[cobirds] migrants, Larimer Co.

Wow, what a difference a few days make!  

After lamenting the paucity of spotted towhees and other birds in general throughout most of April, today's hike up Horsetooth Mountain was quite different.  Birds everywhere!  Including some early migrants.

Most unusual was a Western Tanager, a spanking bright male.  Also flagged by ebird was a Virginia's warbler (possibly 2).  Also new today were several blue-gray gnatcatchers. Full list from Ebird below.  Then, this afternoon at my feeders nearby, a male Lazuli Bunting showed up.

I guess the floodgates are now officially open!

Good birding,

Arvind Panjabi 5700' feet, Larimer County, CO

On the north slope of Milner Mtn 

Mountain mahogany shrubland and grassland

Location

Horsetooth Mountain Open Space, Larimer County, Colorado, US

Date and Effort

Mon Apr 30, 2018 7:26 AM

Protocol:

Traveling

Party Size:

1

Duration:

1 hour(s), 40 minute(s)

Distance:

6.008 kilometer(s)

Observers:

Arvind Panjabi

Comments:

N/A

Submitted from eBird for iOS, version 1.6.36

Species

26 species total

3	California Gull Larus californicus
2	Mourning Dove Zenaida macroura
3	Broad-tailed Hummingbird Selasphorus platycercus
1	Hairy Woodpecker Picoides villosus
1	Say's Phoebe Sayornis saya
2	Steller's Jay Cyanocitta stelleri
3	Black-billed Magpie Pica hudsonia
2	Common Raven Corvus corax
3	Tree Swallow Tachycineta bicolor
2	Barn Swallow Hirundo rustica
8	Pygmy Nuthatch Sitta pygmaea
6	House Wren Troglodytes aedon
4	Blue-gray Gnatcatcher Polioptila caerulea
1	Mountain Bluebird Sialia currucoides
2	Townsend's Solitaire Myadestes townsendi
6	American Robin Turdus migratorius
1	Virginia's Warbler Oreothlypis virginiae Heard giving its distinctive metallic chip note from the shrubbery then flew up to a pine tree where I saw a grayish warbler with yellow undertail coverts. Seen and heard well again later on the way down. Eye ring seen well.
6	Yellow-rumped Warbler (Audubon's) Setophaga coronata auduboni
14	Chipping Sparrow Spizella passerina
4	Dark-eyed Junco (Gray-headed) Junco hyemalis caniceps
16	Spotted Towhee Pipilo maculatus
1	Western Tanager Piranga ludoviciana Male in full breeding plumage, seen well from about 22 ft. Red face on yellow head and breast. Black wings with white wing bars. Photo obtained with cell phone.
3	Western Meadowlark Sturnella neglecta
1	Brown-headed Cowbird Molothrus ater
1	Brewer's Blackbird Euphagus cyanocephalus
2	House Finch Haemorhous mexicanus