Otero Co: I arrived at Rocky Ford SWA yesterday at 8:00 to find Wilson's Warbler, Orange-crowned Warbler, Yellow-rumped Warblers and Blue-gray Gnatcatcher. Brown Thrashers and Blue Jays in abundance, and a pair of Yellow-shafted Northern Flickers. Lots of water in ditches along the trails, probably snowmelt based on the amount of broken branches I saw in the parking area. How full is Lake Holbrook? The dirt road I usually park on near the NW side is a channel of water that held ducks. Nearer to the main road a flooded field held Black-necked Stilts and American Avocets. It was hard to tell how much of this was due to recent snow, but the res is chock full, no shoreline. The road on the south end had the reservoir coming right up to it, and water south of it for the first time I remember, I counted 82 White-faced Ibis working the area. There is a small playa or pond to the east of the dam road, in addition to Wilson's Phalaropes there was a breeding plumage Cattle Egret strolling near the far bank. I remember Sibley Birds saying they're never in water, so I called out my window asking it to please not go any further down. Lake Cheraw was just as full, no noticeable shoreline so only the longer legged-shorebirds were there. Saw six Northern Mockingbirds in the bushes/trees around the lake, Great-tailed Grackles were numerous.The road south through town (two blocks) out to the small peninsula, the best viewing area, was barricaded with cones and large objects, not sure what that's about.
Crowley Co: On the drive between Cheraw and Meredith I saw a nice flock of about 22 Lark Buntings, almost all males, and a single Broad-winged Hawk. Twice I saw two Burrowing Owls occupying the same prairie dog mound. Lake Meredith was...totally full. A small thin line of mud east of the boat ramp had 18 Forster's Terns hanging with Ring-billed Gulls, highlight of my day and good photos. Also two Sanderlings and two Western Sandpipers, two Willets, and one Marbled Godwit. All kind of going back and forth in this small, concentrated area, and it's the first time I've seen Willets foraging up onto the land fifty feet or so. West of the dam was a Spotted Sandpiper working about three feet of shoreline. The nearby feedlot area was full, only Franklin's Gulls and Lesser Yellowlegs, no ideal places for Sandpipers, again. But I finally had my first of year Brown-headed Cowbird, I had been getting nervous. And large numbers of Yellow-headed Blackbirds and both Grackles. Lake Henry was so full it almost goes onto the road on the far west side. In the extreme northwest end, can't access it but through my scope the lake is massively overflowing into the rancher's fields. Rock Wren on the rocks, in the far west trees one more Orange-crowned Warbler and a very active flock of Yellow-rumped Warblers, no exotic birds hanging with them. Clark's Grebe's always seem to be at Lake Henry in far greater numbers than Meredith, just a mile or so away. The Clark's and Western Grebes were performing courtship rituals, sitting up (looks like they're standing) with mossy twig offerings in their bills, then running across the water. I'd previously thought it was just the male presenting this, but I saw a few pairs with both doing this same thing. Awesome. Pied-billed, Horned, and Eared Grebes rounded out the category. I noticed a few House Wrens during the day, none of them were doing that scoldy, chattering call, they seemed mostly quiet, skulking low-down in tangled underbrush. I learned a new one-note House Wren call. Western Kingbirds filling in, Lark Sparrows joining the Chipping Sparrows, with White-crowned outnumbering them both. And a first of year Green-tailed Towhee. I counted 78 species with only a handful of ducks and several noticeable misses. Early for warblers, lots of water everywhere, trees leafed out, and birds hiding behind them. Dan Stringer Larkspur, 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 cobirds+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to cobirds@googlegroups.com. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/cobirds/38981a9d-1316-4350-affd-5620f248f6c2%40googlegroups.com. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
