November Morning Birding at Hallam Lake 11/1/22

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Thursday, November 1, 2022, 8:00am-11:00am
Weather: Clear and sunny
Location: Hallam Lake, Aspen, CO

 

With snow on the landscape and most of the fall foliage down, birds are more visible than ever! We enjoyed observing two brown creepers at close range as they sprialed their way up the trunks and branches of cottonwood trees, hairy woodpeckers working on high branches in the forest canopy, and many chickadees in dense understory vegetation. Using our ear birding skills, we also noted pygmy nuthatches that seemed to be around in various places throughout the morning. We also saw two evening grosbeaks far across the lake in treetops, having been alerted to their presence by their distinctive call notes. A belted kingfisher was barely visible to us at the back platform, but its rattle-like flight calls helped us find it. Red-breasted nuthatches and Steller’s jays appeared to be caching food as we watched them flying back and forth across open spaces with food items in their bills. A dipper gave us excellent observation opportunities as it foraged along the shores of Hallam Lake. A female wood duck was another special highlight, as this species is an uncommon migrant that we always hope to see in the fall. Today’s mini lesson was on posting checklists to eBird; we created a list and submitted for this outing, taking participants through the simple steps and empowering them to do eBird submissions on their own birding adventures. Join us on December 6 for Morning Birding at Hallam Lake and for the Aspen Christmas Bird Count on December 18!

Species List:

~ Rebecca Weiss, ACES Bird Guide

Featured photo: Brown creeper.