ACES // Pitkin County Open Space Birding: North Star Nature Preserve 8/15/2024

Fall migration is on! Today’s highlights included flocks of tree and violet-green swallows staging for migration and several species that are dispersing following nesting season: Wilson’s warbler, eastern kingbird, and lark sparrow. We also enjoyed seeing several fledgling yellow warblers being fed by parents, flocks of cedar waxwings, evening grosbeaks, a family of northern flickers, and a kingfisher. Hummingbirds zoomed by and pygmy nuthatches crawled over the crowns of lodgepole pines. A mule deer doe and spotted fawn emerged from the edge of the river and moved through the dewy grass, backlit by the sun. It was a magical morning at North Star, with its teeming habitats. Join us next week from Morning Birding at Rock Bottom Ranch!