CFO Trip Report - Baird's Sparrow Ten of us attended the trip to Soapstone Prairie Natural Area at dawn this morning. The early start was essential, as we encountered more song activity than last week, with 7 adult males detected singing from the colony spread out along the Pronghorn Loop and Plover trails. However, only one of these actually posed for photos (along the Plover Trail). Viewing the birds proved to be quite difficult. My subgroup went north on the Pronghorn Loop from the trail junction and we failed to see any of 3 adults that we could hear sing. We did all get scope views of a juvenile Baird's Sparrow (not a Savannah Sparrow this time!), with a fresh, thick black malar/throat stripe. Unfortunately, no photos. To my knowledge, no-one documented any nesting evidence or juveniles, although some folks are still reviewing their photographs. Our total count of BAIS that we encountered in the stakeout area was 11 (5 north of the trail junction and 6 more south). Interestingly, we encountered a 12th bird - a singing adult male - on the hike in, about a mile west of the stakeout area. So, if you are counting, there are still 8 singing males that can be heard from the hiking/biking trails at Soapstone.
Thanks to Doug Faulkner and Derek Hill for co-leading, and to the participants for their volunteer efforts to document nesting. Our Natural Areas permit allows for one more off-trail effort this coming Saturday, Aug 6. If interested, please contact Doug Faulkner (zebrilus AT gmail DOT com) and/or me by email. Nick Komar Fort Collins CO -- 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/162659846.22319720.1469919337946.JavaMail.zimbra%40comcast.net. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
