Birding By Habitat Series Species List | May 24, 2018

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Tuesday, May 24, 2018, 7AM – 2PM
Weather: Sunny
Location: Rock Bottom Ranch, USFS parcel near Crown Mountain Park, Crawford Ranch (Blue Ponds), and Spring Park Reservoir.

Species Identified

Canada Goose Northern Shoveler Gadwall Mallard Ruddy Duck Rock Pigeon Eurasian Collared-Dove Mourning Dove White-throated Swift Black-chinned Hummingbird Broad-tailed Hummingbird Sandhill Crane Killdeer Wilson’s Snipe Spotted Sandpiper Bonaparte’s Gull Franklin’s Gull Ring-billed Gull Great Blue Heron Turkey Vulture Osprey Red-tailed Hawk Golden Eagle Lewis’s Woodpecker Northern Flicker American Kestrel Western Wood-Peewee Willow Flycatcher (probable) Cordilleran Flycatcher (heard only) Say’s Phoebe Western Kingbird Plumbeous Vireo Warbling Vireo Woodhouse’s Scrub-Jay Black-billed Magpie American Crow Tree Swallow Violet-green Swallow Northern Rough-winged Swallow Barn Swallow Black-capped Chickadee House Wren Ruby-crowned Kinglet (heard only) American Robin Gray Catbird European Starling Cedar Waxwing House Finch Spotted Towhee Song Sparrow Yellow-headed Blackbird Bullock’s Oriole Red-winged Blackbird Brewer’s Blackbird Yellow Warbler Black-throated Gray Warbler (heard only) Western Tanager Black-headed Grosbeak

Comments: 

Late May is prime time for seeing returned migrants in full-swing with breeding season, as well as a few migratory species that are still lingering in the mid-valley as they make their way to their breeding ranges to the north or at higher elevations. Today’s itinerary included Rock Bottom Ranch, USFS parcel near Crown Mountain Park, Crawford Ranch (Blue Ponds), and Spring Park Reservoir. We birded in different types of riparian habitats, cattail wetlands, sedge/rush wet meadows, cottonwood galleries, ranch/agricultural land, pinyon-juniper woodlands, grasslanda, oak shrublands, open water, and mud shorelines.  

At RBR, we focused on watching Wilson’s Snipes as well as Lewis’s Woodpeckers on Hooks Spur Road. The USFS parcel was full of Yellow Warblers and Song Sparrows, with an active Osprey nest and blooming lady’s slipper orchids. Crawford Ponds provided a chance to see an active Plumbeous Vireo’s nest as well as a great diversity of riparian and pinyon-juniper species. Two Sandhill Crane colts were the main highlight at Spring Park Reservoir, where we watched the crane family foraging across a grassy expanse. These colts are likely the first evidence of cranes breeding in the Roaring Fork Valley. Join us for two upcoming classes in this series on June 25 and July 2, in addition to Morning Birding outings and classes taught by Bill Schmoker on June 27 and 28.

~ Rebecca Weiss, ACES Bird Guide 

Photo by Dale Armstrong