Our May issue looks at NOCO birds and the people who love them, while also asking whether population growth, climate change, and other factors are thinning out the flocks. As a non-scientific experiment — and an excuse to post some pictures of weird-looking birds — we checked E-Bird’s Rare Bird Alert to see what’s been spotted in the last 7 days in Weld and Larimer counties. Here’s a small sample of who saw what, where, around NOCO in mid-May.
For example, if you were anywhere in the vicinity of Carr, you might have caught a glimpse of an Upland Sandpiper.
Over at Wellington State Wildlife Area, you might have come across a Red-breasted Merganser . . . .
. . . . or a Common Gallinule.
A Great Blue Heron gobbled some fish out of Richard’s Lake.
Up at Rocky Mountain National Park, a Scissor-Tailed Flycatcher cut a fine figure.
A Caspian Tern showed its beak at Loloff Reservoir, southeast of Greeley.
Somebody spotted a Merlin at Arapahoe Bend Natural Area near Timnath.
There was a Palm Warbler sighting at Dixon Reservoir.
Finally, some Mountain Bluebirds dropped in at Pawnee National Grassland.
