Thanks to all for the great discussion about the unfolding picture of possible breeding BAIS's at or near Drenann Road, or at least somewhere in our fair state. (I have heard that juvy sparrows beg for food in migration, but have no references. What do we actually know about that?)
But I am hoping that the BAIS were breeding nearby. To further the conversation about the grass height, I checked in with John Drummond, who is knowledgable about the green scene in El Paso County. It is not just the positive effect of the rains that fostered the taller grasses at Drennan Road, John explained to me, but the absence of grazing at all. The prolonged Drought over recent years saw ranchers selling off the last of their cattle by the spring of 2013. So those pastures have gone from over-grazed* to NOT grazed. Then came the rains. One of these years, maybe in 2015 or later, cattle will again roam the land, and we can look again for BAIS, but maybe not in those same fields, but in other Colorado taller grass pastures (if we can find any). The thing that amazed me the most about these BAIS, was the relative ease of seeing them, despite their storied skulking, sulking, and hiding low. When they began to show off on barbed fences, I was puzzled. *What, no disappearing into the grass?" Last Friday, September 4, Drummond, Gillilan and I saw a juvy BAIS on a High Utility Line - think telephone wire. That may be a record in the "getting high" category for BAIS in CO. Joe Roller, Denver * I try not to use the word "over-grazed,' after Seth Gallagher, RMBO biologist, reminded me that the term to use around ranchers is just "grazed," as in, "Buck, I see that yonder pasture, with its vast expanse of soil and tiny blades of grass, has been "grazed." -- 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]. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/cobirds/CAJpZcUAawajzd7MDNv3cyHbdyYxaH7AyT-N89gix2aahFHTqZQ%40mail.gmail.com. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
