Cobirders,
Here are directions to the birds found by Nick Komar, Cole Wild and me
at John Martin Reservoir on 10/07/2010. These birds include Henslow's
Sparrow, Nelson's Sparrow, Smith's Longspur and Reddish Egret.
From Road JJ (one mile south of US 50), turn south just east of Bent
County Road 20 into the John Martin Reservoir State Wildlife Area. Go
south for 1/2 mile. Veer southeast, and eventually find a band of 30
foot tall cliffs. You will see a railroad trestle on the south side of
the lake. Drive east along the cliffs on a two-track until you find a
place to descend the cliffs. From the parking place, cross about 100
feet of cracked mud below the cliffs. The ground is mostly dry. When
vegetation thickens, there are beggar ticks, a particularly obnoxious
forb that has seed heads that hitchhike on pants and socks. Boots and
long pants are recommended.
Walk south towards the trestle, noting the abundance of shore and water
birds a half mile out. When you get to the flowing water, you will
notice sedges and lots of shorebirds of a dozen species. This is where
the sparrows thicken. Lots of longspurs flew overhead, mostly
Chestnut-collared and McCowns, but included a calling Smith's.
Most of the sparrows will be Savannah and Vesper Sparrows. The clue for
/Ammodramus /sparrows is that they fly weakly and almost always drop
close to the ground without perching. The Henslow's was especially
furtive. Eventually, we could see rusty wings, bold streaking on rufous
sides and flanks, and an olive face, but only with a lot of patience.
One can walk within 5 feet without flushing the bird, so a little luck
and a large group would be helpful. The last place we saw the Henslow's
Sparrow was at a ten-foot-tall broken cottonwood trunk about 100 yards
south of the only living tall willow tree.
I had not seen the white morph Reddish Egret in about a month. No
wonder. It was far to the south, working an area behind tall grass, and
was out of sight most of the time. It gave a fantastic show of canopy
feeding when it temporarily came out into the open. A word of warning:
there is still a single Snowy Egret present.
Duane Nelson
Las Animas, Bent County, CO
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