Thursday 20 November 2014

[cobirds] Rusty Blackbird & Sora - Highline Lake - Mesa County

 

Nic Korte and I spent the day scouting for The Thanksgiving Waterfowl trip this Saturday.  We had one of those memorable birding experiences that one never forgets this afternoon.

We were driving from Highline Lake on the east side (where the offices & campground are located) to the west side and Mack Mesa area on R Road.  As we crossed the little stream below the dam I slowed the car down and we looked at the ducks in the stream.  Nic said "There's our Green-winged Teal (we didn't have one for the day)" as a flock of Mallards and 4 Green-wings took flight.  "Wait a minute, there's a snipe."  "What's that blackbird on the ground just above the snipe.  In the next 30 minutes we witnessed the following in that one little muddy area next to the stream with our binocs and then our scopes.
RUSTY BLACKBIRD
Wilson's Snipe
Virginia Rail (2)
SORA
Marsh Wren
Song Sparrow (several)

The Rusty soon left the mud flat and flew upstream into dense cover.  The Wilson's Snipe stayed in the same location feeding the entire time, while the 2 Virginia Rails, Sora, and Marsh Wren would dart out from the heavy cover to feed on the mud flat briefly, then dart back to cover before emerging again.  Several times all the birds could be seen at the same time. We watched this action for about 30 minutes from 3:30 to 4.

Mike Henwood
Grand Junction
Mesa County

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