My husband (Lucky Al) and I went out early this morning. Arriving at Crow Valley at about 6 a.m. and 32 degrees, we drove through only, seeing mostly Robins, Eurasian Collared Doves and a surprising amount of tent campers.
We then went to the "Birding Tour" on CR 96 etc. for about the first mile or so, they've been grading, and after that it was smooth sailing. We saw several lovely Lark Bunting males, many Horned Larks, of which one pair we watched engaging in a dramatic ring-around-the rosie breeding "dance". Fantastic display. There were Brewer's and Vesper Sparrows and one Savannah Sparrow, Western Meadowlarks, Mallards, Brown-headed Cowbirds and many Mourning Doves. We then headed north along the route and had a chilly walk down to some distant cottonwoods, seeing Lincoln's, WC Sparrows, Starling and Red-winged Blackbirds. I think we only saw one car the whole time! Continuing north as it goes uphill we began to see male McCown's Longspurs - what stunning birds! Then we were treated to killer looks at a gorgeous male Chestnut-collard Longspur. We saw 3 total on the route and even a few McCown's were displaying. We saw American Kestrel, Swainson's Hawk, a stunning juvenile Golden Eagle, Red-tailed Hawk, Prairie Falcon, Northern Harrier, Rock Wren and Brewer's Blackbird. We then proceeded to Norma's grove (100/57) and found Hermit and Swainson's Thrush, Brown Thrasher, Loggerhead Shrike, Song Sparrow, Spotted Towhee, American Robins, and a beautiful Jackrabbit. Back on CR57 we then turned east again on CR96 and found a beautiful pair of Mountain Plover - making it a triple play for Al - all 3 prairie specialties the first time out to Pawnee! That ended our prairie visit (oops! Western Kingbird!) and we motored on down to Lower Latham. We stayed off the main road CR 44 - but went up and down, CR 48, 42 and 40. Finding a nice mix of birds: Black-billed Magpie House Sparrow Cinnamon Teal Northern Shoveler Ring-necked Ducks Great Blue Heron House Finch Barn Swallow Black-necked Stilts- Lovely! Blue-winged Teal Canada Goose Am. White Pelican Great-tailed Grackle White-faced Ibis Greater Yellowlegs Lesser Yellowlegs Willet Rock Pigeon Marbled Godwit Gadwall Am. Wigeon Lark Sparrow House Wren Sage Thrasher and 3 American Pipits. All in all a fantastic day! Connie Kogler Loveland,CO AslansOwn.com -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
