Birders,
Sorry for this late note. I found and photographed a juvenile Yellow-bellied Flycatcher at Van's Grove, Bent County CO on 9/14. This bird had a yellow throat, yellow belly, complete eye-ring, round head, short tail, medium-length primary projection, and looked more like a Least or Hammond's Flycatcher than a Cordilleran. I did not report it for the worst of all reasons. Van's Grove has become a "dumping ground". The area around the very tree the flycatcher frequented was used as an outhouse by dove hunters camping in the grove in the last week, and I didn't have the bio-hazard equipment to clean up the site. I promise I'll hold my nose and try to make it better as soon as I can stomach the work.
I saw the Tricolored Heron on the west end of John Martin Reservoir on 9/14. Unlike most of eastern Colorado, we've had minimal rain in this corner of the state. Multiple rainy days have measured only 0.9 inches of rain in my gauge in Las Animas, and we wonder why we always seem to be on the short end of the stick. However, we are benefiting from floods upstream. Flood water from Fountain Creek finally reached Las Animas via the Arkansas River today. I would expect that the limited amount of shoreline frequented by the heron will be lost to rising water by tomorrow. For those interested, Adobe Creek flowed for two days from floods near its source near Karval, the first time this has happened in over a decade. For a while, it surged at almost 600 cfs. It elevated the reservoir level by about three feet, but the surge is almost over. Come on rain!
For people that would like a hands-on experience helping endangered birds, the US Army Corps of Engineers will be taking part in National Public Lands Day on Saturday, September 28th. We will be hand-pulling vegetation at the projected location where Piping Plovers have nested due to similar actions the last several years. Please let me know if you are interested.
Sincerely,
Duane Nelson
Las Animas, Bent County, CO
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