Unfortunately, I was sick for most of my recent visit to Lamar (Prowers County), but did manage to get out for one day before succumbing and one day afterwards, plus a brief look on the way out of town today.
The prairie is very, very, very dry, but a few things indicate change. The Siberian elms are seeding, honeysuckles and currants at LCC are leafing/leafed out, dandelions and purple mustard are blooming, many insects are active (especially brown lacewings, small dung beetles, early tiger beetle spp., etc.), and southern leopard frogs are making an assortment of sounds from all along Willow Creek. Highlights of my visit: Fairmount Cemetery (Lamar): Barn Owl (2, possibly 3) - roosting in thicker, bigger junipers at the north end Red-naped Sapsucker (1 male) seen working on both honeylocust and ponderosa pine Pine Siskin (few) not nearly the number as this time last year, and I couldn't get an indication of whether they will breed here (as they did last year) Townsend's Solitaire (3) Willow Valley subdivision (Lamar, east of Willow Creek Park): Red-bellied Woodpecker (1 male) White-winged Dove (pair) Cedar Waxwings (50+) Common Grackle (arrived en masse on 3/17) Lamar Community College Woods (Lamar): Red-bellied Woodpecker (at least 1, probably not, but possibly, same individual as reported above) Ruby-crowned Kinglet (1) Yellow-rumped Warbler (2) No Brown Thrasher, Carolina Wren, Swamp Sparrow, or Northern Cardinal (all reported from the Snow Goose Festival) Thurston Reservoir (north of Lamar): Ruddy Duck (few) FOS Sandhill Crane (500+) FOS, both subspp. present, adult flight calls stirring as always, juvenile flight calls add a little mysterious texture Pied-billed Grebe (heard) FOS good assortment and numbers of common waterfowl spp. Dark-eyed Junco (several, including 1 gray-headed!) Prairie south of Lamar (basically west of the ATT Tower on US287): Chihuahuan Raven (1) Rough-legged Hawk (at least 2 immatures and 1 adult) still present Say's Phoebe (pair at CR X and Rd 5) Other locations: Great-tailed Grackle (several) near Walmart in Lamar (go figure) Harris's Sparrow (1) at private feeder north of town near Wiley Chestnut-collared Longspur (1 heard, flying over n to s) Rd CC east of US287 about half way to Upper Queens State Wildlife Area Rough-legged Hawk (1 imm.) Kiowa CR49 basically east of Nee Noshe Res. Misses (in addition to those listed for LCC): White-breasted Nuthatch (probably is a pair at north end of Willow Creek Park, but I was unable to check) Burrowing Owl? American Crow? Franklin's Gull? Greater Yellowlegs? "White" geese (only ones I could find on the north shore of Thurston weren't moving and never will until put away for the season) Dave Leatherman Fort Collins --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ Join us at the 2009 Convention in Alamosa: http://cfo-link.org/convention/index.php You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.as/group/cobirds?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
