In spite of the apparent lack of migratory birds this year, three of us ventured forth with our big day plans yesterday. We were optimistic that at least the weather was forecast to be excellent throughout the day. We were owling in the mountains by 4:00 am and quickly got Flammulated, Saw-whet, Great Horned Owls as well as Poorwill (all Conejos County). Great start for sure!
But the rest of the day was difficult as bird numbers were way low, confirming our concerns. We worked hard to find birds and there were very few wiz bang species. Best birds were the four species of owls; a total of 13 Black-bellied Plovers in three locations (6 at Blanca Wetlands Alamosa Cty; 6 at San Luis Lake Alamosa Cty and 1 at Smith Res Costilla Cty). A Stilt Sandpiper at San Luis Lake was a good find. A Red-necked Phalarope was only one among many Wilson's Phalaropes at Blanca wetlands. Warblers were terrible and we even missed the "expected" species like Orange-crowned, Virginia's and no extras. Other birds reported yesterday but not part of our count were a Bobolink and Lazuli Bunting at Blanca Wetlands by Lisa Rawinski. So when the sun had set, we called it a day with 123 species, tying our lowest numbers in the last 10 years or so. It made us appreciate the 143 that still stands as the record. John Rawinski Monte Vista, CO -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group. To post to this group, send email to cobirds@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to cobirds+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/cobirds?hl=en.
