I made a run to Prewitt Reservoir today. It was cool in the morning, 70-ish by mid-afternoon.
Highlights were 11 hawk/eagle species. The Pawnee Grasslands were alive with American Kestrels. I should have counted, but the number was well over 60. I think besides just being a push because of the multi-day high pressure the West is experiencing, the locally heavy population of Redshank Grasshoppers (a large, yellow-winged species with bright red "thighs" that overwinters in the adult stage), combined with the fairly brisk wind, had them down low and quite conspicuous. As for the raptors, red-tails (at least 8), rough-legs (7 or so), Ferruginous (1), harrier (at least 30!), kestrel (60+), Merlin (1), Prairie Falcon (1), Peregrine Falcon (1 at Prewitt, far southwest corner), sharp-shin (1 carrying a starling), Golden Eagle (2 on CR90 w of SR14), and Bald Eagle (1 adult which posed for one photo on a fence post!, CR90 w of SR14). Other highlights: Prewitt Reservoir area (Logan): Eastern Phoebe (CR4 bridge over the Platte just w of CR25) Eastern Bluebird? (heard only, repeatedly, same phrase, never could see it, cannot completely rule out a mimic by either Blue Jay or starling, same site as phoebe) Red-bellied Woodpecker (1) same bridge Marsh Wren (1) same bridge White-breasted Nuthatch (heard, sounded like "eastern") same bridge Tiger Beetle (Cicindela denverensis (which I believe is a new county record) on the east end of the dam Prewitt Reservoir (Washington): Northern Shoveler (I am estimating conservatively over 4000! The entire res was ringed with them fairly densely, with a smattering across the entire body) Lesser Scaup (several hundred) Gadwall (several hundred) Greater Scaup (at least 1 female) Say's Phoebe (1) outlet canal near the dam Greater Yellowlegs (1) outlet canal near the dam Blue-winged Teal (2m, 1f) outlet canal Western Grebe (2) FOS for me American Tree Sparrow (2 lingerers) Peregrine Falcon (1) no swallows Tiger Beetles: C. hirticollis, C. scutellaris, and C. tranquebarica) Western Chorus Frog (heard) FOS SR14/Weld CR51 (5 miles east of Ault) Mountain Plover (3) no Burrowing Owls (here or in any of the many p-dog towns I checked today) Was surprised not to see a Sage Thrasher today. I should point out that for anyone going out to Prewitt, access is either along the outlet canal north of the dam, or from SR6 along the west side. The roads into the north parking lot near the east end of the dam are closed for road/bridge work. 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 -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
