A lot of birders seem to avoid birding in the heat of summer. However, August can be a very rewarding month for those who do venture out as fall migration is well under way. The huge storm on August 16-17 dropped 2.56 inches of much needed raina and dramatically changed the bird population with an influx of new shorebirds, and the disappearance of such species as Violet-green Swallow. Shorebirds reported during the month included six species of “peeps” – Semipalmated, Western, Least, Baird’s, Pectoral and Stilt Sandpipers. Marbled Godwit is a species occasionally reported in August but more normally seen during the spring. Common Tern was a new sighting for the year, and Least Tern, although already reported in May, is one of our more unusual tern sightings. It is interesting to note that just one Forster’s Tern was reported as opposed to twenty Black Terns. It seems that the relevant abundance of these two species has changed with Black Tern becoming the more abundant species, whereas historically Forster’s Tern was much the commoner.

A single Black Swift brought in by the big storm was a new sighting for the year. This is a species that used to breed in the Wild Basin area of Rocky Mountain Park, but is now just occasionally seen, mainly at lower elevations. Another new species for the year was Loggerhead Shrike. This is another species which has become increasingly hard to find. However, this month there were three different sightings in three different areas, as opposed to the single sighting seen in 2007. Warblers were poorly reported with the most unusual sighting being a Blackpoll Warbler. It is pleasing to report that Burrowing Owls continued to do well with at least sevenb different nest sites having successfully produced young. Barn Owls have also successfully nested at several different locations. Barn Owls have always been unusual sightings, and at one time were thought to be in danger of disappearing from the county altogether, so it is good to see them increasing.

Ducks were beginning to appear by the end of the month, but were generally poorly reported. Several common mountain and foothill birds were not reported such as Brown Creeper and American Dipper. In other areas reporting was also spotty with a few favoured areas receiving the bulk of the reports. This left August 2008 with 152 reported bird species; this is a very similar total to that of the last three years but nowhere close to the record of 177 species in  2002. This is a month where more intensive birding of the county could pay dividends. TOP

a Callahan, Bill “Boulder Weather Log” Daily Camera, 5 September 2008.
b From Steve Jones.

September usually sees the peak of fall migration, and this year was no exception. Several unusual species were spotted. An immature Brown Pelican had birders traveling all round the county as it flew from reservoir to reservoir. Brown Pelican was last reported in 2006 and this was only the third occurrence for the wildlife inventory. Little Blue Heron was reported for the first time since 2005. Other good sightings included Red-necked Grebe, Long-tailed Jaeger, several Sabine’s Gulls, four species of Tern (Common, Caspian, Forster’s and Black) and Gray Flycathcer. The first Townsend Warbler of the year was reported; these are more commonly seen during fall migration than in the spring. Brown Thrasher was also a new sighting for the year. In general shorebird migration seemed strong, but warbler migration (or at least those warblers reported) did not produce either great numbers of birds or many rarities. American Redstart and Northern Waterthrush were two of our less usual warblers.

Altogether 171 bird species were reported in September. This is a respectable total but might have been considerably higher if several common species, such as American Dipper, had not gone unreported. TOP

TOP

Mammals, Reptiles and Amphibians

Contributors to the September 2008 Inventory:
Linda Andes-Georges, Mary Balzer, Maggie Boswell, Alex & Gillian Brown, Richard Coles, Todd Deininger, Dunning, Bill Eeds, Gene Ellis, Ted Floyd, Steve Frye, Peter Gent, Bryan Guarente, Paula Hansley, Jack Harlan, Steve Jones, Bill Kaempfer, Douglas Kibbe, Connie Kogler, Steve Larson, Tony Leukering, Carolyn Mahakian, Mark Miller, Gene and Lynn Monroe, Christian Nunes, Debby Oberbeck, Laura Osborn, Nathan Pieplow, Suzi Plooster, Scott Severs, Steve Skinner, Tim Smart, Bob Spencer, Marcel Such, Joel Such, Walter Szeliga, Joyce Takamine, Knut Waagan, David J Waltman, Wild Bird Center. TOP