Morning Birding Species List | September 10, 2019

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Tuesday, September 10, 2019, 7:30AM – 10:30AM
Weather: Partly cloudy
Location: Hallam Lake & Meadowood Pond

Species Identified

Canada Goose Mallard Hummingbird sp. American Coot Red-tailed Hawk Red-naped Sapsucker Northern Flicker Western Wood-Pewee Steller’s Jay Black-billed Magpie American Crow Black-capped Chickadee Mountain Chickadee White-breasted Nuthatch Ruby-crowned Kinglet American Robin Cedar Waxwing House Finch Red Crossbill Pine Siskin Green-tailed Towhee Song Sparrow Lincoln’s Sparrow White-crowned Sparrow Yellow Warbler Yellow-rumped Warbler Wilson’s Warbler

 

Comments:

Bird activity at Hallam Lake was impressive this morning, mainly in the steep hillside area across the main lake where morning sun warms the shrubland and open forest habitat. Western Wood-Pewees were numerous as well as yellow-rumped warblers. The red crossbills were an unexpected surprise, but it is also not at all unusual to see them at Hallam Lake at this time of year. Discussions and questions this morning included: How many sparrow species are on the state checklist? Answer: 32 (in family Passerellidae, the New World Sparrows and Towhees. Where can I order a classroom kit for making solar motion models? Answer: at this site; Science First is a company that makes science teaching tools. What is up with Coots and their ‘bad’ behavior? Answer: in Birds of North America Online (Cornell Lab), coots are described as raucous and quarrelsome; they do a lot of fighting with members of their own species and are quick to quarrel with other species on the water as well. Coots parasitize nests of their own species – ‘floater’ females do not have their own territory or nest and they lay eggs in the nests of other females. These behaviors and so much more about the coot lifestyle can be attributed in part to their adaptability to using highly variable habitat. Wetlands can undergo drastic changes from year to year with water levels and vegetation cover, and these birds have developed certain strategies that help them maximize their reproductive potential. Read more at Birds of North America Online – available through Pitkin County Library, specialized online research. Join us next Tuesday at Rock Bottom Ranch!

~ Rebecca Weiss, ACES Bird Guide 

 

Photo by Dale Armstrong