Mountain Birding

 

MerryLynn and I took advantage of the beautiful fall weather today to visit the mountains before hunting season is in full swing.  We drove up Lewis Peak Road and circled around down Jasper Mountain Road.  Highlights on Jasper Mountain included a northern goshawk,a hairy woodpecker, mountain and chestnut-backed chickadees, red-breasted nuthatches, golden crowned and ruby crowned kinglets, juncos, flickers and yellow-rumped warblers.  On Jasper Mountain we found western bluebirds, pygmy nuthatches, a golden-crowned sparrow, and a golden eagle,  along with spotted towhees,  chipping and white-crowned sparrows, robins and  more kinglets, yellow-rumped warblers and chickadees.  It was nice to enjoy the beauty of the mountains one more time.  Ginger

 

Slow Day at Bennington Lake

Bird activity was way down today, probably because of the warm, sunny weather.  Migrants have no reason to stop when the weather is so nice.  There were 14 long-billed dowitchers, 36 killdeer, and 1 Wilson's snipe in the mud.  Waterfowl included 1 wood duck, 6 American wigeon and 5 green-winged teal.  The most interesting sighting of the morning occurred as we were sitting on the concrete slabs at the north end of the canal.  Five raptors  (3 American kestrels, 2 northern harriers, and a sharp-shinned hawk) seemed to be having some sort of territorial dispute over our heads. White-crowned sparrow and junco numbers were up.  The only warbler species was yellow-rumped.  There were 2 American pipits in the mud.  Hopefully next week will find birds on the move again.   Ginger

Bennington Lake Today

 

We enjoyed a "very birdy" walk on September 21.   The most abundant species were white-crowned sparrow (100+), killdeer (42), canada geese (84) and yellow-rumped warbler (80+).  Migrants included long-billed dowitcher (11), pectoral sandpiper (3), common nighthawk (2), red-naped sapsucker (3), orange-crowned warbler (6), MacGillivray's warbler (1), Hammond's flycatcher (3), western tanager (1), and Lincoln's sparrow (2).  Late sightings were house wren (2), gray catbird (1) and western wood peewee (2). 

The water level is very low so the chance of finding more shorebirds is good in the coming days.  The birds were actively feeding in the trees, especially on the side by the parking lot.  The colors are beginning to turn on the trees and shrubs which added to the enjoyment of the walk.  It's a great time to take a walk around the lake and enjoy the birds and the scenery.   Ginger

 

Swainson's Hawks on the Move

I had a report today (September 16) from Nancy Mitchell about 37 Swainson's hawks circling over Langdon Road.  It's time for them to begin their long flight to Argentina and we have many nesting pairs in our valley that will be leaving soon. I hope you can get out to see this phenomenon - it truly is spectacular.  I would suggest driving the roads southwest of town - Langdon, Stateline, Frog Hollow, McDonald, Byrnes etc.   Ginger

 

Bennington Lake Migrants and Fall Birds

Our Tuesday walk got delayed until Thursday, but we were rewarded with lots of migrants.  We counted 12 Wilson's warblers, 7 Townsend's warblers, 3 orange-crowned warblers, 1 Nashville warbler, 1 olive-sided flycatcher, 1 western flycatcher, 1 dusky flycatcher, 1 Cassin's vireo, 1 warbling vireo, 4 least sandpipers, 2 western sandpipers and 1 greater yellowlegs.  Vaux's swifts, barn swallows, violet green swallows, bank swallows and rough-winged swallows were catching bugs over the lake.  Summer nesters still around were 1 yellow-breasted chat, 1 gray catbird, 5 house wrens, 3 yellow warblers, 12 cedar waxwings, 4 spotted sandpipers and 10 western wood peewees. 

 

We were surprised to see 2 white-crowned sparrows, a dark-eyed junco and a ruby-crowned kinglet.  These are all fall birds.  If you haven't noticed, the goldfinches are all molting into their winter plumage. It won't be long before the leave turn red and yellow - fall is on the way and winter won't be far behind.  Where did summer go?  The temperatures are perfect for a nice stroll around Bennington Lake.  I hope you will get out and enjoy the birds.  Ginger

Mud and Shorebirds at Bennington Lake

The Corp is starting another draw down of the lake this fall.  The timing is perfect for shorebird migration.  Today on our walk we already noticed the difference in the water level, and so did the shorebirds.  Besides the usual killdeer and spotted sandpipers we had a greater yellowlegs, a long-billed dowitcher and a solitary sandpiper.  As the banks get more mud, there should be more shorebirds so I would recommend checking it, especially the side down from the parking lot, in the coming weeks.

 

We saw lots of birds today including a pair of western tanagers feeding a young bird.  This is the first record we have of western tanagers nesting at the lake.  We didn't hear or see any Bullock's orioles or yellow-breasted chats today, but the rest of the summer birds are still around.

 

Evening is a good time to check out the birds at Bennington Lake because the sun is behind you so the light is better for identifying birds.   Ginger

Bennington Lake this morning

There were LOTS of birds on our walk this morning. Many young birds have fledged and are being generally very noisy.  We saw more birds today than in weeks past when we could hear them, but not always see them.  Some of the species that had young birds were American kestrel, black-headed grosbeak, gray catbird, black-chinned hummingbird, cedar waxwing, yellow warbler, eastern kingbird, chipping sparrow, downy woodpecker and great horned owl.  There are still swallows, Vaux's swifts, and one osprey flying above the water.  We saw one spotted sandpiper and a couple killdeer, a belted kingfisher, a great blue heron and two mallards along the bank.  A big river otter was also swimming around the lake.  There isn't much mud along the shoreline yet, so there weren't any migrating shorebirds.  We got out early so the heat wasn't too bad - all in all it was a very successful morning of birding.     Ginger