Hi Everyone—
Today 8/11 I birded my way from Lamar to Longmont. First stop was Two Buttes. Surprise! There is a raging torrent where the road into the Two Buttes Dam camping area used to be, and the road is roped off. The reservoir is as full as I’ve ever seen it. Best thing I saw in the area was a rather muddy-looking badger crawling into its burrow near the corner of Prowers Co Roads B.5 and 12. John Martin Reservoir also has a lot more water than I’ve seen in a while, so some of the traditional sparrow habitat is now habitat for White-faced Ibis and White Pelicans. A few shorebirds were around: 2 Greater Yellowlegs, a Lesser Yellowlegs, and heard-only Baird’s and Least Sandpipers. Van’s Grove had a Ladder-backed Woodpecker and a rather unexpected Pipevine Swallowtail (it’s pretty well shredded, so it may not be going anywhere). At the RV Park in Hasty, a Red-headed Woodpecker was keeping a watchful eye on a youngster. Blue Grosbeaks were common everywhere I looked, and males were still singing (among the very few birds that still are). Along I-70 westbound at mile 334.2 (Elbert County just south of the Arapahoe County line), a Red-headed Woodpecker was on a post. As many times as I’ve driven that stretch, woodpeckers are not the usual scenery.
(I was in Oklahoma City on Saturday 8/10, apparently among the last to see the Lake Overholser South Polar Skua.)
Mark Miller
Longmont, CO
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