Morning Birding Species List | August 27, 2013

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Throughout the summer months ACES offers weekly Morning Birding classes at their Hallam Lake site in Aspen and Rock Bottom Ranch site in Basalt. Class outings venture to local birding hotspots and the birds never fail to impress. Take a look at the below species list and notes from one of the recent classes in Aspen and register today for upcoming birding classes, which run through September!

Tuesday, August 27, 2013, 7 AM – 10 AM
Weather:  sunny, clear sky
Locations: Hallam Lake and North Star Nature Preserve

Species Identified
Mallard Green-winged Teal Great blue Heron (pictured above) Spotted Sandpiper Broad-tailed Hummingbird Belted Kingfisher Black-billed Magpie American Crow Violet-green Swallow Black-capped chickadee Mountain Chickadee		White-breasted Nuthatch House Wren Mountain Bluebird American Robin Cedar Waxwing Yellow Warbler Chipping Sparrow Song Sparrow House Finch Pine Siskin

Comments:  Juvenile birds and non-breeding plumages are excellent to study right now.  This morning we observed an active kingfisher family at Hallam Lake, a spotted sandpiper catching scuds while walking on floating mats of aquatic vegetation on the lake, and a flock of mountain bluebirds eating insects in the meadows at North Star Nature Preserve.  Swallows seem to be leaving, as we are only seeing a few violet greens lately.  Birding is still excellent as migrating species are on the move!

~Rebecca Weiss, ACES Naturalist