[cobirds] Black Swifts - Alamosa County - Zapata Falls

Last week, with wife and out of town birders, I went to Zapata Falls (no fee, ~12 miles south of Great Sand Dunes) to look for Black Swifts.

 

These birds were easily seen from the parking area where the trail leads to the falls from sunset until dark. Mostly focusing on the area above the falls, with or without binoculars, from the parking area you can easily find a few at a time circling over the hillside. And this continues until dark.

 

The only question you have to answer for yourself is your confidence in what you are seeing. There are Violet-green Swallows and bats also flying around. You can clearly make out the swift-like outline and behavior from these other two animals. It is also clearly an all dark swift; ruling out white-throated swifts, which could be in the area, although I didn’t see any. You can also reasonably convince yourself that these are black swifts, as opposed to brownish chimney swifts. While my fellow birder from Indiana is familiar with the latter, I am never confident making size distinctions (Chimney-5.25” vs Black-7.25”) under these conditions. I am not aware of Chimney Swifts in this area; but I don’t know. I have seen them in Colorado Springs just a month ago.

 

If you can brave the frigidly painful (I find it literally painful after a few minutes of being in it) water leading up to the falls, I saw a nest on a small horizontal ledge (I assumed they would be attached to a vertical surface) to the right of the fall about 6-8 ft down from the top. It looked to be in good shape and therefore probably this year’s construction. I could not confirm anything on the nest and therefore cannot confirm that it is indeed a swift nest. I did not make the 4-5 ft ascent into the final falls chamber; due to the fact that it would have meant getting soaked and that final 4-5 ft appeared to be fraught with slippery rocks and danger. As my wife reminds me, I am not a spring chicken any more.

 

Complete list of species from the Zapata Falls area, Sand Dunes and the hike up to South Zapata Lake at 11,900’ (trail that branches off the falls trail) is below.

 

Highlights:

·         Common Nighthawk (many taking flight at dusk)

·         Common Poorwill (didn’t hear them call in the evening; only in pre-dawn early morning)

·         Black Swift

·         Rufous Hummingbird (FOS)

·         Gray Flycatcher

·         Ash-throated Flycatcher

·         Pinyon Jay

·         Juniper Titmouse

 

Also had a Blue Grosbeak at the Alamosa NWR – auto tour. The mosquitos along the Rio Grande trail sent us quickly packing for the auto-tour option.

 

Jeff J Jones

(jjones@jonestc.com)

Teller County - 8500' - Montane Woodlands

 

FIRST SIGHTINGS: World: 1, Location: 1

Species: 57

 

ANATIDAE - 1

Mallard                                     Anas platyrhynchos             

 

CATHARTIDAE - 1

Turkey Vulture                              Cathartes aura                 

 

ACCIPITRIDAE - 5

Sharp-shinned Hawk                          Accipiter striatus             

Cooper's Hawk                               Accipiter cooperii             

Swainson's Hawk                             Buteo swainsoni                

Red-tailed Hawk                             Buteo jamaicensis              

Golden Eagle                                Aquila chrysaetos              

 

COLUMBIDAE - 1

Mourning Dove                               Zenaida macroura               

 

CAPRIMULGIDAE - 2

Common Nighthawk                            Chordeiles minor               

Common Poorwill                             Phalaenoptilus nuttallii       

 

APODIDAE - 1

Black Swift [w]                             Cypseloides niger              

 

TROCHILIDAE - 2

Broad-tailed Hummingbird                    Selasphorus platycercus        

Rufous Hummingbird                          Selasphorus rufus              

 

PICIDAE - 1

Northern Flicker                            Colaptes auratus                

 

TYRANNIDAE - 5

Gray Flycatcher                             Empidonax wrightii             

Cordilleran Flycatcher                      Empidonax occidentalis         

Say's Phoebe                                Sayornis saya                  

Ash-throated Flycatcher                     Myiarchus cinerascens          

Western Kingbird                            Tyrannus verticalis            

 

VIREONIDAE - 2

Plumbeous Vireo                             Vireo plumbeus                 

Warbling Vireo                              Vireo gilvus                   

 

CORVIDAE - 6

Pinyon Jay                                  Gymnorhinus cyanocephalus      

Steller's Jay                               Cyanocitta stelleri            

Clark's Nutcracker                          Nucifraga columbiana           

Black-billed Magpie                         Pica hudsonia                  

American Crow                               Corvus brachyrhynchos          

Common Raven                                Corvus corax                   

 

HIRUNDINIDAE - 3

Violet-green Swallow                        Tachycineta thalassina         

Cliff Swallow                               Petrochelidon pyrrhonota       

Barn Swallow                                Hirundo rustica                

 

PARIDAE - 2

Mountain Chickadee                          Poecile gambeli                

Juniper Titmouse                            Baeolophus ridgwayi            

 

AEGITHALIDAE - 1

Bushtit                                     Psaltriparus minimus           

 

SITTIDAE - 2

White-breasted Nuthatch                     Sitta carolinensis             

Pygmy Nuthatch                              Sitta pygmaea                  

 

CERTHIIDAE - 1

Brown Creeper                               Certhia americana              

 

TROGLODYTIDAE - 1

Rock Wren                                   Salpinctes obsoletus            

 

CINCLIDAE - 1

American Dipper                             Cinclus mexicanus              

 

REGULIDAE - 1

Ruby-crowned Kinglet                        Regulus calendula              

 

TURDIDAE - 4

Mountain Bluebird                           Sialia currucoides             

Townsend's Solitaire                        Myadestes townsendi            

Hermit Thrush                               Catharus guttatus              

American Robin                              Turdus migratorius              

 

PARULIDAE - 1

Yellow-rumped Warbler                       Setophaga coronata             

Yellow-rumped Warbler (Audubon's) auduboni  Setophaga coronata auduboni    

 

EMBERIZIDAE - 8

Green-tailed Towhee                         Pipilo chlorurus               

Spotted Towhee                              Pipilo maculatus               

Chipping Sparrow                            Spizella passerina             

Vesper Sparrow                              Pooecetes gramineus            

Savannah Sparrow                            Passerculus sandwichensis      

Song Sparrow                                Melospiza melodia              

White-crowned Sparrow                       Zonotrichia leucophrys         

Dark-eyed Junco (Gray-headed) caniceps      Junco hyemalis caniceps        

 

CARDINALIDAE - 2

Western Tanager                             Piranga ludoviciana            

Black-headed Grosbeak                       Pheucticus melanocephalus      

 

ICTERIDAE - 2

Western Meadowlark                          Sturnella neglecta              

Brown-headed Cowbird                        Molothrus ater                 

 

FRINGILLIDAE - 1

Red Crossbill                               Loxia curvirostra              

 

Birder's Diary - www.BirdersDiary.com - 7/8/2013