As many of you are painfully aware, recent flooding has made crossing of the South Platte River problematic.
Some bridges remain closed and flooded continues in the low lying portions of the floodplain all the way to the border of the state.
Trying to get from Jumbo to I 76 Sunday afternoon we found some crossing points closed while others were marked with "water may occur on the road surface". Ignoring the latter signs, we elected to take Route 55 south from Crook. The roadway proved to be dry but adjacent fields were clearly flooded. Halfway across the floodplain we made a U turn to view a flock of ibis near the east side of the roadway. Slowing to a stop on what little portion of the road shoulder was available, we were startled when dozens of Wilson's snipe and Killdeer flushed from the field beside us.
As the car ground to a stop, a long-billed snipe-sized shorebird flushed from ditch beside the car and flew ahead of us down the road before crossing to west and disappearing. The impression I immediately had was that the bird was an American Woodcock. It did not have the twisting erratic flight of the snipe (which we had just observed) and lacked the orange tail. We had good views of the bird's back as it flew directly in front of us and the striping appeared to be gray, not the bold bright stripes shown by snipe and it certainly lacked the white rump and back strip of a dowitcher.
My point in posting is not to resolve this ID but to suggest that birding along roads crossing the South Platte present previously unavailable opportunities to view shorebirds and other waterbird at close range. In addition to the aforementioned species, we observed yellowlegs, pectoral sandpipers, and numerous flocks of waterfowl on the north side of the Platte.
Stopping on Rt 55 is, however, somewhat risky since to hosts most of the traffic trying to get across the South Platte in the area. More cautious observers may wish to do their viewing from less traveled (or closed roads) in the area (e.g. Rd 37 from Sterling, or Road 93 to the south of Red Lion).
Doug Kibbe
Littleton, Co.
Some bridges remain closed and flooded continues in the low lying portions of the floodplain all the way to the border of the state.
Trying to get from Jumbo to I 76 Sunday afternoon we found some crossing points closed while others were marked with "water may occur on the road surface". Ignoring the latter signs, we elected to take Route 55 south from Crook. The roadway proved to be dry but adjacent fields were clearly flooded. Halfway across the floodplain we made a U turn to view a flock of ibis near the east side of the roadway. Slowing to a stop on what little portion of the road shoulder was available, we were startled when dozens of Wilson's snipe and Killdeer flushed from the field beside us.
As the car ground to a stop, a long-billed snipe-sized shorebird flushed from ditch beside the car and flew ahead of us down the road before crossing to west and disappearing. The impression I immediately had was that the bird was an American Woodcock. It did not have the twisting erratic flight of the snipe (which we had just observed) and lacked the orange tail. We had good views of the bird's back as it flew directly in front of us and the striping appeared to be gray, not the bold bright stripes shown by snipe and it certainly lacked the white rump and back strip of a dowitcher.
My point in posting is not to resolve this ID but to suggest that birding along roads crossing the South Platte present previously unavailable opportunities to view shorebirds and other waterbird at close range. In addition to the aforementioned species, we observed yellowlegs, pectoral sandpipers, and numerous flocks of waterfowl on the north side of the Platte.
Stopping on Rt 55 is, however, somewhat risky since to hosts most of the traffic trying to get across the South Platte in the area. More cautious observers may wish to do their viewing from less traveled (or closed roads) in the area (e.g. Rd 37 from Sterling, or Road 93 to the south of Red Lion).
Doug Kibbe
Littleton, Co.
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