I finished up my trip to Southeast Colorado today, and I think that the most interesting observation that I can come up with is that the timing of migration 150-200 miles to the south and east of the front range wasn't too much different than up here. For instance, I looked at Brandon Percival's report from Chico Basin for today and the migrants he reported there were the same ones I saw in Lamar-Yellow-rumped and Orange-crowned Warblers, Chipping and Vesper Sparrows and so forth.
I started this morning at Lamar Community College Woods which was full of very loud Brown Thrashers and Northern Cardinals. I must say that I've never witnessed as many Cardinals in one location in Colorado before (and I have to say that I saw my first Colorado Cardinals more than 20 years ago on the first Colorado Breeding Bird Atlas in Wray-check it out-they were only reported in 3 blocks on the first Atlas). At a minimum I had three males and one female, but perhaps more. There weren't many migrants, though, besides the afore mentioned warblers only a Common Yellowthroat plus a Ruby-crowned Kinglet and a Lincoln's Sparrow. The cemetery had two of the most obvious Great Horned Owls I've ever seen, I guess they feel no threat among the dead. Not much happening, so I continued on north, but not before driving into an open but unattended gravel pit site along the river where there were cormorants, grebes and a Snowy Egret-all good finds in Lamar. (I should report, in case anyone is interested, that I had Canada Goose chicks just south of the bridge heading north out of town and three Great Horned Owl chicks in a nest about 1 mile east of Thurston Res.) Thurston Reservoir was terrific, unfortunately I could not locate the Little Blue Heron that Brandon found earlier in the week, but otherwise it is a virtual carpet of waterfowl-coots, ruddys, scaup, shovelers etc. There were about 200 ibis-all that I was able to examine White-faced, plus I had my first Spotted Sandpipers in the shore-less lake. Best bird there for me was a Greater Scaup. I also have Ring-billed and Franklin's Gull (which is good because my only previous gull in Prowers County was a Sabine's). Along the ditch road on the SE side of Thurston there were numerous interesting migrants including a Marsh Wren, a House Wren and a Wilson's Warbler. I continued north from Thurston getting a Sage Thrasher, Burrowing Owl and a Rock Wren (they were all over out east today) before moving on to Kiowa County. As a note, there were birds on King Reservoir (rumored to never host birds)-two gull species (by size difference, probably 1 herring and 3 Ring-billed since they all appeared pale and white-headed) and 5 or 6 dowitchers. There was no water in either Queens (aka Nee Nothing), Nee Noshe was down to its usual low level of the past several years and had about 12 Marbled Godwits among other usual shorebird suspects. I also flushed a Barn Owl in the trees along the south shore. Across 287 along the road between the totally dry Nee So Pah and the totally wet Nee Grande I found a male Rose Breasted Grosbeak to brighten up an otherwise fairly dreary day for migrants. Continuing north I cut east to Sheridan Lake rather than try Eads-good choice. Well I presume it was a good choice; who knows there were probably 12 species of warblers in Eads. Well, probably not. In any event, Sheridan Lake was in fact a lake shore community with water in its eponymous lake. And on that lake was one Black-bellied Plover as well as a few more common things. I bet I wouldn't have seen that in Eads. From there, on north to Cheyenne Wells (how can a town that must be the largest community within 40 miles not have a community park?) and then Kit Carson. That was the much better of the two as I went to the cemetery (have you ever notices that these plains birding travelogues tend to be back and forth between the cemetery and the sewage treatment plant) where I found a Ruby-crowned Kinglet and a pair of Blue-gray Gnatcatchers. From there it was pretty much on home save for a stop at the drying up Road W ponds in Cheyenne County which had very little until a flock of Least Sandpipers started moving after a Harrier flyover. One final stop in Agate garnered a few hard to get Elbert County birds like American White Pelican and Western Grebe. For the day, as for Saturday, 103 species. Bill Kaempfer Boulder --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ 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 -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
