[cobirds] Scandal! A report from the West Slope!

Hello, Birders.

Kei and Hannah and Andrew and I were out at the Carpenter Ranch, Routt County, this past Saturday-Sunday, Sept. 13-14, for the 3rd annual Yampa Valley Crane Festival.

The highlight was several hundred Sandhill Cranes. I'd known about the famous stagings in the San Luis Valley; and the brief but spectacular fall overflights of the Front Range metro region; and the quite decent spring flights through the lower Arkansas valley; and the increasing presence in winter in and around the Grand Valley; and of course the breeding population in the Yampa valley. But this one was new to me. Anyhow, several hundred Sandhill Cranes staging along the Yampa River near Hayden. The locals know all about it, but it was news to me.

The most numerous migrants seemed to be Audubon's Warblers and Lincoln's Sparrows. Wilson's and Orange-crowned warblers were present, but relatively scarce. The only Spizella sparrows were Chippings, and, a bit to my surprise, all were adults well along in their prebasic molts; I wonder where they had come from.

The only migratory sandpipers were two Greater Yellowlegs at a farm pond on the ranch; a Spotted Sandpiper and a Wilson's Snipe might have been summer residents hanging on. Speaking of hangers-on, I was surprised to see a Bank Swallow still hanging out with the Violet-green (a few) and Barn (many) Swallows.

At least 5 Red-naped Sapsuckers still were present, and so was a Williamson's Sapsucker. Evening Grosbeaks, Cedar Waxwings, and Pine Siskins were widespread.

Some other odds and ends: small numbers of Common Mergansers at various points along the Yampa River; a couple of Bald Eagles; Sharp-shinned and Cooper's hawks; Turkey Vultures and Swainson's Hawks still present; a Western Wood-Pewee, the only flycatcher; a couple of Western Scrub-Jays in "The Magic Tree" (you had to be there); and a few House Wrens, catbirds, yellowthroats, Savannah Sparrows, and Lesser Goldfinches still present.

Nocturnal migration. You didn't think I'd let that one slip by, did you? Well, with the crystal-clear skies and light southerly winds, there wasn't too much hear. I heard a single short, clipped, up-slurred tseet that I believe was an Orange-crowned Warbler. The Great Horned Owls were making some cool noises, too. See, or hear, for yourself: http://www.xeno-canto.org/195490

The whole time we were there, the weather was perfect, the scenery spectacular, and cranes cooperative, and the human beings enthusiastic and plentiful (50-150+ persons per each activity in which I participated). In just a few years, this crane festival has become one of the major birding events of the year in Colorado. Learn more, and gear up for the 2015 festival, at the Colorado Crane Conservation Coalition website: http://coloradocranes.net/

Ted Floyd

Lafayette, Boulder County, Colorado

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