I wasn't trying to pursue any kind of birding marathon, but did spend some time at a few well-known birding spots in SE Colorado these last 2 days. My summary:
Tempel Grove (Prowers) -- in over 1-1/2 hours yesterday afternoon, I found a whopping 8 individual birds (yes, it was quiet and slow) comprising 8 species: a 1st year female Black-throated Warbler; a White-throated Sparrow; a Carolina Wren; Orange-crowned Warbler; Ruby-crowned Kinglet; Blue Jay; Northern Flicker; and Slate-colored (Dark-eyed) Junco. Two Buttes (Baca) this morning -- fairly birdy with expected species until 8 a.m. when the winds became more vigorous, and the birds far less apparent. Maybe 20 species total, in 4 hours below the dam. Most notable were White-throated Sparrow (1 -- is this species still "notable" this fall?), and Lincoln's Sparrow (1). And the sound of 100s or more roosting Red-wing Blackbirds last night, and 3-dozen-plus "de-roosting" Wild Turkeys this morning. Lamar (Prowers) this morning and afternoon -- Fairmount Cemetery was windy, not birdy. For the first 20 minutes the number of white-tailed deer (4) out-numbered total individual birds. After an hour, I had a total of 6 species of birds unremarkable for the location. At Lamar Community College woods, the south end started out promising with a fair amount of bird activity, the highlight being a pair of Carolina Wrens (one of which vocalized) along with several less notable species. Moving north through the woods, bird activity dropped to near zero -- no exaggeration. Two-plus hours yielded a total of 9 species for the LCC woods. I also stopped briefly at Lake Hasty, where there were few birds on or near the water -- a few coots, Canada geese, 2 Ruddy Ducks, a half-dozen each Western Grebes and Greater Yellowlegs, and a few other miscellaneous. Overall, very slow birding but included a few notable species, several other enjoyable ones, and a nice time of year to be outdoors, birding or otherwise. David Gillilan Denver / Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry -- 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 https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
