COBirders,
On my way home from southeast Colorado I stopped at Big Johnson Reservoir to look for a youngster SABINE'S GULL that had been reported. It was easily seen loafing near the island and later flying around. Then just south of the island and on the east shore there was a juvenile AMERICAN GOLDEN-PLOVER. This is only the second time I have seen this species in El Paso. Bill Maynard was able to make it over to see the bird before it got too dark. There were also six SANDLERINGS, three FORSTER'S TERNs, at least eighteen AMERICAN AVOCETs and a smattering of RED-NECKED PHALAROPEs scattered about around the lake. This morning Duane Nelson and I did some leisurely birding around Bent and Kiowa counties. Probably my favorite thing of the day was on our drive to Tempel Grove we came acroos 200+ SWAINSON'S HAWKs of all flavors. A lot of the birds were dark morphs, the most dark morph Swainson's I have ever seen including a number of young birds that were dark. If either of us would have had a DSLR, it would have been great! At Tempel it was very slow, here is the list: 1 Hermit Thrush 1 Swainson's Thrush 1 Ruby-crowned Kinglet 1 Townsend's Solitaire 2 Yellow-rumped Warblers 2 Wilson's Warblers 1 Hairy Woodpecker Then we decided to hit the Locust Grove at NeeNoshe in Kiowas county. It did not have anything real unusual but did have some birds: 1 Dusky Flycatcher 3+ Wilson's Warblers 3+ Orange-crowned Warblers 2 Yellow-rumped Warblers 1 Townsend's Warbler ! Western Tanager 3 Warbling Vireos Hasty Campground below the dam at John Martin Reservoir added an AMERICAN REDSTART (did not have close looks but given how drab probably a young female). An OSPREY was flying over Hasty Lake. There are probably over a 1000 shorebirds at the west end of John Martin Reservoir but to get close would require walking in some mud that may not be possible to get through. Maybe by the end of this week with a number of dry warm days it will dry up enough to walk out closer to the birds. From the bluff I can say there were at least the following species: Black-bellied Plover Killdeer Greater Yellowlegs Baird's Sandpipers Least Sandpipers Stilt Sandpipers Long-billed Dowitchers Wilson's Phalaropes It was just too far to pick out other things that are surely out there. I also made a quick stop on the way out this morning and on the way home at Holbrok to look for Stan's Tricolored Heron. Unfortunately, I think the bird is now gone. The five Snowy Egrets that it had been hanging out with was down to two. There were at least six GREAT EGRETs on the north side of the reservoir in the trees. Thanks to Duane for the personal tour. ----- Mark Peterson Colorado Springs -- 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.
