Hi all: Last night -- actually, not all that many hours ago, I covered a goodly portion of the Arkansas River valley in Prowers and Bent counties looking to get Black Rail recorded on the 2nd Colorado Breeding Bird Atlas (http://www.cobreedingbirdatlasii.org/). Because of the nearly due east-west path of the Arkansas and due to the vagaries of selecting the one block (of six) on each topo quad to be the priority block for Atlas coverage, the river and its associated riparian forest and marshes are almost entirely missed by Atlas priority blocks. That would explain why there were only two registrations of the species prior to this summer. Under a bright fullish moon, I did not use playback to elicit vocalizations of Black Rails, except at one spot where I knew them to be but didn't hear them calling spontaneously and because it was the only spot on the topo quad (Hasty) that I knew them to be. After getting no calling Soras at the first five stops, I decided to try to elicit Sora calls at all subsequent stops.
Results: 42 Black Rails on four quads (Las Animas, Kreybill, Hasty, and Lamar East) at 11 sites (3 in Prowers), 58 Virginia Rails (present at every site), 6 Great Horned Owls at 5 sites (single begging youngsters at Thurston Res. and just east of US 387 along Hwy 196, both in Prowers), 2 Barn Owls at 2 sites, Northern Mockingbirds galore (!), quite a few Yellow-breasted Chats, lots of Killdeer, a few Western Meadowlarks, and one calling LEAST BITTERN. The Least Bittern, which called 11 times while I was there, was at a historic spot for the species, Fort Lyon SWA (http://www.coloradocountybirding.com/county/bird_a_county.php?name=Bent; site #9) and was calling from the marsh along the north side of the causeway at/near the dead-topped Russian Olive (about 38.076535°N, 103.161502°W). I believe that this is where a pair was seen multiple times a few years back and it might behoove searchers to go during the day to actually see the bird(s). I would certainly not suggest anyone unfamiliar with the site attempt to drive in during the dark. Also, please do not disturb the bird(s) by using tape playback -- the bird was calling spontaneously when I was there, as this may be the only site in the state hosting the species right now. Enjoy, Tony Leukering Villas, NJ -- 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.
