Morning Birding Species List | May 21, 2019

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Tuesday, May 21, 2019, 7AM – 10AM
Weather: Low clouds, light rain, just below snowline following a spring snowstorm.
Location: Rock Bottom Ranch

Species Identified

Canada Goose (with goslings) Mallard Ring-necked Duck Rock Pigeon Broad-tailed Hummingbird Killdeer (with chicks) Wilson’s Snipe Great Blue Heron Osprey Red-tailed Hawk Northern Flicker American Kestrel Flycatcher sp. Warbling Vireo Black-billed Magpie American Crow Common Raven Violet-green Swallow House Wren American Robin Evening Grosbeak Pine Siskin Spotted Towhee Chipping Sparrow Song Sparrow White-crowned Sparrow Red-winged Blackbird Brown-headed Cowbird Yellow Warbler

Comments:

With late season snowstorms rolling through the valley regularly this month, spring is late in terms of vegetation and birds that are migrating or in a holding pattern before winter loosens its grip on the high country are actively foraging and spending time in unusual places. Today’s weather worked in our favor to bring out birds especially in places with concentrations of food. Spring baby highlights today were Killdeer chicks and Canada goslings. We observed a Raven carrying food and female Red-winged Blackbirds gathering nesting material. Male Broad-tailed Hummingbirds, Wilson’s Snipe, Red-winged Blackbirds, and Yellow Warblers were singing and displaying. We had excellent looks at a perched Red-tailed Hawk and American Kestrel, as well as the Killdeer family. Today’s most recent migratory arrival (as observed by the birding program) was a Warbling Vireo. We expect more flycatchers to arrive any day, but the late snow/rain seems to have delayed insect hatches and the arrival of these birds in the mid and upper valley. Join us Thursday for the first field trip in the Birding By Habitat series: Pinyon-Juniper and Riparian Habitats, concentrating in the mid valley and visiting high quality habitats on special private properties, with one location at the edge of the Lake Christine fire. 

~ Rebecca Weiss, ACES Bird Guide 

 

Photo by Dale Armstrong