ACES Morning Birding at Hallam Lake 02/03/26

After an overnight rain, Hallam Lake Nature Preserve became a flurry of activity for our morning birding outing. Spring seems just around the corner with the beginning of early bird singing behavior, including the chickadees, red-winged blackbirds, and song sparrows. We focused on birding by ear to distinguish calls and songs of these species, as well as observing bird behavior. We also enjoyed great observations of geese and ducks in excellent light. Highlights included catching a quick glimpse of two Wilson’s snipe as they flew to the other side of the lake to forage and probe, and observing two hairy woodpeckers foraging where we could get excellent views through the scope. Later, we enjoyed lots of bird activity around the stocked feeders in Bird Hollow. Here, we saw a brown creeper, pygmy nuthatches, and a white-breasted nuthatch at close range, a great comparison of these bark-clinging birds. Steller’s jays and both species of chickadees were also in abundance. Before heading in, we visited the resident raptors and noticed a sure sign of the changing season: a pair of magpies beginning to construct their nest in a nearby spruce tree. Throughout our outing, we observed magpies flying across the preserve with a stick in their beaks, a telltale sign that breeding season is around the corner. Join us for the next Morning Birding outing on April 7th at Hallam Lake as early migrants begin to return to the valley and the season really tips toward spring!