Morning Birding at Rock Bottom Ranch | September 15, 2015

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Tuesday, September 15, 2015, 7:30AM – 10:30AM
Weather: rainy and overcast, clearing to partly sunny
Location: Rock Bottom Ranch

Species Identified
Canada Goose Mallard Great Blue Heron Red-tailed Hawk Rock Pigeon Eurasian Collared-dove Belted Kingfisher Lewis’s Woodpecker Northern Flicker		Peregrine Falcon Black-billed Magpie Black-capped Chickadee Brown Creeper House Wren Blue-gray Gnatcatcher American Robin Gray Catbird Orange-crowned Warbler		Green-tailed Towhee Fox Sparrow Song Sparrow Lincoln’s Sparrow (pictured above) White-crowned Sparrow Dark-eyed Junco Red-winged Blackbird Brewer’s Blackbird Brown-headed Cowbird

Other critters:  rock squirrel, least chipmunk, western tiger salamander

Comments:

 

The steady rain early this morning was daunting, but it dwindled to a fine mist at RBR and eventually cleared to partly sunny through the morning. This weather shift brought out some nice bird activity in excellent light. Juveniles of many species were observed, including white-crowned sparrows whose crown stripes were in mid-change from buffy/brown to black/white. We had the chance to study an orange-crowned warbler, noting the dark eyeline, yellow undertail coverts, and pale gray streaks on the breast. We also observed Brewer’s blackbirds in a flock of males and females, with some females having the pale iris and others having the dark iris. We were able to compare Lincoln’s and Song sparrows, and observed the distinctive upward tail posture of the blue-gray gnatcatcher. The peregrine capped off the morning as we observed it perched for some time before it flew off. We can expect more excellent fall birding through early October meeting at Hallam Lake in Aspen- join us as we chase mixed flocks of great warblers, bushtits, and more!

~ Rebecca Weiss, ACES Bird Guide

Photo by Mark Fuller