Birding on Independence Pass Species List | June 18, 2015

---

Thursday, June 18, 2015, 6AM – 2:30PM
Weather: sunny
Location: North Star Nature Preserve, Difficult Campground, Grottos, Braille Trail, Lower Lost Man, Top of Independence Pass

Species Identified
Canada Goose Mallard Green-winged Teal Great Blue Heron Sora American Coot Broad-tailed Hummingbird Red-naped Sapsucker Northern Flicker Western Wood-peewee Cordilleran Flycatcher		Warbling Vireo Gray Jay Black-billed Magpie American Crow Common Raven Tree Swallow Violet-green Swallow Black-capped Chickadee Mountain Chickadee House Wren American Dipper		Ruby-crowned Kinglet Mountain Bluebird American Robin American Pipit MacGillivrays Warbler Yellow Warbler Yellow-rumped Warbler Wilson’s Warbler Green-tailed Towhee Chipping Sparrow		Song Sparrow Lincoln’s Sparrow White-crowned Sparrow Dark-eyed Junco Western Tanager Black-headed Grosbeak Red-winged Blackbird Brown-headed Cowbird House Finch Pine Siskin

Comments: This has been an exceptional spring for snowpack coverage and spring streamflows, with the rivers and creeks running at very high volumes. The late spring and big water are presenting conditions that are quite different from last year’s experience on this class: delayed bird activity on the tundra (only one pipit and many white-crowned sparrows observed), delayed leaf-out in the tundra and high sub-alpine zones with less bird activity, huge water changing dipper foraging strategies, and overbanking at North Star affecting waterfowl activity and ground-nesting birds. It was interesting to discuss our observations and marvel at nature’s adaptability!

Bird highlights were: MacGillivray’s warbler and black-headed grosbeak at Difficult campground, Wilson’s warblers at Lower Lost Man, a dipper working the edges of the raging Roaring Fork at Grottos, and nesting swallows and woodpeckers at North Star. Also a vocal but well-hidden sora at North Star.

Other highlights included: the raging Roaring Fork River, and a moose at North Star.

~ Rebecca Weiss, ACES Bird Guide