Laramie Bird Notes -- 5/6 - 5/18

Although we should be experiencing peak songbird migration about now, many of the local migrant traps have been surprisingly devoid of bird life recently. Nevertheless, several interesting birds have been found over the past week or so.

Birds continue to accumulate in the mountains as the Laramie and Snowy Range become more accessible to birders and birds. A Williamson's Sapsucker, a somewhat uncommon breeder in the mountains here, was photographed at the Vedauwoo campground in the Laramie Range. White-throated Swifts were also found around Vedauwoo recently. Dusky Flycatchers seem to have returned to several places in both the Laramie and Snowy ranges, including the Happy Jack area and Rock Creek Canyon. Northern Waterthrushes, which breed along some of the creeks around the Snowies, were found in Rock Creek Canyon and at the MAPS banding station near Centennial. After a ton of effort this spring, Nate Behl and I finally found a Boreal Owl in the Snowies. After ~17 hours of birding across southeast Wyoming on May 13, we were delighted to hear one bird singing in the Brooklyn Lake area multiple times.

It seems that the vast majority of plains birds have returned to the area and are gearing up for the breeding season. A Common Yellowthroat was found at Hutton Lake NWR, 2 Eastern Kingbirds were found on the road to Hutton, and a Mountain Plover was found on Old Laramie River Road. Mountain Plovers breed in this area and in some of the prairie along Highway 34, but they are notoriously difficult birds to find. A great way to find them is to drive the northern part of Old Laramie River Road during a heavy spring snowstorm (like the one right now). They, along with thousands of other birds, can reliably found on the road in these conditions. Just make sure you don't get stuck -- this road can get pretty muddy.

Indigo Bunting. Photo by Laurel Armstrong.

Lots of fun birds have been found in and around town recently. Swainson's Thrushes, Broad-winged Hawks, and Western Tanagers have been seen at several spots in town. In what continues to be a good spring for Zonotrichia sparrows, a White-throated Sparrow was found along the Greenbelt. A Lazuli Bunting was also seen along the Greenbelt recently. Finally, Laurel Armstrong continues to find great birds in her yard on the east side of town -- both an Indigo Bunting and a Gray Catbird were seen in the past couple days.

Today is a good day to get out and go birding! These late spring snowstorms are really hard on birds, but they offer us great opportunities to observe them. Birding the plains can be very productive in these conditions, as birds congregate in large numbers near roads, but birding around town can -- especially at feeders, can produce some very interesting sightings. As I write this, there are 10 Green-tailed Towhees, 12 White-crowned Sparrows, a Lark Sparrow, a Brewer's Sparrow, and a few Vesper Sparrows at my feeder.