Birders,
Despite the fact that open water is almost completely frozen, and it has
been cold and snowy, I counted 98 Count Week bird species between 12/11
and 12/13 in the John Martin Reservoir CBC Circle. The number and
variety of landbirds made up for the lack of waterbirds. I am hoping to
exceed 100 species tomorrow, a big total considering that the claim to
fame of this count is normally ducks, gulls and other water-dependent
birds. I know of no other Colorado CBC Count Circle that could exceed
100 species when the marquee birds are not present in usual numbers and
variety.
I'll provide a brief list of bird species that I observed that we get on
less than less than half of our counts: Western Grebe, Greater Scaup,
Northern Bobwhite, Great Black-backed Gull (adult), Say's Phoebe (new
for the count), Western Scrub-Jay, Mountain Chickadee, Mountain
Bluebird, Field Sparrow (in two locations), Savannah Sparrow (a total of
5 individuals today), Lincoln's Sparrow (two locations), Swamp Sparrow,
Chestnut-collared Longspur (an amazing total of 25 today), Yellow-headed
Blackbird, Rusty Blackbird, Common Grackle, Brown-headed Cowbird
(multiple locations) and Pine Siskin.
I had four species on 12/10 that I did not see during Count Week:
Glaucous Gull, American Pipit, American White Pelican (I think it died
and was eaten by a coyote) and Hermit Thrush. If the stars had aligned
correctly, this could have been an amazing count.
Duane Nelson
Las Animas, Bent County, CO
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