COBIRDS,
A friend of mine asked me about Mt. Plover in South Park so I decided
to see what records I could dig up. The results are listed below.
These records and reports come from COBIRDS, eBird, Colorado Birds,
Colorado Breeding Bird Atlas I and II, and The Guide to Colorado Birds and
are listed in chronological order. I sent out a RFI to COBIRDs and only
received ONE response. There aren't too many reports of plover and they are
spread "all over" the Park. Most people seem to run into them just by chance
-- a few know what they are looking for and go find them.
To quote Harold Holt, "Of Colorado's four major parks, this [South
Park] is the most impressive, covering over 500 square miles at an average
elevation of just over 9,000 feet."
#1) Colorado Birds: A Reference to Their Distribution and Habitat
By Robert Andrews and Robert Righter
Pub. by the Denver Museum of Natural History, Denver,
Colorado, 1992.
On page 112 Bob and Bob list the Mt. Plover in South Park
(Park County) as "rare" in summer and in migration.
#2) Colorado Breeding Bird Atlas
Edited by Hugh E. Kingery
Published by the Colorado Bird Atlas Partnership and the
Colorado Division of Wildlife, Denver, CO, 1998.
Atlas One (1987 - 1992) obviously covered South Park and the
Mt. Plover breeding there. In their article on Mt. Plover, Kuenning and
Kingery state that "South Park also has a significant number [of Mt. Plover],
in the area from Fairplay south to the Park County line." In Atlas One
eight blocks recorded Possible nesting, one block recorded Probable nesting,
and
7 blocks had Confirmed nesting! These results seemed to cover the WHOLE
Park pretty thoroughly.
The results reported for Atlas One included work by Mike
Wunder, currently of the University of Colorado Denver, who had a Mt. Plover
research project during some of those years. His team's results were
included in the Atlas One results.
Atlas Two (2007-2012) research documented zero blocks
recording Possible nesting, one block recording Probable nesting, and 4 blocks
had
Confirmed nesting!
(http://bird.atlasing.org/Atlas/CO/Main)
Based partially on the Atlas work, some speculate that there
has been a decline in the population of Mt. Plover in South Park as well as
in other parts of the state.
#3) The Guide to Colorado Birds
By Mary Taylor Gray
Westcliffe Publishers, Englewood, Colorado, 1989
In The Guide... Mary Taylor Gray states, "Biologists
estimate as many as 900 [Mt.] Plovers may inhabit South Park."
#4) The Nature Conservancy: High Creek Fen Preserve (Park County) off
Hwy. 285 north of Antero (Don't know what access is like); July 12, 1998 --
3 Mt. Plover; adult and 2 chicks. Reported by Randall Siebert on eBird.
#5) Spinney Mountain Reservoir (Park County); June 8, 2003 -- 1 Mt.
Plover. Reported by Glenn Walbek on eBird.
#6) Spinney Mountain Reservoir (Park County); May 28, 2003 -- 1 Mt.
Plover. Reported by Glenn Walbek on eBird.
#7) Chuck Hundertmark observed Mt. Plover in South Park while working
on the Colorado Breeding Bird Atlas II; July 18, 2009 -- 2 Mt. Plover.
These birds were exhibiting distracting behavior. The sighting was made east
of Reinecker Ridge on the Bar D Ranch road; travel and search Bar D Ranch
Road. This road is approx. one mile southwest of the Como/Boreas Pass Road on
Hwy. 285; turn southeast onto
Bar D.
#8) Indian Mountain Devo (development?)(Park County); Sept. 1, 2009
-- 7 Mt. Plover. Reported by Peter Burke on eBird (traveling report - 5
miles, 4 hours). The site recorded on eBird is northeast of Observatory Rock
on
the northeast side of Tarryall Road at 9,200 ft.; this is approx. 4 miles
southeast of jct. of Packer Lane and Tarryall Road. From Tarryall Road drive
up the road just past Graveyard Gulch Street (Bordenville Cemetery)
presumably into Indian Mountain Devo.
#9) Along Hwy. 285 approx. one mile south of the top of Red Hill
Pass (on way into Fairplay)(Park County); April 7, 2013 -- 3 Mt. Plover.
Reported by Peter Burke on eBird.
#10) Antero Reservoir (Park County); June 7, 2013 -- 2 Mt. Plover.
Reported by David Elwonger on eBird.
#11) Northeast of Spinney Mountain Reservoir (Park County); June 17,
2013 -- 1 Mt. Plover. Reported by John Drummond on eBird. Directions:
Enter South Park from east (Wilkerson Pass) on Hwy. 24. Turn south on second
major road; San Juan Street or County Road 23. Turn southwest on Mineral
Springs Road then south on Chase Gulch Road (dead end). Scan the grasslands...
#12) Northeast of Spinney Mountain Reservoir (Park County); June 23,
2013 -- 3 Mt. Plover; adult and 2 chicks. Reported by Aaron Driscoll on
COBIRDS. Aaron re-found the site reported by John Drummond on eBird on the
17th of June 2013 (follow same directions).
#13) Lastly, in May and June 2014 David Suddjian reports sightings in
FIVE locations in South Park (all in Park County). All are reported on
eBird. On May 2 he observed two Mt. Plover 1 mile east of Hwy. 285 on Park
County Road 56 (Lost Park Rd.). Also on May 2 he observed three Mt. Plover
3.5 miles west of Hwy. 9 on Park County Road 24. On May 19 he observed three
Mt. Plover 5 miles south of Hwy. 9 on Park County Road 53. Also on May 19
he observed two Mt. Plover 13.7 miles south of Hwy. 9 on Park County Road
53 (108/Pawnee Tr.). On June 11 he observed three
Mt. Plover in flight 1 mile southeast of Hwy. 285 on Park County Road 15
(Elkhorn Rd.).
My conclusion is that there is a small population of Mt. Plover widely
scattered over much of South Park in appropriate habitat. Finding them is
another matter, except for Peter and David! Way to go Peter and David!
Thanks very much to Chuck Hundertmark his invaluable counsel on this
little project! As he notes, "It would be productive to have a detailed
census of the South Park MOUP population."
Good Birding, Chris
Mr. Chris A. Blakeslee
Centennial, Colorado
[email protected]
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