BIRDING TO THE EDG

A group of Colorado birders heading to the SE part of the state on Friday called in to report a good push of migrants coming through. Most likely due to the low pressure system with rain/cold weather that Mother Nature brought us. All of that was code for, "Get out into the field on Saturday!" Nevertheless, I was up at 5 am on Saturday heading to a place called Last Chance, Colorado. I really hoped not, but was willing to take the chance! Basically this place is just a rest area with some dilapidated buildings around the periphery. The vegetation is thick and involves a nice little pond. When I arrived there I was the only one and the birds were singing loud. I first noticed a pair of Brown Thrashers singing like crazy. Then a Hermit Thrush popped out. then a Northern Waterthrush escaped into the brush from the stagnant pond. It was dark as heck where the waterthrush was hanging out, but the amount of light my Nikon EDG binocular afforded me allowed me to view all the finer details and even the difference in coloration on the flanks. Lots of Common Grackles and Northern Mockingbirds were harassing anything that came into the tops of the trees except the plethora of Orange-crowned Warblers bouncging around.

I became a little frustrated due to the lack of super-interesting warblers. I really thought this place would be a gold mine already. I headed across the street to the back of some old house to see what was bouncing around. There wasn't much except a lot of House Finches until I heard a real sharp, high-pitched chip note. It reminded me of something I've heard in the past. I walked toward a row of junipers and was elated to see a male Hooded Warbler pop out. This bird breeds in the southeast United States but some overshoot their breeding grounds with irregularity into Colorado. This was a social one and he let me photograph him for about ten minutes. There is no other warbler that looks like this one. You could make a case for Kentucky Warbler but the male's black is limited to the auriculars and the cap, but shows a strong yellow supercilium (eyeline). Female Hoodies would be without the large black throat patch and duller black on the crown. I was pumped! I called Bill Schmoker shortly thereafter to report the rest of the birds I had seen.


There were a bunch of these Blue-Gray Gnatcatchers bouncing around in the underbrush accompanying the Ruby-crowned Kinglets. This particular bird above is a lady Gnatcatcher judging by the lack of black the male would have on the lores and supraloral area. Look at that beautiful, crisp eye-ring to boot!



Ibis can be troubling to most, but this time of year usually is the easiest time to ID these suckers.
However, sometimes you need to say, "Unidentified," if there is no real conclusive evidence of either White-faced or Glossy. In breeding plumage, White-faced Ibis will have red eyes, red legs, and reddish lores. Whereas the Glossy Ibis has dark eyes, dark lores, and dark legs except for reddish joints. Immature birds are mush more difficult. Glossy babies have non-descrip, dark everything. Immature White-faced retain some reddish hue to the lores, but this can usually only be seen with close views and decent light. We refer to young Ibis as, "dark ibis," and sometimes they cannot be identified. Once the Glossy ibis starts to mature a bit they will eventually develop a blueish border around the face whereas the White-faced will develop a whitish bordering. Like anything else this takes practice. Glossies are restricted mainly to the southeast United States for breeding and the White-faced breeds on western plains but they both wander off into unknown territories. This is why it is super important to take a look at all the Ibis in a particular flock to see if there are any suspects.


Just another shot I wanted to share with y'all. A nice Double-crested Cormorant buzzed my head while flying over. Notice the orange gular patch and the thick body on the bird. Neotropic Cormorant would be the most likely comparison and Neotrops have a longer tail, thinner body, and the gular patch is smaller and comes to a point behind the chin whereas the Double-crested's gular patch is squared off.

All these photos were taken with a Nikon D200 and a 300mm F4 Nikkor lens in eastern Colorado. Birding was great on Saturday and I cannot wait to get out again. Thanks for reading and stay tuned for more springtime birding stories!