Fall Migration Birding Field Trip Species List

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Thursday, September 3, 2020, 7:30 AM – 11:45AM
Weather: Sunny
Location: Gorge of the Roaring Fork

Species Identified:

Canada Goose
Mallard
Mourning Dove
Broad-tailed Hummingbird
Hummingbird sp.
Great Blue Heron
Turkey Vulture
Red-tailed Hawk
Cooper’s Hawk 
Northern Flicker
Olive-sided Flycatcher
Western Wood-Pewee
Cordilleran Flycatcher
Empidonax Flycatcher sp.
Plumbeous VireoWarbling Vireo
Steller’s Jay
Woodhouse’s Scrub-Jay
Black-billed Magpie
American Crow
Violet-green Swallow
Black-capped Chickadee
Mountain Chickadee
Red-breasted Nuthatch
White-breasted Nuthatch
House Wren
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
American Robin
Townsend’s Solitaire
Cedar Waxwing
House Finch
Pine Siskin
Green-tailed Towhee
Chipping Sparrow
Brewer’s Sparrow
Vesper Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Orange-crowned Warbler
Nashville Warbler
MacGillivray’s Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Townsend’s Warbler
Wilson’s Warbler
Western Tanager

Comments:

 

This field trip explored birds in a variety of native habitats on a loop route crossing Deer Hill, descending Burlingorge Trail to the Roaring Fork River, and coming back up on a connector trail to the AABC.  The gorge of the Roaring Fork is fascinating geologically, with Red Butte’s upside-down rock layers and the steep gorge walls that cut through glacial debris and shale layers.  The geology and topography set the stage for rich vegetation communities such as oak mountain shrubland, open meadows, fragments of sagebrush shrubland, weedy patches, cottonwood river bottom, and mixed forests of Douglas fir, spruce, and aspen.  Fall brings migrating songbirds to this area where foods are abundant.  Our first positive ID on the trail was a Nashville Warbler, an uncommon migratory species in our area,  Other highlights included Olive-sided flycatcher and western wood-pewee side-by-side for an amazing comparison of these similar birds; an excellent viewing of Townsend’s warbler; and an abundance of sparrows that gave us lots of practice with their subtle field marks and variations in plumages.  We all enjoyed sharing discussions and observations, and everyone came away with some new and reinforced knowledge of the birds.  Join us next Tuesday for Morning Birding at Hallam Lake!

~ Rebecca Weiss, ACES Bird Guide

Photo by Jeff Finesilver