ACES Morning Birding at Hallam Lake 10/21/25

Brown creepers were present throughout the morning – we began and ended with this special species, our final experience being a close view of a creeper foraging low on a cottonwood trunk off the Rio Grande Trail for thrilling looks at its cryptic plumage and long, curved bill as it scuttled around on the bark and probed crevices for food items. Overall, bird activity was fairly quiet at Hallam Lake, except for chickadees and song sparrows that called and foraged in the shrubs and trees and from the shores of the lake.

A dipper feeding in the in-flow to the second pond was catching very small fish fry, and two other dippers seemed to be eating the same quarry near the shores and coves on the main lake. As we watched a kingfisher perched across the lake, we noticed a bird of prey sitting on the peak of a tall spruce tree and got a “merlin feeling” from its vertically streaked breast and pale supercilium, paired with its stocky, compact falcon body structure. After running to grab a spotting scope, the bird flew off but later returned, giving us a chance to observe it in flight and while perched through the scope to confirm its identification as a merlin. We noticed the merlin a couple of times later as it flew around the forest canopy near the lake. Merlins migrate through the Roaring Fork Valley in fall in small numbers and always solo. Join us next Tuesday at Rock Bottom Ranch for more late fall birding – there is always something special in store!