Bad news for my Nunn route--mine starts at WCR 122/45 goes south primarily. I do have Grasshopper's, Buntings around house and neighborhood in Nunn. No Cassin's yet. Gary
On Saturday, June 2, 2012 8:24:08 PM UTC-6, Arvind wrote: > > I did my BBS route which starts about 14 miles north of Nunn on hwy 85 and > heads west through the Pawnee Experimental Range and then the National > Grassland. Bird numbers were WAY low. I usually get between 400-600 Lark > Buntings on this route. Yesterday I had 38. Only a single Cassin's > sparrow (compared to 15-20 in past years) and ZERO Grasshopper Sparrows. > Even Horned Lark numbers were way down. The only bird that seemed roughly > in 'normal' numbers was McCown's Longspur. Very few raptors too. Overall > the grasslands are very dry in this area, although I suspect the hard > drought in the Chihuahuan Desert last year reduced wintering populations > considerably (RMBO's winter survey data from northern Mexico suggest > grassland bird populations were roughly half of what they were in 2011). > > Today I had a nice surprise as I went to the Colorado Rockies Old-time > Music Association Festival at the Parrish Ranch west of Berthoud in Larimer > Co. Beautiful and lush riparian forest there supported several (2-3) > singing Red-eyed Vireos and an American Redstart. Wish I had got their > early and brought my binoculars! This is private property, but if you ever > have a chance to visit, bring your binoculars! The festival continues > tomorrow. > > Cheers, > > Arvind Panjabi > 5700' feet, Larimer County, CO > On the north slope of Milner Mtn > Mountain mahogany shrubland and grassland > On Saturday, June 2, 2012 8:24:08 PM UTC-6, Arvind wrote: > > I did my BBS route which starts about 14 miles north of Nunn on hwy 85 and > heads west through the Pawnee Experimental Range and then the National > Grassland. Bird numbers were WAY low. I usually get between 400-600 Lark > Buntings on this route. Yesterday I had 38. Only a single Cassin's > sparrow (compared to 15-20 in past years) and ZERO Grasshopper Sparrows. > Even Horned Lark numbers were way down. The only bird that seemed roughly > in 'normal' numbers was McCown's Longspur. Very few raptors too. Overall > the grasslands are very dry in this area, although I suspect the hard > drought in the Chihuahuan Desert last year reduced wintering populations > considerably (RMBO's winter survey data from northern Mexico suggest > grassland bird populations were roughly half of what they were in 2011). > > Today I had a nice surprise as I went to the Colorado Rockies Old-time > Music Association Festival at the Parrish Ranch west of Berthoud in Larimer > Co. Beautiful and lush riparian forest there supported several (2-3) > singing Red-eyed Vireos and an American Redstart. Wish I had got their > early and brought my binoculars! This is private property, but if you ever > have a chance to visit, bring your binoculars! The festival continues > tomorrow. > > Cheers, > > Arvind Panjabi > 5700' feet, Larimer County, CO > On the north slope of Milner Mtn > Mountain mahogany shrubland and grassland > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msg/cobirds/-/i2w9NSzPeN0J. 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.
