For what it's worth, I have been up at Larimer CR5 between Roads 82 and 92 at
the Baird's Sparrows stretch from 6:15 to 10am both yesterday and today. Among
yesterday's group of 6, and today's of 5, none of us saw or heard Baird's
Sparrows, except maybe one person whose name I didn't catch. There was a
proclamation on COBIRDS by Randy Siebert about the birds still being there.
Maybe he is the person I didn't know, and maybe the Baird's Sparrows are truly
still present. Not sure how communications occur, or don't occur, in such
situations when people are all spread out. One thing I do know is that most of
us up there the last few days have considerable experience surveying prairie
birds, including in the wind, and that we still have the better part of the
hearing faculties we were given. I also know there's a reason why many
experienced birders in CO need Baird's for their list and/or state lists - they
are cryptic, don't occur here all that often, and their song isn't the most
distinctive or far-reaching in the Class Aves.
Kudos to Nick and others for finding, documenting, and effectively
communicating about these great birds. Kudos to the prairie once again for
demonstrating its remarkable ability to respond to rain, if and when it gets
it. I think I have tallied about 25 species or so during my three trips up
there of late, including Blue Grosbeaks, Common Raven, multiple Burrowing Owls,
both Cc and McCown's Longspurs, nesting Loggerhead Shrikes (if one wonders why
they are called "Loggerhead", take a good look at a blockheaded fledgling
LOSH), zillions of Grasshopper Sparrows of all ages, Brewer's Sparrows, all
shades and ages of Lark Buntings, ratty-looking Vesper Sparrows, Sage Thrashers
of all ages, young and old Swainson's Hawks, nighthawks in the sky and on
posts, Say's Phoebes, both common kingbirds, dispersing Chipping Sparrows, and,
of course, boatloads of Horned Larks and Western Meadowlarks of all ages. And
I heard others encountered an Upland Sandpiper.
Dave Leatherman
Fort Collins
--
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/SNT148-W11254E87AEB1C87DAAEA04C1750%40phx.gbl.
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
