[cobirds] South-central Colorado, 3/7-3/9

Hello, Birders.

Noah Strycker, Associate Editor of Birding magazine, and I did a big ole road trip this past Friday-Sunday, March 7-9.

The rest of the story:

Friday, 3/7, Centennial, ARAPAHOE County. Right along I-25 in morning rush hour traffic, a PRAIRIE FALCON getting wailed on by an AMERICAN CROW.

Fri., 3/7, I-25 through DOUGLAS, EL PASO, and PUEBLO counties. Ravens. Some were COMMON RAVENS, a few may have been Chihuahuan Ravens, many were spuhs.

Fri., 3/7, Lathrop State Park (FEE), HUERFANO County. On the lake, HOODED MERGANSERS and a good mix of diving ducks, good comparative study of RICHARDSON'S CACKLING GEESE and LESSER CANADA GEESE, and a couple of DOUBLE-CRESTED CORMORANTS. On the loop drive: 7 WESTERN SCRUB-JAYS, 1 JUNIPER TITMOUSE, at least 35 BUSHTITS, 3 BEWICK'S WRENS (listen to one of them here: http://www.xeno-canto.org/169448), 1 MOUNTAIN BLUEBIRD, 2 TOWNSEND'S SOLITAIRES, 1 SPOTTED TOWHEE, and a swirling mass of at least 75 PINE SISKINS.

Fri., 3/7, Smith Reservoir, COSTILLA County. At Lathrop, it had been sunny with temps in the lower 50s; at Smith, on the other side of the hill, it was overcast and breezy with what is termed "unknown precipitation" by the NWS auto data loggers. The birds: 7 SNOW GEESE, not a lot of dabblers and divers (the lake had only a bit of open water), 1 GOLDEN EAGLE, 1 BALD EAGLE, and a flyby KILLDEER.

Fri., 3/7, Monte Vista National Wildlife Refuge, RIO GRANDE County. The weather: thunder, lightning, rain, snow, and a zero-visibility dust storm. The birds: at least 25 ROSS'S GEESE, a nice count for the San Luis Valley; along the refuge drive; low numbers but a nice diversity of ducks including NORTHERN SHOVELER, NORTHERN PINTAIL, CANVASBACK, REDHEAD, RING-NECKED DUCK, LESSER SCAUP, BUFFLEHEAD, COMMON MERGANSER, and RUDDY DUCK; also NORTHERN HARRIER, ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK (of which we saw a great many our whole time in The Valley), AMERICAN COOT, SANDHILL CRANES in the five digits (listen to a pair dancing: http://www.xeno-canto.org/169451), and a somewhat early SAVANNAH SPARROW. WARNING: We nearly got a pair of $200 citations for getting out of car and exceeding the 10 mph speed limit. On the latter count, we were victims of entrapment; on the former, our only excuse was ignorance, the arresting officer's incredulity notwithstanding.

Saturday, 3/8, PRIVATE residence, CONEJOS County. Excellent, up-close, leisurely study of 7 BLACK ROSY-FINCHES, 77 BROWN-CAPPED ROSY-FINCHES, and about 10 spuhs at the fuzzy border between the two taxa. No Gray-crowns that we could see, although the homeowner saw them about an hour after we departed.

Sat., 3/8, Home Lake, RIO GRANDE County. Kinda slow here, but nice to see several CINNAMON TEAL and a BROWN CREEPER. I gather a very nice bird was found here the next day...

Sat., 3/8, downtown Monte Vista, RIO GRANDE County. In a little grove of planted conifers, some GREAT-TAILED GRACKLES going berserk. Here's one with a lot to say: http://www.xeno-canto.org/169452.

[A crass commercial announcement. Noah and I were in The Valley for the 31st annual Monte Vista Crane Fest. Noah's well-attended keynote address was superb, one of the best presentations I've ever attended. Also, I was impressed by the large turnout at the trade show, where we hung out on Saturday afternoon. It was particularly gratifying to see all the non-birding/nature vendors--a compelling demonstration that bird and nature festivals are great for local economies.]

Sunday, 3/9, Medano-Zapata Ranch (PRIVATE), ALAMOSA County. First up, a spectacular hooting-wailing-and-clacking display by at least four LONG-EARED OWLS. Listen to one of them here: http://www.xeno-canto.org/169445. Also two WESTERN SCREECH-OWLS singing. And at first light, the local troupe of PINYON JAYS calling from the--wait for it--pinyon pines.

Sun., 3/9, Great Sand Dunes, National Park (FEE), ALAMOSA County. Still and frigid and relatively birdless, but we did hear a WHITE-BREASTED NUTHATCH singing its evocative song for the longest time.

Sun., 3/9, Medano-Zapata Bison Range (PRIVATE), ALAMOSA County. Surround-sound SAGEBRUSH SPARROWS, already back on territory. We had at least six in one spot. Listen to one of them here: http://www.xeno-canto.org/169447.

Sun., 3/9, Colorado Reptile Park (PRIVATE, FEE), ALAMOSA County. The wetlands here are seriously good birding habitat; we saw our first AMERICAN WIGEON, GREEN-WINGED TEAL, and GREAT BLUE HERON of the trip. Also many SONG SPARROWS. And a distinctive CHINESE GOOSE X CANADA GOOSE hybrid, feral presumably, but nevertheless unrestrained and capable of flight (it was last seen flying off the property). And a pure CHINESE GOOSE amid numerous NORTHERN MALLARDS and Lesser Canada Geese.

Sun., 3/9, Russell Lakes, SAGUACHE County. Right in the parking area, a surprising LINCOLN'S SPARROW. Otherwise, the usual suspects: Gray Ghosts, Roughlegs, American Bald-headed Eagles, and Greater Sandhill Cranes.

Sun., 3/9, Byoona Vista, CHAFFEE County. Yale Pond was dried up, and the "sewerage" ponds were not only dried up but altogether graded into oblivion. We saw a big ole kettle of COMMON RAVENS in town, and that's about it.

Sun., 3/9, along a little county road off US-287 near Crow Hill, PARK County. A large, lively, mixed-species flock of mountain birds, including jabbering PYGMY NUTHATCHES and RED-BREASTED NUTHATCHES and an adult male CASSIN'S FINCH, pretty as could be, calling from the top of a tall spruce.

Sun., 3/9, along Wadsworth Boulevard (bit of a story there...), JEFFERSON County. ROCK PIGEONS.

Sun., 3/9, Stearns Lake, blessed BOULDER County. 1 Snow Geese, 2 BLUE GEESE, and 625 Richardson's Cackling Geese. And keeping with the Richardson theme, a lovely adult male PRAIRIE MERLIN, Falco columbarius richardsoni, the "Prairie Merlin." We saw the bird ever so briefly, which brings me to my next entry...

Sun., 3/9, Broomfield Pond, BROOMFIELD County. The Merlin crossed 104th Street and landed in a tree on the proverbial other side of the tracks. Thus ended our road trip, bookended by lower-case-p prairie falcons: the Prairie Falcon in Centennial on Friday and this Prairie Merlin in Boulder/Broomfield.

Ted Floyd

Lafayette, Boulder County, Colorado

P.s. On Sunday evening, 3/9, Andrew Floyd and Noah and I did a bit of astronomy at Greenlee Preserve, BOULDER County; on the walk back to the house, we heard a first-of-season WESTERN CHORUS FROG.

P.p.s. Noah needed more Colorado counties, so on the way to the airport this morning, Monday, 3/10, we stopped by Sand Hills Reservoir, WELD County, which was loaded with ducks, among them 2 GREATER SCAUP in a flock of at least 91 Lesser Scaup; also 87 Canvasbacks--and that was before more dropped in. ADAMS County wasn't as good to us, yielding only some ducks spuh along the Platte River at C-470. And I sent off Noah with a DENVER County HOUSE SPARROW of the distinctive local subspecies Passer domesticus diaensis.