The migration of birds is a natural phenomenon. Usually every fall, birders are treated with migrant shorebirds, gulls, and other birds passing through the area and using Ridgway Reservoir as a stopping point. This year the big week at Ridgway Reservoir was Aug. 17-23. These dates can vary from week to week and into September, depending on the year..

Here are some of the migrants that were seen at Ridgway Reservoir.

THE FOLLOWING BIRDS WERE SIGHTED IN OURAY COUNTY IN AUGUST 2020: Canada Goose, Mallard, Northern Pintail*, Blue-winged Teal*, Cinnamon Teal, Green-winged Teal, Wild Turkey, Great Blue Heron, Whitefaced Ibis*, Turkey Vulture, Golden Eagle, American Coot*, Killdeer, Spotted Sandpiper*, Baird’s Sandpiper*, Semi palmated Sandpiper**, Sanderling-Juvenile**, Western Sandpiper*, Least Sandpiper*, Wilson’s Snipe*, Sabine’s Gul**, California Gull, Black Tern*, Band-tailed Pigeon, Eurasian Collared-Dove, Mourning Dove, Black Swift, Black-chinned Hummer, Broadtailed Hummer, Calliope Hummer, Rufous Hummer, Belted Kingfisher, Red-naped Sapsucker, Downy Woodpecker, Hairy Woodpecker, Northern Flicker, Prairie Falcon*, American Kestrel, Cordilleran Flycatcher, Western Wood-PeWee, Black Phoebe, Say’s Phoebe, Ash-throated Flycatcher, Western Kingbird, Loggerhead Shrike**, Plumbeous Vireo*, Cassin’s Vireo*, Warbling Vireo*, $teller’s Jay, Wood house’s Scrub-Jay, Clark’s Nutcracker, Black-billed Magpie, American Crow, Common Raven, Horned Lark*, Barn Swallow, Violet-green Swallow, Northern Rough-winged Swallow, Tree Swallow, Mountain Chickadee, Red-breasted Nuthatch*, Pygmy Nuthatch, White-breasted Nuthatch, House Wren, Marsh Wren*, Rock Wren**, American Dipper, Bluegray Gnatcatcher, American Robin, Mountain Bluebird, Gray Catbird, Sage Thrasher**, MacGillivray’s Warbler, Yellow Warbler, Green-tailed Towhee, Vesper Sparrow*, Chipping Sparrow, Dark-eyed Junco(gray-headed), lark Sparrow*, Lark Bunting**, Black-headed Grosbeak, Brown-headed Cowbird, Brewer’s Blackbird, Red ­ winged Blackbird, Western Meadowlark, Pine Siskin, Lesser Goldfinch*, American Goldfinch*, Cassin’s Finch, Evening Grosbeak, Lazuli Bunting, Bushtits, Yellow-rumped Warbler(Audubon’s).

NOTE : Thanks goes to Don Marsh for his expertise in Birding and his keen eyes for identification of the shorebirds at Ridgway Reservoir. From Aug. 17 – Aug. 26, my birding friend (Rebecca Kindred) and I spotted some of the shorebirds, Wilson’s Snipe, Loggerhead Shrikes, * Seen Aug. 19 (a very interesting and great month for seeing all these birds).