Hello, Birders.
With a group from The Nature Conservancy in Colorado, I was a guest at two private ranches in Las Animas County the past two days, Monday-Tuesday, June 10-11.
Yesterday afternoon, at a formation called "Dripping Springs," we saw 2 SCOTT'S ORIOLES, 2 HEPATIC TANAGERS, and 1 BLACK-THROATED SPARROW. This remarkable hotspot is a bit like Las Chance, Lincoln County: It's a tiny little patch of water in a pit ringed by hackberries. The birds lining up to drink were fantastically diverse: multiple CASSIN'S KINGBIRDS, ASH-THROATED FLYCATCHERS, BUSHTITS, EASTERN PHOEBES, BLUE GROSBEAKS, you name it. But unlike Last Chance, which is surrounded by shortgrass prairie, Dripping Springs is surrounded by a mix of junipers, pinyon pine, a fair bit of ponderosa pine, and rocks, rocks, rocks. Some other birds in the general vicinity included GREATER ROADRUNNER and CURVE-BILLED THRASHER.
This morning, in the Chacuaco Creek drainage, we saw 2 glorious GRAY VIREOS, 5 SUMMER TANAGERS, and 1 RUFOUS-CROWNED SPARROW. Also 10+ MISSISSIPPI KITES, 3 RED-HEADED WOODPECKERS, 4 BEWICK'S WRENS, 1 PINYON JAY, 3 CANYON TOWHEES, 2 LADDER-BACKED WOODPECKERS, 2 EASTERN PHOEBES, and 1 GREATER ROADRUNNER.
It was 109 degrees Fahrenheit on our way out of La Junta, Otero County. But it's a dry heat... :-)
See for yourself: tinyurl.com/Hot-La-Junta
Ted Floyd
tedfloyd57@hotmail.com
Lafayette, Boulder County, Colorado
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