Bill, I believe those lark buntings are right on schedule. It is
interesting that they molt while migrating...easily overlooked birds unless
you're prowling the grasslands.
Karl Stecher
Centennial
William H Kaempfer writes:
I continued my birding in SE Colorado today, essentially circumnavigating the Wood Thrush Grove Fire. Lots of spring birds, but I found it interesting that I missed several species that are being seen further north.
From La Junta I drove south to Kim and then east to Cottonwood Canyon. That very special place was still really windy this morning (winds died off as the day wore on and I progressed to the north) and I found a couple of Eastern Phoebes along with Canyon Towhees, Say's Phoebes and a Bewick's Wren. There were Wild Turkey's in display at almost every stop. Crossing the Comanche Grasslands I saw several arriving Vesper Sparrows, and even a few partially molted Lark Buntings. Is April 10th not an unusually early arrival date for our State Bird even in the south east most part of the state?
I headed up to Lamar and the CC Woods where, while there were no eastern specialties (e.g., cardinal, red-headed or bellied woodpeckers or brown thrasher) evident to me in my visit, I did note with pleasure several singing and alternate-molted male Audubon's Warblers around. A visit to Thurston Reservoir was amply birdy-but it seemed to be all potential breeders! Nee Noshe had hoards of Northern Shovelers plus lots of American Avocets and Baird's Sandpipers. I counted 8 Snowy Plovers plus a Semi-palmated Sandpiper and, among song birds, a Chestnut-collared Longspur and a Savannah Sparrow. Finally on the way home I stopped at the waste water pond in Kit Carson. Todd Deininger's Canada Geese had departed, but I wasn't disappointed that the only birds near the water were a pair of Black-necked Stilts.
Bill Kaempfer
Boulder
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