Fall Birding: Ranch at Roaring Fork 10/29/26

Late fall is often lovely on sunny days when birds are actively feeding to refuel for continued migration. Resident birds are, of course, actively feeding, too, and sometimes mix in loose flocks with these birds that are on the move. Today, we saw many black-capped chickadees and a few mountain chickadees foraging in willows and other riparian vegetation with white-crowned sparrows, song sparrows, and kinglets in the same areas. Evening grosbeaks, house finches, and dark-eyed juncos seemed to stay close to residential backyards. At one of the larger ponds, we watched a kingfisher catch a huge fish and fly to a perch in the willows. We watched it through the scope for at least 20 minutes while it struggled and rested on intervals, eventually swallowing its fish. On the water, mallards and ring-necked ducks were active, giving us good opportunities to observe the finer points of their dabbling and diving behaviors. Circling back around, we checked other ponds for the resident trumpeter swans, but to no avail – these birds have their home base at Ranch at Roaring Fork, but they do move about the valley, and we missed them today. Overall, it was fairly sparse for birds, but the gorgeous weather and fresh snow on Mt. Sopris made it a lovely morning! Join us next Tuesday for Morning Birding at Hallam Lake!