhead snake

Western rattlesnake

Woodhouse’s toad

I returned from two weeks in soggy Maine to find that things are still as wet here on the prairie as they have been since April. The plains are as green and lush as they have ever been in July in my 25 years here. A few fall migrants (sage thrasher, solitary sandpiper, greater yellowlegs) and post-breeding dispersal species (snowy egret) are beginning to show up. A trip to Poudre River State Fish Hatchery on a diagnostics call gave me a few mountain species to spice up my week list. My best bird this week was an adult Mississippi kite here in Fort Morgan. I’ve seen them here fairly consistently since the early 1990s and I suspect the species is trying to expand northwestward. I’ve only seen a nest here in Morgan County once in a huge cottonwood near the train station.

Birds:

Canada goose

Mallard

Redhead

Cinnamon teal

Green-winged teal

Pied-billed grebe

American white pelican

Double-crested cormorant

American bittern

Great blue heron

Snowy egret

Turkey vulture

Mississippi kite

Swainson’s hawk

Red-tailed hawk

Ferruginous hawk

Northern harrier

American kestrel

American coot

Killdeer

Solitary sandpiper

Greater yellowlegs

Wilson’s snipe

Ring-billed gull

Rock pigeon

Eurasian collared-dove

Mourning dove

Common nighthawk

Chimney swift

Broad-tailed hummingbird

Belted kingfisher

Red-headed woodpecker

Northern flicker

Cordilleran flycatcher

Say’s phoebe

Western kingbird

Eastern kingbird

Loggerhead shrike

Blue jay

Black-billed magpie

American crow

Common raven

Horned lark

Tree swallow

Northern rough-winged swallow

Bank swallow

Cliff swallow

Barn swallow

Mountain chickadee

American robin

Northern mockingbird

Sage thrasher

European starling

Cedar waxwing

Yellow warbler

Common yellowthroat

Brewer’s sparrow

Lark sparrow

Lark bunting

Grasshopper sparrow

Red-winged blackbird

Yellow-headed blackbird

Western meadowlark

Brewer’s blackbird

Common grackle

Brown-headed cowbird

Bullock’s oriole

House finch

American goldfinch

House sparrow

Mammals:

Black-tailed jackrabbit

Black-tailed prairie dog

Eastern cottontail

Golden-mantled ground squirrel

Pronghorn

Spotted ground squirrel

Wyoming ground squirrel

Mother Nature was friendlier during my second week, giving me two full days of sunshine and a chance to do a little serious birding with my long-time mentor and friend, Don Mairs. We spent one of those days in the central Kennebec River Valley and the second in Sunkhaze Meadow National Wildlife Refuge. Between the two days we checked out both boreal and eastern deciduous habitats, lakes, marshes, rivers, and hayfields. One striking contrast between Maine’s wet northern habitats and high plains riparian woodland is the huge variety of nesting wood warblers. All warblers observed were in adult spring plumage, so the young were still in the nests at that time. Don’s excellent field speakers and I-Pod served us well in calling soras into camera range and pulling some of the more shy species into the open.

Birds:

Canada goose

Mallard

Wild turkey

Common loon

Pied-billed grebe

Double-crested cormorant

Great blue heron

Turkey vulture

Osprey

Bald eagle

Broad-winged hawk

Red-tailed hawk

American kestrel

Sora

Killdeer

Spotted sandpiper

Ring-billed gull

Black tern

Rock pigeon

Mourning dove

Chimney swift

Ruby-throated hummingbird

Belted kingfisher

Yellow-bellied sapsucker

Downy woodpecker

Hairy woodpecker

Northern flicker

Olive-sided flycatcher

Yellow-bellied flycatcher L

Alder flycatcher

Eastern phoebe

Great crested flycatcher

Eastern kingbird

Blue-headed vireo

Warbling vireo

Red-eyed vireo

Blue jay

American crow

Common raven

Purple martin

Tree swallow

Bank swallow

Cliff swallow

Barn swallow

Black-capped chickadee

Red-breasted nuthatch

White-breasted nuthatch

Eastern bluebird

Veery

Hermit thrush

American robin

Gray catbird

Northern mockingbird

Brown thrasher

European starling

Cedar waxwing

Nashville warbler

Northern parula

Chestnut-sided warbler

Yellow warbler

Magnolia warbler

Yellow-rumped warbler, myrtle race

Black-throated blue warbler

Black-throated green warbler

Pine warbler

Palm warbler, yellow race

Bay-breasted warbler

Blackpoll warbler

Black-and-white warbler

American redstart

Ovenbird

Common yellowthroat

Scarlet tanager

Chipping sparrow

Field sparrow

Savannah sparrow

Song sparrow

Swamp sparrow

Dark-eyed junco, slate-colored race

Northern cardinal

Rose-breasted grosbeak

Bobolink

Red-winged blackbird

Eastern meadowlark

Common grackle

Brown-headed cowbird

Baltimore oriole

Purple finch

American goldfinch

House sparrow

Mammals:

Beaver

Eastern chipmunk

Gray squirrel

House mouse

Red fox

Red squirrel

Whitetail deer

Herptiles:

American toad

Bullfrog

Common garter snake

Green frog

Wood frog

Farmington, Maine.  In the week since I arrived we’ve only seen sunshine twice, and then for only 2-3 hours at a time! Consequently I’ve only taken my camera out of its case a few times. Despite my inability to do any long-term birding, I’ve picked up a lot of species as incidentals or on short forays here in Farmington around my brother Tom’s place and at my brother David’s camp in the Rangeley country.

I bought a Maine nonresident fishing license and managed to go trolling on Beaver Mountain Pond in drizzle on two occasions. It was my first time sport fishing in years. I caught 8 landlocked Atlantic salmon and one brook trout, none of which were legal minimum length – but lots of fun just the same.

Following is my list for June 28 through July 3, 2009:

Birds

Canada goose

Common merganser

Common loon

Great blue heron

Turkey vulture

Osprey

Sharp-shinned hawk

Broad-winged hawk

American kestrel

Spotted sandpiper

Ring-billed gull

Mourning dove

Chimney swift

Ruby-throated hummingbird

Belted kingfisher

Northern flicker

Eastern phoebe

Eastern kingbird

Warbling vireo

Red-eyed vireo

Blue jay

American crow

Common raven

Tree swallow

Barn swallow

Black-capped chickadee

Red-breasted nuthatch

House wren

Eastern bluebird

American robin

Gray catbird

Brown thrasher

European starling

Cedar waxwing

Northern parula

Chestnut-sided warbler

Black-throated green warbler

Blackburnian warbler

Bay-breasted warbler

American redstart

Ovenbird

Common yellowthroat

Scarlet tanager

Chipping sparrow

Song sparrow

Dark-eyed junco, slate-colored race

Indigo bunting

Red-winged blackbird

Common grackle

Baltimore oriole

House finch

American goldfinch

Pine siskin

House sparrow

Mammals

Eastern chipmunk

Gray squirrel

Moose

Herptiles

American toad

Green frog

Common garter snake

I began the week in Morgan County, Colorado. Now I am in Farmington, Maine some 2,500 miles to the northeast. I arrived here on Friday afternoon and it has hardly stopped raining ever since. On Saturday the sun came out for 3-4 hours in the afternoon and I got out and hiked through mature mixed forest long enough to pick up the songs and a few sightings of some old friends. I’ll be here two more weeks and hope to get out and do some serious birding if the weather ever breaks.

COLORADO LIST

Canada goose

Mallard

Ring-necked pheasant

American white pelican

Double-crested cormorant

Turkey vulture

Swainson’s hawk

Red-tailed hawk

American kestrel

American coot

Killdeer

Rock pigeon

Eurasian collared-dove

Mourning dove

Burrowing owl

Chimney swift

Western kingbird

Eastern kingbird

Loggerhead shrike

Blue jay

Black-billed magpie

Horned lark

Northern rough-winged swallow

Bank swallow

Cliff swallow

Barn swallow

House wren

American robin

Northern mockingbird

Brown thrasher

European starling

Cedar waxwing

Yellow warbler

Common yellowthroat

Cassin’s sparrow

Lark sparrow

Lark bunting

Red-winged blackbird

Yellow-headed blackbird

Western meadowlark

Common grackle

Brown-headed cowbird

Bullock’s oriole

House finch

House sparrow

Mammals:

Black-tailed prairie dog

Eastern cottontail

Fox squirrel

Herptiles:

Woodhouse’s toad

Lesser earless lizard

MAINE LIST

Wood duck

Common loon

Green heron

Turkey vulture

Bald eagle

Killdeer

Ring-billed gull

Rock pigeon

Mourning dove

Great horned owl

Ruby-throated hummingbird

Pileated woodpecker

Eastern phoebe

Great crested flycatcher

Blue-headed vireo

Red-eyed vireo

Blue jay

American crow

Common raven

Black-capped chickadee

Red-breasted nuthatch

House wren

Veery

Hermit thrush

American robin

Gray catbird

Brown thrasher

European starling

Cedar waxwing

Black-throated green warbler

American redstart

Ovenbird

Common yellowthroat

Chipping sparrow

Dark-eyed junco, slate-colored race

Northern cardinal

Indigo bunting

Red-winged blackbird

Common grackle

Brown-headed cowbird

House finch

Purple finch

American goldfinch

Pine siskin

House sparrow

Mammals:

Eastern chipmunk

Gray squirrel

Red squirrel

Herptiles:

American toad

Bullfrog

CDOW FISHERY BIOLOGIST BEN SWIGLE (CTR) AND SUMMER ASSISTANTS HOIST TWO FRESHWATER DRUM AND TWO HYBRID STRIPED BASS SAMPLED FROM PAWNEE POWER PLANT RESERVOIR IN MORGAN COUNTY, COLORADO. BOTH DRUM PROBABLY EXCEED THE OFFICIAL STATE ANGLING RECORD.

It was a great week to be outdoors. It only rained once or twice in Morgan County (a far cry from the previous 10-12 weeks!). My work took me inside the chain-link fences surrounding Pawnee Power Station near Brush to collect virus inspection samples from warm- and coolwater fishes in Pawnee Reservoir. That gave me a look at whatever water birds might be using the 140-acre lake at this time of the year. I found about a dozen western and Clark’s grebes – non-breeders, I presume. Aside from those, there were only white pelicans and double-crested cormorants present.

            I did get an audible on a warbling vireo in the treetops of the cottonwood groves just south of the lake. It is only the first one I’ve come across all year. Can anyone tell me if the decrease is range-wide and why?

            The following day I went into Brush Prairie Ponds State Wildlife Area. This property was hit hard by the sever drought of the past several years. All 36 ponds dried out entirely and the bird life dwindled from dozens of nesting species to about ten. I’m happy to say the waters have returned and all is back to normal.

            BPPSWA is an interesting property. Originally just a clump of loess drifts vegetated by sandsage and bluestem, it lies at the terminus of the Bijou Irrigation Ditch. In good years plenty of water makes it past the user farms upstream and is shunted into the various ponds where it seeps downward to recharge an aquifer that in turn supplies the small City of Brush with high quality soft water.

            At various times in past decades the City of Brush has leased the property for grazing or even irrigated farming. The fragile land is certainly not suitable for farming and plowing up the sand only resulted in denuding and destabilizing the land. In the late 1980s a deal was struck with Ducks Unlimited, the city, and the Colorado Division of Wildlife. DU would lease the property for 25 years and turn over wildlife management on the property (with a few provisos favoring duck hunting) to CDOW.

            Large tracts along the north edge of the 1600-acre property lay nearly free of vegetation and exposed to the wind when CDOW took over. The first move was to plant native grasses, particularly red switchgrass, on the bare sand. The first year was dry and nothing happened. But when moisture arrived in the 2^nd year, the grasses popped up and quickly covered and re-stabilized things. In the following two decades sage and many other native plants have gradually replaced switchgrass and exotic weeds until most of the property appears much as it used to be.

            For years I frequently wandered around the property watching the succession of vegetation and the changes in the ecology that included an ever-increasing bird list and the return of mammalian and reptilian species that had been driven off previously. I got out of the habit of birding BPPSWA during the drought and was pleased by what I saw this past week.

            In addition to the return of large colonies of yellow-headed blackbirds, American bitterns, Cassin’s sparrows, nesting gadwalls, teal, and ruddy ducks, and Virginia rails, there is a new colony of large grebes, both western and Clark’s. The latter is a new species to the property and a new nesting species (in my time) for Morgan County.

            Yesterday (Saturday) Joe Rigli and I hosted a birding outing for the Denver Field Ornithologists Club. Fort Morgan Methodist Church generously loaned us their 11-passenger van for the day. We followed our usual Saturday route through the back country of Wildcat Canyon with frequent stops to set up scopes or check out the flowers close up. We had lunch in Jackson Lake State Park and returned to Fort Morgan to drop off one person who had to leave early. Then I drove the remaining group to BPPSWA where we spent the rest of the afternoon.

            We tallied well over 60 species of birds, several mammals, and several herptiles including one somewhat grumpy rattlesnake. Highlights included a Wilson’s phalarope, a nest of fledgling ferruginous hawks, a western grebe on her nest, a brood of redhead ducklings, six American bitterns, and a snow goose. That’s right; a snow goose! This time of year the closest snow goose should be on the western shore of Hudson Bay with the bulk of the population in the high Arctic. We speculated that perhaps the bird had been injured in the early spring hunt and was forced to stay behind. But that hypothesis lasted only until the bird took off, rising higher and higher and flew northward out of sight. I’d love to know its story. Maybe it will get to James Bay in time to join staging birds for the return flight.

            Here is the day list for the June 20, 2009 outing:

 OK, IT’S NOT A GREAT PICTURE. IT’S THE SUBJECT THAT IS KEY THIS TIME. SNOW GEESE JUST SHOULDN’T BE ANYWHERE NEAR THE UNITED STATES THIS TIME OF THE YEAR.

Snow goose

Canada goose

Gadwall

Mallard

Blue-winged teal

Cinnamon teal

Green-winged teal

Redhead

Ruddy duck

Ring-necked pheasant

Wild turkey

Northern bobwhite

Pied-billed grebe

Eared grebe

Clark’s grebe

Western grebe

American white pelican

Double-crested cormorant

American bittern

Great blue heron

Swainson’s hawk

Red-tailed hawk

Ferruginous hawk

Northern harrier

American kestrel

Virginia rail

American coot

Killdeer

Spotted sandpiper

Wilson’s phalarope

California gull

Rock pigeon

Eurasian collared-dove

Mourning dove

Burrowing owl

Common nighthawk

Belted kingfisher

Western wood-pewee

Western kingbird

Eastern kingbird

Loggerhead shrike

Blue jay

Horned lark

Northern rough-winged swallow

Cliff swallow

Barn swallow

American robin

Northern mockingbird

European starling

Yellow warbler

Common yellowthroat

Cassin’s sparrow

Brewer’s sparrow

Lark sparrow

Lark bunting

Grasshopper sparrow

Blue grosbeak

Red-winged blackbird

Yellow-headed blackbird

Western meadowlark

Common grackle

Great-tailed grackle

Brown-headed cowbird

Bullock’s oriole

House sparrow

Mammals

Spotted ground squirrel

Black-tailed prairie dog

Eastern cottontail

Black-tailed jackrabbit

Mule deer

Herptiles

Bullfrog

Woodhouse’s toad

Western rattlesnake

Western painted turtle

            To that list I add the following species to round out my personal week list:

Turkey vulture

Chimney swift

Northern flicker

Say’s phoebe

Bank swallow

House wren

Brown thrasher

American redstart

Song sparrow

House finch

Mammals

Fox squirrel

Desert cottontail

Pronghorn

Herptiles

Lesser earless lizard

It was an average birding week at the height of breeding season. It will be a week or two yet before the first fall migrants and post-breeding dispersal juveniles show up from other areas. It continues to rain almost every day – something we haven’t seen in these parts for a number of years. Prairie playas that have been dry for a decade or more are now full of water. It should make for a great shorebird migration.

Mallard

Blue-winged teal

Green-winged teal

Northern pintail

Redhead

Northern bobwhite

American white pelican

Double-crested cormorant

Great blue heron

Black-crowned night-heron

Turkey vulture

Swainson’s hawk

Red-tailed hawk

Ferruginous hawk

Northern harrier

American kestrel

American coot

Killdeer

Rock pigeon

Eurasian collared-dove

Mourning dove

Common nighthawk

Chimney swift

Downy woodpecker

Northern flicker

Western wood-pewee

Say’s phoebe

Western kingbird

Eastern kingbird

Blue jay

Black-billed magpie

Horned lark

Northern rough-winged swallow

Bank swallow

Cliff swallow

Barn swallow

House wren

American robin

Northern mockingbird

Brown thrasher

European starling

Cedar waxwing

Yellow warbler

Common yellowthroat

Cassin’s sparrow

Brewer’s sparrow

Lark sparrow

Lark bunting

Song sparrow

Black-headed grosbeak

Blue grosbeak

Red-winged blackbird

Yellow-headed blackbird

Western meadowlark

Common grackle

Great-tailed grackle

Brown-headed cowbird

Orchard oriole

Bullock’s oriole

House finch

House sparrow

MAMMALS

Thirteen-lined ground squirrel

Black-tailed prairie dog

Eastern cottontail

Desert cottontail

Raccoon

Mule deer

Pronghorn

 HERPTILES

 Plains spadefoot (toad)

Woodhouse’s toad

BIRDING LIST – MAY 25-30, 2009

It was a week spent catching up on work. I did not make any trips, just my commutes back and forth through ten miles of irrigated farm land between my house and my lab. Yesterday, however, Joe Rigli and I set out on a morning’s birding north of Fort Morgan, only to be sidetracked for an hour or so by the strange-looking airplane at “FMX” (see following story).

            The prairie in northeast Colorado is lush green due to the cool, very wet spring. This season’s stars so far are patches of a very showy white evening primrose which appear to be patches of snow from a distance and look more like scattered white tissues as you get closer.

Here is my week list:

Birds

American white pelican

Double-crested cormorant

Great blue heron

Canada goose

Mallard

Blue-winged teal

Swainson’s hawk

Red-tailed hawk

Ferruginous hawk

American kestrel

Northern bobwhite

Ring-necked pheasant

Killdeer

Ring-billed gull

Mourning dove

Eurasian collared-dove

Rock pigeon

Chimney swift

Belted kingfisher

Red-headed woodpecker

Northern flicker

Western wood-pewee

Least flycatcher

Eastern kingbird (see cover photo)

Western kingbird

Loggerhead shrike

Blue jay

Black-billed magpie

Horned lark

Northern rough-winged swallow

Cliff swallow

Barn swallow

House wren

American robin

Swainson’s thrush

Northern mockingbird

European starling

Yellow warbler

American restart

Common yellowthroat

Black-headed grosbeak

Blue grosbeak

Brewer’s sparrow

Vesper sparrow

Lark bunting

Grasshopper sparrow

Lark sparrow

Song sparrow

Western meadowlark

Brown-headed cowbird

Red-winged blackbird

Common grackle

Great-tailed grackle

Bullock’s oriole

House finch

American goldfinch

House sparrow

Mammals

Black-tailed prairie dog

Fox squirrel

Desert cottontail

Eastern cottontail

Pronghorn

Coyote

Reptiles

Six-lined racerunner (lizard)

Western rattlesnake

TWO STATES AND FOUR BIOMES

            It was a very interesting birding week. I spent the first 4 days here in Colorado and the last three in San Diego. On Wednesday I made a business journey into the ponderosa pine foothills of the Rockies to about 7,500’ elevation in southern Douglas County. Thus my Colorado list for the week contains montane as well as grassland species. On the San Diego trip Nancy and I spent time on or near the harbor but also took a long drive to the east and northeast into inland farm and ranch country. Having been to San Diego twice before, there were fewer possibilities for life birds this time around. Nevertheless I added two species: California towhee and red-crowned parrot.

Colorado week list:

American white pelican

Double-crested cormorant

Great blue heron

Canada goose

Mallard

Gadwall

Blue-winged teal

Redhead

Turkey vulture

Northern harrier

Swainson’s hawk

Red-tailed hawk

Ferruginous hawk

American kestrel

Northern bobwhite

Ring-necked pheasant

American coot

Killdeer

Solitary sandpiper

Ring-billed gull

Mourning dove

Eurasian collared-dove

Rock pigeon

Chimney swift

Broad-tailed hummingbird

Belted kingfisher

Williamson’s sapsucker

Downy woodpecker

Northern flicker

Say’s phoebe

Eastern kingbird

Western kingbird

Loggerhead shrike

Blue jay

Black-billed magpie

Common raven

American crow

Horned lark

Northern rough-winged swallow

Cliff swallow

Barn swallow

American dipper

House wren

Ruby-crowned kinglet

Western bluebird

American robin

Gray catbird

Northern mockingbird

Brown thrasher

European starling

Orange-crowned warbler

Nashville warbler

Yellow warbler

Yellow-rumped warbler

Black-and-white warbler

Common yellowthroat

Black-headed grosbeak

Spotted towhee

Clay-colored sparrow

Chipping sparrow

Vesper sparrow

Lark bunting

Lark sparrow

White-crowned sparrow

Song sparrow

Dark-eyed junco, red-backed race

Western meadowlark

Brown-headed cowbird

Yellow-headed blackbird

Red-winged blackbird

Brewer’s blackbird

Common grackle

Great-tailed grackle

Bullock’s oriole

House finch

Red crossbill

Pine siskin

American goldfinch

House sparrow

Southern California week list:

Pacific loon

Western grebe

Brown pelican

Double-crested cormorant

Pelagic cormorant

Brandt’s cormorant

Great blue heron

Great egret

Snowy egret

Green heron

Black-crowned night-heron

Mallard

Turkey vulture

Northern harrier

Red-shouldered hawk

Red-tailed hawk

American kestrel

Killdeer

Western gull

Heermann’s gull (juveniles)

Caspian tern

Least tern

Mourning dove

Eurasian collared-dove

Rock dove

Red-crowned parrot [L]

Black-chinned hummingbird

Acorn woodpecker

Northern flicker

Black phoebe

Say’s phoebe

Western kingbird

Western scrub-jay (Pacific race)

Common raven

American crow

Horned lark

Northern rough-winged swallow

Cliff swallow

Barn swallow

Bushtit (white-eyed Pacific race)

Bewick’s wren

House wren

Wrentit

Western bluebird

American robin

Northern mockingbird

European starling

Phainopepla

Common yellowthroat

Blue grosbeak

Spotted towhee

California towhee [L]

Song sparrow

Western meadowlark

Brown-headed cowbird

Red-winged blackbird

Brewer’s blackbird

Great-tailed grackle

House finch

House sparrow

Mammals:

            Colorado:

Black-tailed prairie dog

Eastern cottontail

Golden-mantled ground squirrel

Fox squirrel

            California:

                        California sea lion

ANOTHER WEEK OF BIRDING IN MORGAN COUNTY, COLORADO – MAY 10-16, 2009

And just like that, the spring migration through Morgan County has peaked. Last week most of the trees were in flower or had tiny leaves just beginning to open. This week the leaves are half-sized and growing every day. The little birds in the treetops are less visible, but the bulk of them have already moved through.

I did not get out as much this past week as I did the week before. But yesterday Joe Rigli and I made a trip down through Wildcat Canyon and over to the vicinity of Jackson Lake. We hit a pocket of warblers in a grove of cottonwoods down in the canyon that held a mother lode of birds and filled out our spring warbler lists nicely including a couple of fairly unusual ones for these parts.

All in all it was a very cool spring and the migration less spectacular than average. But the year is young and there is much more to come.

Here is my list for the week. Next week: San Diego!

Pied-billed grebe

Western grebe

American white pelican

Double-crested cormorant

Great blue heron

Canada goose

Wood duck

Mallard

Cinnamon teal

Blur-winged teal

Redhead

Ruddy duck

Northern harrier

Swainson’s hawk

Red-tailed hawk

Ferruginous hawk

American kestrel

Northern bobwhite

Ring-necked pheasant

Wild turkey (Rio Grande race)

American coot

Sora

Killdeer

Willet

Spotted sandpiper

Ring-billed gull

Mourning dove

Eurasian collared-dove

Rock pigeon

Great horned owl

Chimney swift

Belted kingfisher

Red-headed woodpecker

Downy woodpecker

Northern flicker

Say’s phoebe

Eastern kingbird

Cassin’s kingbird

Western kingbird

Loggerhead shrike

Blue jay

Black-billed magpie

Horned lark

Northern rough-winged swallow

Cliff swallow

Barn swallow

House wren

Rock wren

Ruby-crowned kinglet

American robin

Swainson’s thrush

Hermit thrush

Northern mockingbird

Brown thrasher

European starling

Northern parula

Orange-crowned warbler

Tennessee warbler

Yellow warbler

Magnolia warbler

Yellow-rumped warbler

Townsend’s warbler

Blackpoll warbler

MacGillivray’s warbler

Common yellowthroat

Wilson’s warbler

Blue grosbeak

Spotted towhee

Cassin’s sparrow

Brewer’s sparrow

Clay-colored sparrow

Chipping sparrow

Vesper sparrow

Lark bunting

Lark sparrow

White-crowned sparrow

Western meadowlark

Brown-headed cowbird

Yellow-headed blackbird

Red-winged blackbird

Common grackle

Great-tailed grackle

Bullock’s oriole

House finch

Pine siskin

American goldfinch

House sparrow

Mammals:

fox squirrel

black-tailed prairie dog

eastern cottontail

desert cottontail

Virginia opossum