Greetings All,
Tony Leukering, Mark Peterson, and I did a Big Day on Saturday from the mountains w. of the San Luis Valley e to Baca and Kiowa Counties. The total for the day was 193 species. My companions sharp eyes and extensive distribution knowledge, plus Mark's excellent driving, were the keys to success. Before getting into highlights below, one of the oddest occurrences was stopping, just before midnight, looking for rail spots and having a Sage Sparrow respond to my whistled Sora imitation. I knew my Sora efforts were subpar, but really. The bird was nice enough to vocalize after midnight as well, our only one (Sage Sparrow) for the day. Highlights were (pls excuse any county misspellings): CONEJOS COUNTY Black-necked Stilt (3) at NE of Sanford Yellow-billed Cuckoo (1) at Pike's Stockade White-winged Crossbill (1) at La Manga Pass COSTILLA COUNTY Snowy Plover (1) at Smith Res. White-rumped Sandpiper (3) at Smith Res. HUERFENO COUNTY Hepatic Tanager (2) along Sta Clara Creek near Pryor (traditional location) Indigo Bunting (1) at same spot OTERO COUNTY White-winged Dove (1 singing) at Higbee Eastern Bluebird (pair) at Higbee Black-throated Sparrow (1 singing at Higbee) Rose-breasted Grosbeak at Oxbow SWA Blue Grosbeak (an amazing movement, attempted precise count was 69) BENT COUNTY Gray-cheeked Thrush (1) at Van's Grove KIOWA Snow Goose (2) at Neenoshe Res. Semipalmated Sandpiper (6) at Neenoshe Res. White-rumped Sandpiper (23+) at Neenoshe Res. Stilt Sandpiper (4) at Neenoshe Res. We also had a smattering of late moving Western Tans, OS Flys, Willow Flys. On June 5th we spent a fair bit of time at LAKE CHERAW: The lake is in excellent condition for ducks and shorebirds; we had an excellent collection of the usual ducks including a nice count of 28 Redheads. The rarest bird was a LEAST TERN. There was also a good variety of shorebirds including: Snowy Plovs with young 44 Black-necked Stilts 17 American Avocets 1 Willet 15 Long-billed Curlews 1 Semipalmated Sandpiper 6 WR Sandpipers Good Luck and Good Birding Steven Mlodinow -- 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.com/group/cobirds?hl=en.
