Field Trip Report
September 15, 2002
Jackson Lake State Park (Morgan County)
All-day field trip. Co-leaders: Nick Komar (quetzal65@attbi.com),
Ted Floyd (tedfloyd@aba.org)
Highlight bird species were: 4 Sanderlings, 1 Herring Gull, 2
Long-eared Owls, 2 Red-eyed Vireos, and 2 Western Scrub-Jays.
We started out in the west shore Cove Campground, where there was a
fairly decent passerine flight. Here we saw 1 Eastern Kingbird, 2 Warbling
Vireos, 2 Red-eyed Vireos, 1 Ruby-crowned Kinglet, 1 Swainson's Thrush, 2
Hermit Thrushes, 2 Gray Catbirds, 2 Brown Thrashers, 6 Orange-crowned
Warblers, 4 Yellow Warblers, 31 Yellow-rumped Warblers, 1 Townsend's
Warbler, 2 MacGillivray's Warbler, 2 Common Yellowthroats, 22 Wilson's
Warblers, 2 Western Tanagers, 13 Chipping Sparrows, 2 Clay-colored
Sparrows, and 8 Brewer's Sparrows.
Next we looked for shorebirds from the south shore of Jackson Lake. On
the walk in, we flushed a longspur that we were not able to identify. Some
of our shorebird numbers included
the following: 40 American Avocets, 2 Marbled Godwits, 3 Sanderlings, 1
Semipalmated Sandpiper, 446 Baird's Sandpipers, 6 Pectoral Sandpipers, 3
Stilt Sandpipers; and 24 Long-billed Dowitchers. Amid many Franklin's
Gulls, we saw 1 Herring Gull.
After lunch, at the state park visitor center, we looked for shorebirds
from the west shore of Jackson Lake. Here we saw 4 Semipalmated Plovers,
another Sanderling, 10 more Semipalmated Sandpipers, 360 more Baird's
Sandpipers, 2 more Pectoral Sandpipers, and a nice flock of 28 Stilt
Sandpipers.
Next we returned to the campground, where we saw two Western Scrub-Jays
that had been staked out for us by Joey Kellner and Andrew Spencer. Joey
and Andrew also found two Long-eared Owls for us, and everybody got killer
looks at one of the birds.
On the drive out, we stopped for sparrows at several places along CR-2.
Here we had a Say's Phoebe, a Kingbird species (either Western or
Cassin's), 4 Sage Thrashers, 2 Spotted Towhees, 20+ Chipping Sparrows, 6
Clay-colored Sparrows, 5 Brewer's Sparrows, 20+ Vesper Sparrows, and 15
Lark Buntings.
There were 18 observers in our party, including a visiting birder from
Reno.
Here is our list of birds seen in Morgan County:
01. Pied-billed Grebe 2
02. Eared Grebe 1
03. Western Grebe 164
04. Clark's Grebe 2
05. American White Pelican 583
06. Double-crested Cormorant 3
07. Great Blue Heron 10
08. Snowy Egret 6 (these were in Weld County)
09. Black-crowned Night-Heron 8
10. White-faced Ibis 6
11. Canada Goose 420
12. American Wigeon 8
13. Mallard 1
14. Blue-winged Teal 100+
15. Northern Shoveler 15
16. Northern Pintail 2
17. Green-winged Teal 11
18. Redhead 2
19. Ruddy Duck 140
20. Northern Harrier 4
21. Swainson's Hawk 3
22. Red-tailed Hawk 2
23. American Kestrel 14
24. Ring-necked Pheasant 1
25. American Coot 100+
26. Semipalmated Plover 4
27. Killdeer 18
28. American Avocet 40
29. Greater Yellowlegs 4
30. Lesser Yellowlegs 160
31. Marbled Godwit 2
32. Sanderling 4
33. Semipalmated Sandpiper 11
34. Least Sandpiper 19
35. Baird's Sandpiper 806
36. Pectoral Sandpiper 8
37. Stilt Sandpiper 33
38. Long-billed Dowitcher 24
39. Wilson's Phalarope 5
40. Red-necked Phalarope 6
41. Franklin's Gull 410
42. Ring-billed Gull 30
43. California Gull 1
44. Herring Gull 1
45. Black Tern 9
46. Rock Dove 38
47. Mourning Dove 12
48. Great Horned Owl 2
49. Long-eared Owl 2
50. Downy Woodpecker 4
51. Northern Flicker 4
52. Say's Phoebe 3
53. Kingbird species 1
54. Eastern Kingbird 2
55. Warbling Vireo 2
56. Red-eyed Vireo 2
57. Blue Jay 13
58. Western Scrub-Jay 2
59. Black-billed Magpie 4
60. American Crow 2
61. Horned Lark 13
62. Barn Swallow 19
63. Black-capped Chickadee 4
64. White-breasted Nuthatch 3
65. House Wren 5
66. Ruby-crowned Kinglet 1
67. Swainson's Thrush 1
68. Hermit Thrush 2
69. American Robin 5
70. Gray Catbird 6
71. Sage Thrasher 4
72. Brown Thrasher 4
73. European Starling 410
74. Orange-crowned Warbler 6
75. Yellow Warbler 6
76. Yellow-rumped Warbler 32
77. Townsend's Warbler 1
78. MacGillivray's Warbler 2
79. Common Yellowthroat 4
80. Wilson's Warbler 22
81. Western Tanager 6
82. Spotted Towhee 2
83. Chipping Sparrow 43
84. Clay-colored Sparrow 8
85. Brewer's Sparrow 13
86. Vesper Sparrow 21
87. Lark Sparrow 1
88. Lark Bunting 15
89. Savannah Sparrow 3
90. Calcarius sp. 1
91. Red-winged Blackbird 2
92. Western Meadowlark 13
93. Brewer's Blackbird 86
94. Common Grackle 55
95. American Goldfinch 5
96. House Sparrow 3