ACES Morning Birding at Rock Bottom Ranch 08/05/25

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Tuesday, August 5, 2025, 7:30am – 10:30 am
Weather: Sunny, hot
Location: Rock Bottom Ranch, Basalt, CO

Bird activity is changing as the summer swings into the month of August: most nesting activity is finished, and young birds have added to local bird abundance. Some species are gathering into flocks, geese are flying in formation, and other birds are dispersing – sometimes to environments that are other than their breeding habitats. Today’s highlights included a small flock of bushtits, a singing willow flycatcher near the far pond, active members of the Lewis’s woodpecker breeding family, and the near-constant sounds of broad-tailed hummingbirds as their wing trills indicated their presence flying over our group. We focused on eclipse plumage in waterfowl, how to describe and retain bird voice information, and how ornithologists are determining species based on new genetic analysis. Join us next week on August 13th for an evening lecture on the Wonders of Bird Migration by special guest expert Bill Schmoker at Toklat!

Species List: