Field Notes 9.4.12

Sometimes birdwatching is a very busy affair with birds everywhere. Other times it seems towards the end of summer things slow down and there are fewer birds to see. But that’s not to say there aren’t unexpected and delightful sightings such as the group of cedar waxwings we saw in a Russian olive tree just west of the Adams State University campus near the Rio Grande River.

We’ve also been busy with family events and end-of-summer activities so here is a list of sightings that have brightened the doldrums of late summer birding:

American goldfinches and plumbeous vireo at Pike’s Stockade

A Wilson’s snipe and great blue herons near Lasauses

American avocets, white-faced ibises, black-crowned night herons, Wilson’s phalaropes and gulls at Blanca Wetlands

Common nighthawks and killdeer at Riverwood Pond in Alamosa

Around town we’ve noticed that the numerous swallows that have delighted us with their aerial acrobatics all summer have left the area. The rufous hummingbirds that so jealously guarded the feeders are gone but we still have broad-tailed hummingbirds enjoying the sweet nectar. Canada geese are getting restless and practicing their v-shaped flying formations.

We will soon look forward to hearing the haunting calls of the sandhill cranes that signal the beginning of the fall migration.

Field Notes 7.15.12

 On this day we split our bird watching trips so we could observe morning and evening bird activity.

In the morning we hiked through the wooded area north of the Alamosa disc golf course. We were pleased to see that the previously dry marshy areas were filled with water – and birds!! We saw a large number of white-faced ibises and black-crowned night herons. We also heard one or two soras calling from the reeds.

The deciduous forest yielded sightings of broad-tailed hummingbirds, western wood peewees and yellow warblers.

After 6 p.m. we drove over to the Monte Vista National Wildlife Refuge. What a wonderful treat to see so many newly hatched babies with their parents. The wetlands were full of baby yellow-headed blackbirds, American coots, eared grebes, ruddy ducks, Canada geese and mallards. They are so cute as they call to their parents and furiously paddle through the water. The pond at the south end of the auto loop is once again full of water and there we saw American avocets, black-faced ibises, black-crowned night herons and Wilson’s phalaropes. In the trees that line Colo. 15 we saw a great-horned owl, a Bullock’s oriole and a prairie falcon.

Field Notes 4.8.12

Anticipating a lovely and warm April evening, we packed a picnic dinner and drove yet again to Home Lake.  American avocets and yellow-headed blackbirds have returned to the Valley!  We walked the perimeter of Home Lake expecting to see the white pelicans that had been on the lake the day before but they had moved on to another body of water.

We drove on to Monte Vista NWR and ate our dinner at the picnic table near the first marsh. Our yellow-headed blackbird friends serenaded us with their drawn-out metallic choruses. Tree swallows looped and dived overhead. At the second slough we were happy to see that ruddy ducks, their cocky little tails pointed upward, were back in the Valley, too. Two marsh wrens scolded from the cattails and an American tree sparrow flitted around in the chico. 

On the return drive along CR108, a great horned owl swooped down from a power pole and flew directly in front of our windshield.