Interesting Birds

[Steven B in PV]

We had a new bird for our Peaceful Valley property!  A White-throated Sparrow showed up Saturday morning and stayed through Tuesday.  White-throated Sparrows breed from the upper Great Lakes north across the northern boreal forests of Canada.  They are very rare spring and fall migrants and winter residents in Colorado with only a few records in the mountains.  There are few records from western CO, and I've seen them three times at the Palisade farm.  What a privilege to see one in PV.

This is an exciting time to see spring migrants moving into and through the state.  In the past week at the cabin, I've seen a Song Sparrow, a Common Grackle, a male Cooper's Hawk, the first pair of summer resident Band-tailed Pigeons, a Tree Swallow, and two hardy male Broad-tailed Hummingbirds.


Here are photos of the White-throated Sparrow.  Note the distinctive yellow patches in the lores above the eyes.