North Star Birding: Fall Birds with Pitkin OST 9/7/22

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Wednesday, September 7, 2022, 7:30am-10:30am
Weather: Sunny
Location: North Star Nature Preserve, Aspen, CO

 

North Star Nature Preserve offers a mosaic of habitats that attract diverse birds during fall migration. Today was especially fantastic with great bird activity overall, particularly in a few clumps of shrubs amid a mix of wetlands, open water, sagebrush, and open, sparsely vegetated ground. This area (looking into a part of the preserve accessed via special permission through private property) was teeming with birds, including an eastern kingbird, lark sparrows, a MacGillivray’s warbler, and several yellow-headed blackbirds that were in a large flock of red-winged blackbirds. We gained some great sparrow ID practice as well as experience identifying eclipse plumaged gadwalls (noting their white “handkerchiefs” on folded wings which are part of the large white wing patch seen in flight, their body structure with downward angled head and bill, streaked undertail area, and dabbling foraging style). We were dazzled by the deep yellow of the yellow-headed blackbirds and the excellent comparisons between the eastern and western kingbirds. Join us for more exciting fall birding at Hallam Lake next Tuesday and at Jaffee Park in the gorge of the Roaring Fork next Thursday!

Species List: 

Canada Goose
Gadwall
Mallard
Eurasian Collared-Dove
Hummingbird sp.
Great Blue Heron
Red-tailed Hawk
Red-naped Sapsucker
Northern Flicker
Western Kingbird
Eastern Kingbird
Steller’s Jay
Woodhouse’s Scrub-Jay
Black-billed Magpie
Black-capped Chickadee
Mountain Chickadee
House Wren
American Robin
Green-tailed Towhee
Brewer’s Sparrow
Lark Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Lincoln’s Sparrow
Yellow-headed Blackbird
Red-winged Blackbird
MacGillivray’s Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler

~ Rebecca Weiss, ACES Bird Guide

Featured photo: Yellow-headed blackbird