COBIRDS,
A friend of mine asked me about Mt. Plover in South Park so I decided to see what records I could dig up. The results are listed below.
These records and reports come from COBIRDS, eBird, Colorado Birds, Colorado Breeding Bird Atlas I and II, and The Guide to Colorado Birds and are listed in chronological order. I sent out a RFI to COBIRDs and only received ONE response. There aren't too many reports of plover and they are spread "all over" the Park. Most people seem to run into them just by chance -- a few know what they are looking for and go find them.
To quote Harold Holt, "Of Colorado's four major parks, this [South Park] is the most impressive, covering over 500 square miles at an average elevation of just over 9,000 feet."
#1) Colorado Birds: A Reference to Their Distribution and Habitat
By Robert Andrews and Robert Righter
Pub. by the Denver Museum of Natural History, Denver, Colorado, 1992.
On page 112 Bob and Bob list the Mt. Plover in South Park (Park County) as "rare" in summer and in migration.
#2) Colorado Breeding Bird Atlas
Edited by Hugh E. Kingery
Published by the Colorado Bird Atlas Partnership and the Colorado Division of Wildlife, Denver, CO, 1998.
Atlas One (1987 - 1992) obviously covered South Park and the Mt. Plover breeding there. In their article on Mt. Plover, Kuenning and Kingery state that "South Park also has a significant number [of Mt. Plover], in the area from Fairplay south to the Park County line." In Atlas One eight blocks recorded Possible nesting, one block recorded Probable nesting, and 7 blocks had Confirmed nesting! These results seemed to cover the WHOLE Park pretty thoroughly.
The results reported for Atlas One included work by Mike Wunder, currently of the University of Colorado Denver, who had a Mt. Plover research project during some of those years. His team's results were included in the Atlas One results.
Atlas Two (2007-2012) research documented zero blocks recording Possible nesting, one block recording Probable nesting, and 4 blocks had Confirmed nesting!
(http://bird.atlasing.org/Atlas/CO/Main)
Based partially on the Atlas work, some speculate that there has been a decline in the population of Mt. Plover in South Park as well as in other parts of the state.
#3) The Guide to Colorado Birds
By Mary Taylor Gray
Westcliffe Publishers, Englewood, Colorado, 1989
In The Guide... Mary Taylor Gray states, "Biologists estimate as many as 900 [Mt.] Plovers may inhabit South Park."
#4) The Nature Conservancy: High Creek Fen Preserve (Park County) off Hwy. 285 north of Antero (Don't know what access is like); July 12, 1998 -- 3 Mt. Plover; adult and 2 chicks. Reported by Randall Siebert on eBird.
#5) Spinney Mountain Reservoir (Park County); June 8, 2003 -- 1 Mt. Plover. Reported by Glenn Walbek on eBird.
#6) Spinney Mountain Reservoir (Park County); May 28, 2003 -- 1 Mt. Plover. Reported by Glenn Walbek on eBird.
#7) Chuck Hundertmark observed Mt. Plover in South Park while working on the Colorado Breeding Bird Atlas II; July 18, 2009 -- 2 Mt. Plover. These birds were exhibiting distracting behavior. The sighting was made east of Reinecker Ridge on the Bar D Ranch road; travel and search Bar D Ranch Road. This road is approx. one mile southwest of the Como/Boreas Pass Road on Hwy. 285; turn southeast onto
Bar D.
#8) Indian Mountain Devo (development?)(Park County); Sept. 1, 2009 -- 7 Mt. Plover. Reported by Peter Burke on eBird (traveling report - 5 miles, 4 hours). The site recorded on eBird is northeast of Observatory Rock on the northeast side of Tarryall Road at 9,200 ft.; this is approx. 4 miles southeast of jct. of Packer Lane and Tarryall Road. From Tarryall Road drive up the road just past Graveyard Gulch Street (Bordenville Cemetery) presumably into Indian Mountain Devo.
#9) Along Hwy. 285 approx. one mile south of the top of Red Hill Pass (on way into Fairplay)(Park County); April 7, 2013 -- 3 Mt. Plover. Reported by Peter Burke on eBird.
#10) Antero Reservoir (Park County); June 7, 2013 -- 2 Mt. Plover. Reported by David Elwonger on eBird.
#11) Northeast of Spinney Mountain Reservoir (Park County); June 17, 2013 -- 1 Mt. Plover. Reported by John Drummond on eBird. Directions: Enter South Park from east (Wilkerson Pass) on Hwy. 24. Turn south on second major road; San Juan Street or County Road 23. Turn southwest on Mineral Springs Road then south on Chase Gulch Road (dead end). Scan the grasslands...
#12) Northeast of Spinney Mountain Reservoir (Park County); June 23, 2013 -- 3 Mt. Plover; adult and 2 chicks. Reported by Aaron Driscoll on COBIRDS. Aaron re-found the site reported by John Drummond on eBird on the 17th of June 2013 (follow same directions).
#13) Lastly, in May and June 2014 David Suddjian reports sightings in FIVE locations in South Park (all in Park County). All are reported on eBird. On May 2 he observed two Mt. Plover 1 mile east of Hwy. 285 on Park County Road 56 (Lost Park Rd.). Also on May 2 he observed three Mt. Plover 3.5 miles west of Hwy. 9 on Park County Road 24. On May 19 he observed three Mt. Plover 5 miles south of Hwy. 9 on Park County Road 53. Also on May 19 he observed two Mt. Plover 13.7 miles south of Hwy. 9 on Park County Road 53 (108/Pawnee Tr.). On June 11 he observed three
Mt. Plover in flight 1 mile southeast of Hwy. 285 on Park County Road 15 (Elkhorn Rd.).
My conclusion is that there is a small population of Mt. Plover widely scattered over much of South Park in appropriate habitat. Finding them is another matter, except for Peter and David! Way to go Peter and David!
Thanks very much to Chuck Hundertmark his invaluable counsel on this little project! As he notes, "It would be productive to have a detailed census of the South Park MOUP population."
Good Birding, Chris
Mr. Chris A. Blakeslee
Centennial, Colorado
CorvidColo@aol.com
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