Morning Birding at Rock Bottom Ranch 9/14/21

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Wednesday, September 14, 2021, 7:30am-10:30am
Weather: Cloudy, then mostly sunny
Location: Rock Bottom Ranch

Pockets of activity punctuated this outing, beginning with warblers and chickadees in mixed flocks foraging in the shrubs around the irrigation ditch near the parking lot. Cooler temperatures and dramatic cloud cover seemed to keep bird activity on the low side until the sun came through and activity picked up. We followed the Rio Grande Trail toward the RBR field center, finding more warblers, robins, and scrub-jays on the way. Two wild turkeys on the gravel road were welcome, easy identifications, and it was interesting to watch them foraging. Mallards in eclipse plumage were in all of the waterways and ponds, and lesser goldfinches popped into view around flower gardens by the livestock barns. At the far pond, we were delighted to see an immature sora feeding on the mat of submerged aquatic vegetation on the surface of the water. As we enjoyed watching this normally secretive wetland bird, a second sora emerged from the cattails to join it in foraging out in the open on the pond. The second sora was an adult, providing an excellent opportunity to see both generations side-by-side. Birding our way back to complete our loop, we found more mixed flocks of Wilson’s and orange-crowned warblers with chickadees and a red-naped sapsucker. Join us next Tuesday for morning Birding at Hallam Lake!

Species List: 

Mallard
Wild Turkey
Rock Pigeon
Eurasian-collared Dove
Sora
Turkey Vulture
Belted Kingfisher
Red-naped Sapsucker
Northern Flicker
Steller’s Jay
Woodhouse’s Scrub-Jay
Black-billed Magpie
Common Raven
Black-capped Chickadee
House Wren
European Starling
Gray Catbird
American Robin
Cedar Waxwing
House Finch
Lesser Goldfinch

~ Rebecca Weiss, ACES Bird Guide

Photo of Red-naped Sapsucker by Mick Thompson.