Birding at North Star Species List

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Thursday, June 25, 2020, 6:30 AM – 8:30AM
Weather: Sunny
Location: North Star Nature Preserve

Species Identified:

Canada Goose
Broad-tailed Hummingbird
Spotted Sandpiper
Cordillera Flycatcher
Northern Flicker
Violet-green Swallow
Tree Swallow
House Wren
Mountain Bluebird
American Robin
House Finch
Pine Siskin
Chipping Sparrow
Fox Sparrow
Lincoln’s Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Red-winged Blackbird
Brown-headed Cowbird
Yellow Warbler
Wilson’s Warbler

Comments:

 

Bird song was our focus on this early summer North Star outing.  One highlight was a trio of singing sparrows perched near each other in willows where we were able to compare the songs of all three: Lincoln’s, fox, and song.  We had good views of these birds for comparison of field marks as well.  Later in the morning we also saw and heard a chipping sparrow, adding to the ‘sparrow study.’  Swallows and wrens were active and vocal around their nest sites in large cottonwood trees, a spotted sandpiper was calling and visible on the sandy shore, and a mountain bluebird was foraging for insects on the sand.  The yellow warbler was another vocal species that we were able to hear and see; Wilson’s warbler was a brief sighting.  We experienced an abundance of birds and practiced strategies for learning their songs, including grabbing the ‘handle’ or specific quality of the song that one hears, considering habitat and time of year, and taking advantage of moments when birds are both in view and singing.  Join us this week at Hallam Lake on Tuesday and on Basalt Mountain on Wednesday where we will bird in areas of the burn zone!

 

~ Rebecca Weiss, ACES Bird Guide

Photo by Dale Armstrong