My wife and I like to escape to Lake Hasty every spring for an early -nice weather- camping and birding trip. Lake Hasty (below John Martin Res) never disappoints. Beautiful weather this past Fri-Sun with highs in the 70s and 80s and great sleeping weather overnight. A very weird high wind event that struck about 2am on Sunday morning and lasted about an hour shook everything up, and then back to nice and calm!
Last year, we went in mid-April (14-16) but the weather report for this year allowed us to go 2 weeks earlier. The bird population showed it. Last year tons of waterfowl on Lake Hasty - this year - very sparse. Last year we had 55 species, and this year only 50. Highlights were: . Short-eared Owl - flushed from the sage brush and sandy hills south of Lake Hasty along CR 26 while drive. Approx. here "37.995486,-102.924042". It flushed a second time as we drove up to the first landing site. This was about noon. This time it flew about 300 yards aware before landing and we never saw it again. . Eastern Phoebe - this bird was seen and heard along "red-shin (?) trail" heading south out of the campground along the tamarisk/willow/elm habitat along the border of the private hunting land. Complete list below. Jeff J Jones ( <mailto:[email protected]> [email protected]) Teller County - 8500' - Montane Woodlands FIRST SIGHTINGS: World: 0, Annual: 26 Species: 50 - Subspecies: 0 - Forms: 50 Total Records: 50 Canada Goose Branta canadensis Gadwall Anas strepera Mallard Anas platyrhynchos Northern Shoveler Anas clypeata Canvasback [a] Aythya valisineria Redhead Aythya americana Ring-necked Duck Aythya collaris Bufflehead [a] Bucephala albeola Hooded Merganser [a] Lophodytes cucullatus Ruddy Duck [a] Oxyura jamaicensis Scaled Quail [a] Callipepla squamata Common Loon [a] Gavia immer Horned Grebe [a] Podiceps auritus Eared Grebe [a] Podiceps nigricollis Double-crested Cormorant [a] Phalacrocorax auritus Turkey Vulture [a] Cathartes aura Red-tailed Hawk Buteo jamaicensis American Kestrel Falco sparverius American Coot Fulica americana Killdeer [a] Charadrius vociferus Greater Yellowlegs [a] Tringa melanoleuca Ring-billed Gull [a] Larus delawarensis Rock Pigeon Columba livia Eurasian Collared-Dove Streptopelia decaocto Mourning Dove [a] Zenaida macroura Great Horned Owl Bubo virginianus Short-eared Owl [a] Asio flammeus Belted Kingfisher Megaceryle alcyon Downy Woodpecker [a] Picoides pubescens Northern Flicker Colaptes auratus Eastern Phoebe [a] Sayornis phoebe Say's Phoebe [a] Sayornis saya Loggerhead Shrike [a] Lanius ludovicianus Western Scrub-Jay [a] Aphelocoma californica Black-billed Magpie Pica hudsonia American Crow Corvus brachyrhynchos Chihuahuan Raven [a] Corvus cryptoleucus Horned Lark Eremophila alpestris White-breasted Nuthatch Sitta carolinensis American Robin Turdus migratorius European Starling Sturnus vulgaris Vesper Sparrow [a] Pooecetes gramineus White-crowned Sparrow [a] Zonotrichia leucophrys Red-winged Blackbird Agelaius phoeniceus Western Meadowlark [a] Sturnella neglecta Brewer's Blackbird [a] Euphagus cyanocephalus Common Grackle [a] Quiscalus quiscula House Finch Carpodacus mexicanus American Goldfinch Spinus tristis House Sparrow Passer domesticus Birder's Diary - www.BirdersDiary.com - 4/2/2012 -- 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.
