Sorry for the late report, but I thought maybe someone else would have beat me to it for Crow Valley yesterday....
Anyway, I arrived out there at 6am yesterday, and it was extremely birdy. But rarities were hard to come by - of the half-dozen or so birders I talked to (including Joe Roller), none of us had refound the previous day's Ash-throated Flycatcher or American Redstart. We did relocate the female Hooded Warbler, and it afforded us many great looks. I came across an Ovenbird at one point. We also flushed multiple Common Poorwills, although it's hard to know how many there are. From other people's reports and my own experiences, there were probably at least 3, perhaps more. One of the Long-eared Owls was also refound, and was quite cooperative for photos. Aside from the rarities, Kathy's M-D's report from yesterday is largely applicable. The most intriguing bird for me was a heard (and possibly seen but not well at all) *Field Sparrow*. It sang once from the general SW corner area, and I believe I saw it fly off eastward, but it wasn't close. I tried following it some ways but it retreated too quickly and I lost it, and never heard the song again. But I did hear that truly characteristic bouncing-ball trill of sweet notes which of course is what caught my attention. If other interesting birds were found I didn't know about them, and would welcome having others chime in. Afterwards I checked out the grove at Weld CRs 57/100. Lots of thrushes there, all Swainson's except for a couple Hermit. I counted over a dozen total hanging out near a wet spot just south of Rd 100 in the little creek there. Otherwise, just a few of the usual suspects, although it was nice seeing and hearing 2 Northern Mockingbirds there. Around 11am I made it to the Poudre River Trail near Prospect Rd in Fort Collins to try my luck on the awesome warblers found by Dave Leatherman the afternoon before. I ran into Joe Mammoser while there, and we both apparently were unsuccessful. I did spot my FOY Plumbeous Vireo there though, as a consolation prize. It's definitely worth rechecking though, as others have found very good warblers along the trail and the place in general is very birdy. And lastly, around 5:30pm I made a quick runthrough of Dixon Reservoir, just to see what I could turn up. Amidst the trees and bushes seemingly dripping with hundreds of Yellow, Yellow-rumped and Orange-crowned Warblers, I teased out one very handsome MacGillivray's Warbler working along the westernmost trail in the wooded area. -- 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 -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
