Evening Birding at Rock Bottom Ranch Species List

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Thursday, May 6, 2021 6pm-8pm
Weather: Partly cloudy
Location: Hallam Lake

Comments: 

 

It was a special treat to experience the last bout of activity for daytime birds and the transition to the active time for crepuscular birds.  We enjoyed the warm sun as we watched killdeers in the vegetable gardens, large flocks of swallows over the pastures, and Lewis’s woodpeckers in the treetops.  A pair of kestrels were active around their nest tree and a yellow warbler foraged in the willows.  The activities and voices of the red-winged blackbirds changed like clockwork as the evening light faded, and around this time we began to hear the grinding, ticking calls of Wilson’s snipes in the wetland marsh and stream areas.  From several great vantage points in between the marshes, we observed snipes as they made quick flights within the cattails or occasionally farther to other wetland areas.  A bit later, these birds made their signature display flights and we were surrounded by their winnowing sounds for about 15 minutes.  Our last bird of the day was an accipiter hawk that flew across the meadow and landed briefly nearby.  It was most likely a small male Cooper’s hawk, but difficult to tell in the dusky light.  This outing was a great reminder that evening is a wonderful time of day to enjoy the birds!

 

Species List: 

Canada Goose
Mallard
Rock Pigeon
Broad-tailed Hummingbird
Killdeer
Wilson’s Snipe
Great Blue Heron
Turkey Vulture
Red-tailed Hawk
Osprey
Sharp-shinned/Cooper’s Hawk
Lewis’s Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
American Kestrel
Black-billed Magpie
American Crow
Tree Swallow
Barn Swallow
European StarlingAmerican Robin
House Finch
Song Sparrow
Red-winged Blackbird
Yellow Warbler

 

~ Rebecca Weiss, ACES Bird Guide

Photo by Dale Armstrong