Birding on the Western Slope Part 1: Rare Bird Bonanza
As spring migration came to an end and summer began I decided it was time for a long awaited trip to the Western Slope. I had never been birding in this part of the state so the opportunity to add to my Colorado state list was thrilling. We spent two days in Western Colorado finding and chasing rare birds.
6/8/2020
Our first day of birding started early in Durango. Later in the day we went to Ouray and after that the town of Nucla.
As the sun set we headed to the Nucla water treatment plant. This is the best spot in Colorado to find Lesser Nighthawks. They are very rare in Colorado, often showing up in flocks of Common Nighthawks which look almost the same as the Lessers.
When dusk truly arrived a flock of almost 100 Common Nighthawks began circling over the ponds. Mixed in the flock was one Lesser Nighthawk. It took a while to locate the Lesser but we finally were able to see the details of the wing pattern well enough to confidently identify it. By that point it was too dark to photograph it.
6/9/2020
Our second day on the Western Slope we birded in the small town of Gateway and later in Grand Junction.
Our final stop of the trip was Colorado National Monument. The habitat was unique for our weekend of Western Slope birding, providing a new mix of desert and canyon birds .
What a great weekend of birding on the Western Slope!