Special Birding Outing Species List | May 24, 2019

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Friday, May 24, 2019, 6:45AM – 11:30AM
Weather: Mostly sunny
Location: Private property near Snowmass Village

Species Identified

Canada Goose Gadwall Mallard Green-winged Teal Ring-necked Duck Broad-tailed hummingbird Bald Eagle Cooper’s Hawk Red-tailed Hawk Northern Flicker woodpecker sp. falcon sp. (Peregrine or Prairie) flycatcher sp. (likely Dusky) Woodhouse’s Scrub-Jay Steller’s Jay Black-billed Magpie American Crow Common Raven Tree Swallow Violet-green Swallow Black-capped Chickadee House Wren Blue-gray Gnatcatcher Mountain Bluebird American Robin American Pipit Green-tailed Towhee Spotted Towhee Chipping Sparrow Brewer’s Sparrow Song Sparrow Lincoln’s Sparrow Red-winged Blackbird Brown-headed Cowbird Yellow Warbler Yellow-rumped Warbler (Audubon’s)

Comments:

This cold morning followed three days of snow and rain during this unseasonably cool, wet month of May. Plant growth and bird activities have been slow or otherwise altered due to consistently cool temps and a deep, extensive snowpack in the high country. Birds have been observed in stressed condition as food has been challenging to find. It was a relief to have a mostly clear day and we enjoyed the sun as it came over the ridge and began to warm us. A boost in bird activity reflected the insect life that became active with the morning sun. Highlights today included a Bald Eagle along a reservoir, numerous tree and Violet-green Swallows feeding low over open water, many Yellow-rumped Warblers at nearly every stop we made, bluebirds in excellent light enhancing their brilliant blue colors, an American Pipit, a large falcon that didn’t fly quite close enough for a positive ID, and Brewer’s Sparrows in the extensive sagebrush habitat. Join us next Thursday, May 30th for birding in the mid valley at three special private properties with a variety of excellent bird habitats including pinyon-juniper woodland, oak shrubland, open grassy meadows and pastures with fencelines, different types of wetlands and marshed, and open water.

~ Rebecca Weiss, ACES Bird Guide 

 

Photo by Dale Armstrong