[cobirds] Re: Northern Waterthrush, Estes Park, Larimer Co. 8/5

Hi Jim!  We live close to Estes Park and always appreciate and enjoy reading your reports from Lake Estes. We stopped there yesterday and saw lots of Spottys but missed the Waterthrush. We will be taking a trip east to the Maryland/Delaware area in September to visit some family, but of course want to fit in some birding. Just wondered if you have any tips for good birding locations in the area?  

thanks!!

Irene

Pinewood Springs, Larimer County

On Friday, August 5, 2016 at 2:07:53 PM UTC-6, Jim Nelson wrote:

We have been enjoying a nice midsummer visit in Estes Park in Larimer County.  Today we took a late morning walk at the Matthews-Reeser Bird Sanctuary at Lake Estes.  We were delighted to see a Northern Waterthrush doing its distinctive tail bob next to a Spotted Sandpiper, similarly bobbing.  The bird was on the east side of the pine-covered peninsula that juts into Lake Estes along the water line.  The lake level has gone down a bit in the last few days, so there is a nice area for foraging along the water's edge.  Checking eBird, I was surprised to find no reports of Northern Waterthrush in Colorado from July 1 until today.  So our bird appears to be the first reported fall migrant.


On our way back to our car, we spotted a post-breeding-plumage male Lark Bunting in the grassy area between the concrete trail through the Sanctuary and the water outlet from the power plant.  It was hunting in the grass and occasionally sitting on the fence by the maintenance yard.  eBird shows only one other sighting of this species off the plains since July 1, four birds in Little Horseshoe Park in Rocky Mountain National Park on July 10.
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So nice to see some post-breeding migrant passerines.


Jim Nelson
Bethesda, Maryland

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