ארכיון יומן של ספטמבר 2020

ספטמבר 17, 2020

September 2020 Snowstorm Disaster in Westcliffe, CO.

I just want to share the following:
On September 8th and 9th, 2020, we observed a large number of warblers (Wilson, MacGillvray and Townsend) on our property feeding on grass seeds etc., in our fields and near the house. As we all know, an unusual snowstorm was entering the region. The Wet Mountain Valley experienced below freezing temperatures and over 10" of snow in 24 hours.

The warblers didn't do well... the ground was deep in snow and they were searching for warm places to spend the night. I saw this problem developing and was hoping they would find warm spots in the soil and under brush. Each morning I found 7-10 of these different warblers around our house under trees and near rock walls or some other natural cover. All total I found about 20 warblers in two mornings. There must have been more in the fields. I do not have pictures because larger birds were eating these dead warblers during the day but I did gather them up so I could count them.

I also thought it was unusual to see so many warblers up close in the September migration. I have not seen this before in over 15 years on the property. I hypothesized they might have been fleeing the wildfires to the north of us in Colorado.

That is about all I can offer. I wish the project well.

Matt Allan

הועלה ב-ספטמבר 17, 2020 03:04 לפנה"צ על ידי mattallan mattallan

ארכיונים