Sorry for the delayed report - I was utterly exhausted when I got home last night.
I spent the day out in Logan, Sedgwick and Phillips counties. The wind was calm to moderate when the day started, but by noon things got pretty hairy out there. Nevertheless, here are some birds of note I encountered on my trip: Logan County ------------------- Red-bellied Woodpecker - LCR 55 over the Platte Northern Bobwhite (heard) - LCR 55 over the Platte Northern Cardinal - several seen and heard singing and calling at Tamarack Ranch Wild Turkeys (heard) - several at Tamarack Ranch Sedgwick County ----------------------- Bald Eagles - 2 1st or 2nd year immatures, in the prairie dog fields along US 138 Eared Grebes - 8 in breeding plumage at Jumbo Reservoir at least 2000 Snow and Ross's Geese at Jumbo Phillips County ------------------- At the Haxtun sewage ponds I encountered: American White Pelican 10 duck species Semipalmated Sandpipers (8) American Pipits (3) in the town of Haxtun, there was also a small flock of Cedar Waxwings. I also found Vesper Sparrows (FOS for me) in all three counties. No bluebirds, but I blame the bracing winds for that. A couple notes about Phillips County, for the sake of future visitors who use the Colorado County Birding web site as a guide. The reservoir at Frenchman Creek SWA near Holyoke is completely drained, and looks like it has been for some time judging by the profuse vegetation lining the basin. Also, one birding site mentioned on the Phillips Cty web page is a small grove known for Black-billed Magpies near the intersection of county roads 51 and 14. Well, that grove is long gone also, replaced by a small residence and a storage barracks. Regarding the web site checklist and the White Pelican...I just noticed that the Phillips checklist doesn't mention American White Pelican. Does that mean I should be documenting my sighting of it? I didn't realize it might be unusual at the time. Like Dave Leatherman who made a trip out that way a couple weeks ago, I also encountered a good number of Rough-legged Hawks along CO 14 on my way home, stoically facing into the howling winds from fence perches near the road. -- Eric DeFonso Fort Collins, CO --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ 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 -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
