Greetings, CObirders,
Conditions were very dry out there in the shortgrass prairie & ranchland...
I noticed more dead trees along fence lines & buildings than I've seen
before (& on the western end of the route, an increase in abandoned
trailers & structures which had sprouted up during the pandemic). A woman
from one ranch along the route stopped to chat while she was checking water
in their stock tanks, and expressed grave concerns about their prospects
with the continued, long drought--and also remarked on the unusual &
frequent high winds this spring ("crazy," we agreed).
While last year's count had the greenest conditions I'd seen in nearly a
decade of running the route, this year was among the driest/brownest. This
is reflected in a large decrease in total number of individual birds for
the count--lowest since I started in 2013, with 100 individuals below the
average of 455 over 9 years . The 28 total species (30 the previous day
when scouting the route) however, was at the upper end of species counts
for the years since 2013.
Twelve of the 28 species were present in lower than average numbers
(including Scaled Quail, Mourning Dove, Horned Lark, Cassin's Sparrow),
with most of the other species roughly average in numbers. Most of the
decreased numbers of total individuals is accounted for, however, by the
absence of one species: Lark Bunting (actually this species *was* present,
as one sole individual each day-- likely two different ones, based on the
distance between their locations the two days). The only species present at
an increased number was Rock Pigeon.
As for the two iconic shortgrass prairie species I always love seeing,
after a boom last year of 13 Mountain Plovers, they were back to an average
this year of 3; and Burrowing Owls, whose numbers also see-saw, were at
their minimum since 2013 of 2 individuals observed (I've had just 2 present
for three different discontinuous years, with a high of 13 in 2015).
No Grasshopper or Brewer's Sparrows this year (tho numbers of both are
normally rather low on this route).
Curious to hear about other eastern plains BBS route results.
To the birds! (& maybe a monsoon?)
Marty Wolf
NW CO Springs
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