Birders,
I've been forced to stay close to home during the deep freeze due to frozen pipes, but local birding near Las Animas Junction, Bent County, CO has been rewarding. I assume all reservoirs are totally frozen (-31 F can do that). There may be places on the Arkansas River that still have open water.
The hardest bird to find, but probably the most exciting, has been Purple Finch. I go out all the time, but have only seen Purple Finches four times since the New Year. Rarely, Purple Finches will find my ground-feeding station just east of the RR Crossing of the Purgatoire River two miles east of Las Animas (approached by a circuitous route from south of the Purgatoire River). Yesterday, I found three female-type Purple Finches in tall sunflowers south of the railroad track. I photographed two of them. I got to share them with two local birders.
At my feeding station south of the aluminum shed and propane tank on the east side of the Railroad Bridge, a red Fox Sparrow showed up yesterday, when I photographed it. It was still there today.
I was able to photograph an uncommon mix of east meets west today at another place north of the railroad tracks where I scatter seeds. In this picture, the Northern Cardinal is the expected bird, while Mountain Chickadees only appear this far east of the mountains during invasion years. I saw five Northern Cardinals on my walk today. Yesterday, I saw two hybrid Spotted X Eastern Towhees in the same area.
Respectfully,
Duane Nelson
Las Animas, Bent County, CO
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