I decided to take another run at Prewitt today, as my last trip out there was something of a bust. This time of year, a week or so can make a lot of difference. I started working my way northeast from the outlet canal, and the Russian olive thicket yielded immediate results. This small grove (the first RO trees you reach after the first cottonwood grove) was extremely birdy, and a five minute stay turned into an hour. A little patience and some pishing produced multiple house wrens, yellow and Wilson's warblers, plus a warbling vireo, blue-gray gnatcatcher, a female Mac warbler and a Virginia's warbler. After the obligatory stroll up to the northeast cottonwood grove (if you're gonna go to Prewitt ya gotta check out the red-headed woodpeckers), I took another look at the olives. Noticing that there were birds moving from the olives into the adjacent cottonwoods, I followed the action and picked up a Townsend's warbler and a femail blackpoll. Continuing west through the cottonwoods (in the general direction of the outlet canal), activity continued to pick up and I eventually saw another half dozen Townsend's, another blackpoll, dozens of chipping and lark sparrows, a Brewer's sparrow, a yellow-rump and many more yellow and Wilson's. There were also clouds of all five swallows (no violet-greens this far east, of course).
A walk out onto the flats around the shrinking reservoir produced a nice variety of shorebirds, though nothing particularly rare (like for example, a curlew sandpiper which I apparently missed by a few minutes at Jackson). There were hundreds of pipers, including all the common peeps, tons of killdeer, a nice sprinkling of stilt sandpipers, pectorals and lesser yellowlegs (I couldn't turn up a single greater!) and a single semi-palmated plover.
The inlet area is dry and quiet. Your time is probably best spent over by the dam.
I swung by Jackson and walked out on Doug's Stinky Mudflats in search of the buffies, which were apparently hanging out down by the dam with their new buddy the curlew sandpiper, no doubt pointing and laughing as I stumbled through the three inches of black mud. As Joe suggested, if you are going out there, mud boots are a must.
While Steve was making the exceptional curlew discovery, I was basically wasting my time up at Crow Valley. There was a little activity, with the most significant discovery being more mockingbirds than I have ever seen there- seven or eight, depending upon how many times I may have counted the same birds. Several juveniles were in the group. I also had a willow and a Cordilleran flycatcher- maybe. I am told that these days we are not supposed to call these birds Cordies unless we're sure they're not Pacific-slopes, which I will never be sure of in this lifetime. Perhaps Steve or Tony could comment on the official point of view on this.
And then halfway home I checked my email and found the curlew sandpiper report and almost turned around and headed back....except that I am not in the market for a divorce at the moment.
Good birding to all,
Norm Lewis
Lakewood
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