[cobirds] SE Colorado

Greetings birders -

Friday and Saturday, Jeff and I headed down to SE Colorado for a short
get-a-way. We lucked out with exceptional weather (moderate temps,
light winds) and even found a few decent birds:

Holbrook Reservoir: Partially filled with water. A good assortment of ducks.

Lake Cheraw: Shoreline looks good, but other than a small smattering
of ducks, not much there on Friday.

Higbee Cemetery/Higbee Road: The cemetery was quiet, but the road was
fairly birdy. Several miles up close to where the road narrows, we
found a pair of Black Phoebes singing and chasing each other about.

Vogel Canyon: Pretty much a bird-free zone. Exceptions included the
expected Canyon Wren and two Eastern Phoebes.

John Martin Dam: We parked on top of the dam and used the vantage
point to scope out the east end of the lake as well as Lake Hasty.
Large numbers of Double-crested Cormorants in full breeding attire
were hanging out with a sizeable flock of American White Pelicans.
Flying against the east face of the dam, I was surprised to find four
Cliff Swallows - it seemed a bit early.

Thurston Reservoir: Saturday morning we ventured to Thurston where a
trio of dancing Sandhill Cranes hung out in the cornfields to the
south. The mud at Thurston looks great, but alas only a handful of
Baird's Sandpipers and a few avocets where sharing the space with the
ducks and Killdeer.

Lamar CC: This location proved to be fairly quiet. A pair of
cardinals continue at the south end along with a very vocal Carolina
Wren near the middle. At the south end Dan Maynard and Mark Peterson
located a Harris' Sparrow hanging around with a White-crowned Sparrow.
In the distance, I could hear a Red-bellied Woodpecker. The resident
Wood Ducks have returned.

Two Buttes: We headed down to Two Buttes late in the morning
recognizing that many of the good birds Mark and Dan found in the
morning may well have gone silent. Jeff may have gotten a very brief
view of the Golden-crowned Sparrow seen earlier by Mark and Dan. I
had decent looks at the Yellow-bellied Sapsucker they also found. We
also located a Lesser Goldfinch. There is some water backed up behind
the dam. The mud looks decent and produced one Long-billed Dowitcher
and a few avocets in addition to the terribly common Killdeer.

All in all, we had a great trip puttering around some of our favorite
spots in SE Colorado.

Good birding,
Kathy Mihm Dunning
Denver

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