Morning Birding Species List | October 4, 2016

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Tuesday, October 4, 2016, 7:30AM – 10:30AM
Weather: mostly sunny
Location: Hallam Lake and North Star Nature Preserve

Species Identified
Canada Goose Mallard Red-tailed Hawk Belted Kingfisher (by ear) Hairy Woodpecker Steller’s Jay Woodhouse’s Scrub-jay Black-billed Magpie		American crow Black-capped chickadee (pictured above) Mountain chickadee Cedar waxwing Song sparrow Lincoln’s sparrow Dark-eyed junco White-crowned sparrow

Comments:
This outing followed one of the first hard frosts of the season, with birds hunkered down until the sun was warming the valley floor. Bird highlights were the red-tailed hawk at North Star, that displayed all of the classic field marks that we had discussed during the morning’s mini-lesson, and a hairy woodpecker in great light that provided a long look while we took in its field marks and discussed which ones to focus on to differentiate hairy woodpeckers from downy woodpeckers. Other highlights were fresh elk scat and tracks, and a set of one adult and one young black bear tracks in a stretch of very smooth mud… all at North Star.  

~ Rebecca Weiss, ACES Bird Guide