Crow Valley Campground was quite interesting this morning. My usual circuit
starts near the host station at the east entrance, proceeds straight south to
the southern fenceline, then west to the sw corner, then north along the west
edge, out into the northern "outback" north of the Group Picnic Area (called
the "Mourning Dove Trail"), then back to the Group Picnic Area, past the
antique farm machinery display, southeast thru the scattered Siberian Elms n of
the Main Picnic Shelter, back to the car near the easternmost outhouse. This
morning I was over half way along the southern fenceline, west of where the
trail sinks below the huge overtopping cottonwood that is due south of the Main
Picnic Shelter, and approaching the southwest corner when my species total
stood at 4! That's right, 4, with all the birds seen or heard to that point
being outside the campground except for a very brief, muffled House Wren
chatter. Never have I seen the Crow Creek riparian corridor along the south
fenceline, including the big thicket s of the Main Picnic Shelter, so devoid of
birds during a migration period. Then I heard a distant, odd call coming from
the Siberian elms n of the Main Picnic Shelter. It turned out to be a Cassin's
Finch (either a female or young male), which about the time I got over to it,
gained altitude and flew off to the south. The elms were full of birds, as was
the northern outback, with its scattered Russian-olives, willows, currants, and
the poorly named "Wildlife Exclosure" (should be called either "Cattle
Exclosure" or "Wildlife Inclosure"). All in all, the visit turned out to be
average in terms of diversity, a little above average in terms of special
birds. Until the first hard freeze, I would recommend visitors not neglect
checking the elms north of the main e-w road thru the campground.
Summary:
Cassin's Finch (f or imm. m)
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker? (1 first-winter, seen well, no red on nape,
"golden-brown" back)
Red-naped Sapsucker (at least 4, all females, all in elms, all showing a least
a hint of red on the nape)
Townsend's Warbler (1f) getting late
Red-breasted Nuthatch (1)
White-breasted Nuthatch (1 or 2, interior subspecies)
Townsend's Solitaire (at least 20 (9 in view at one time in the "Wildlife
Enclosure"))
House Wren (1) getting late
Brown Thrasher (1) getting late
Western Tanager (1)
Both Green-tailed and Spotted Towhee (1 each)
Turkey Vulture (3, lifted from cottonwoods at around 9am)
no White-throated Sparrow
Total of 36 species
Along Highway 14 near Weld CR51 (the road that goes s to Galeton) there was a
nice female prairie race Merlin (my FOS).
Timnath Reservoir had a lot of Western Grebes, Double-crested Cormorants, and
White Pelicans, as has been reported. The gizzard shad population is feeding a
lot of birds. I was unable to find most of the better species reported
yesterday by Nick Komar (Red-necked Phalaropes, two tern species, Lesser
Black-backed Gull) but did manage to see the young Sabine's Gull.
FYI, Windsor Res (the one in the town itself) did NOT have a lot of birds on
it.
Dave Leatherman
Fort Collins
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