I have been down here since 4/18. The weather has been odd, to say the least, as is the tree leafing-out/insect situation. It was been fairly cool this whole visit, with the highest temps being just barely over 80. That's frigid for Lamar. It has been blustery at times but not too bad. The wind has been out of the east mostly, sometimes out of the south. Then the current front hit, the temps dropped even more and the winds have been out of the north or northeast.
Most of the good birds have been posted on COBIRDS (although not necessarily on the RBA for some reason).
Best bird was probably the Kentucky Warbler found by Jeannie Mitchell and Aaron Shipe on 4/23 at the north end of LCC. It was a one-day wonder and seen by only a few people. Other birds at LCC have been White-eyed Vireo reported by Brandon Percival, although I am not sure if he was the finder or whether it was Mark P. or Glenn W. This was first found yesterday and refound this morning by Brandon, although I have not been able to find it in hours of searching on both days. Oh well. It was in Russian-olives between the pump house and a little further south on the east side of the road opposite the tennis courts/shop building.
Other birds at LCC have been adult Broad-winged Hawk for the last three days, immature Cooper's Hawk for the last several days, Wilson's Warbler male, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Northern Cardinal (at least 2 pairs), nesting Red-bellied Woodpeckers, Wood Ducks, Lincoln's Sparrow, Nashville Warbler (Cole Wild with Quetzal Tour), and not a lot else. In other words, the LCC woods has been super quiet with a very few marquis birds, changing a bit each day. The woods DOES have a few ticks, so check yourself after sundown in places where the sun did not shine before it set. Woodhouse Toads and Leopard Frogs (Northern, I think?) are wailing and croaking, respectively, along the shore of Willow Creek (and at Thurston Res).
Thurston Reservoir north of town has been good for waterfowl with lots of expected ducks (including a leucistic Redhead, probably the same one reported by Mark P. weeks (months?) ago), Sora, Peregrine Falcon, Black-necked Stilts, Snowy Egret (4/20 only), a few ibis, Willet (4/19), and Swamp Sparrow (4/20 at the end of the south side boat ramp). Today I had several FOY Bank Swallows over the water getting midges in the cold rain.
Fairmount Cemetery has a large number of Pine Siskins and I suspect they will nest for one cycle and then head to the mountains for cycle #2. Currently they are feasting on dandelion seed heads (along with a lot of other birds like Chipping Sparrows, American Goldfinches, Lesser Goldfinches, House Finches, White-crowned Sparrows, and House Sparrows). One Clay-colored Sparrow on 4/24 was pretty early. So far no Summer Tanagers, grosbeaks or buntings, although a Rose-breasted Grosbeak and Indigo Bunting have shown up south of town in a private farmyard.
The Great Plains Reservoirs north of town west of US287 that have water are good for waterfowl and shorebirds but most are private. Lots of eBird reports from these lakes, some without permission. Not cool here, or anywhere else. At Sweetwater today I had at least 10 Snowy Plovers, a few Semipalmated Plovers, and a FOY Stilt Sandpiper. This lake has also had two hybrid ducks, which I guess in an of themselves makes this location of interest. Not sure what the parentage of these two birds is for sure, but it looks like shoveler might be part of both. Along the lane leading from the county road to the west (39.5?) east to the res, we had a Field Sparrow and Brewer's Sparrow the other day, and there were a couple Savannah Sparrows today.
At Tempel Grove, as others have inputted to eBird, there are Harris's Sparrows, White-throated Sparrows (not seen today by me), Northern Parula (male), Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Wild Turkey, Orange-crowned Warblers, lots of Yellow-rumped Warblers, a Spotted Towhee singing a lot like an Eastern today, Cooper's Hawk, not a lot else (for ex., no thrushes). West of the road seems to be better. Mr. Tempel and his help have done an amazing job of digging out from the tumbleweed blizzard of last winter but still tons of them piled up in tough to clean up places. The seeds of tumbleweed (Russian Thistle), seem to be a major attraction for sparrows at present.
At North Gateway Park east of the Cow Palace in north Lamar, and off-limits gravel ponds to the east, today were FOY Forster's Terns (at least 4), and a fly-over adult, breeding Laughing Gull. Bank Swallows here, too, along with a few Eared Grebes.
Per the introductory mention of the leafing out situation, last autumn's sudden temperature drop killed a lot of plants up and down the eastern plains, including here, especially shrubs. The leafing out of trees and shrubs that survived has been odd. Some things looks great, like hackberry, some cottonwoods, some elms. Other trees look like they struggled to leaf out, got caught on the wrong side of a late March freeze, ran back in their hole for three weeks, and now look almost dead (but most are not). Will be interesting to see how insects and insectivorous migrant birds use various species of trees, if and when they get here.
Dave Leatherman
Fort Collins
Most of the good birds have been posted on COBIRDS (although not necessarily on the RBA for some reason).
Best bird was probably the Kentucky Warbler found by Jeannie Mitchell and Aaron Shipe on 4/23 at the north end of LCC. It was a one-day wonder and seen by only a few people. Other birds at LCC have been White-eyed Vireo reported by Brandon Percival, although I am not sure if he was the finder or whether it was Mark P. or Glenn W. This was first found yesterday and refound this morning by Brandon, although I have not been able to find it in hours of searching on both days. Oh well. It was in Russian-olives between the pump house and a little further south on the east side of the road opposite the tennis courts/shop building.
Other birds at LCC have been adult Broad-winged Hawk for the last three days, immature Cooper's Hawk for the last several days, Wilson's Warbler male, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Northern Cardinal (at least 2 pairs), nesting Red-bellied Woodpeckers, Wood Ducks, Lincoln's Sparrow, Nashville Warbler (Cole Wild with Quetzal Tour), and not a lot else. In other words, the LCC woods has been super quiet with a very few marquis birds, changing a bit each day. The woods DOES have a few ticks, so check yourself after sundown in places where the sun did not shine before it set. Woodhouse Toads and Leopard Frogs (Northern, I think?) are wailing and croaking, respectively, along the shore of Willow Creek (and at Thurston Res).
Thurston Reservoir north of town has been good for waterfowl with lots of expected ducks (including a leucistic Redhead, probably the same one reported by Mark P. weeks (months?) ago), Sora, Peregrine Falcon, Black-necked Stilts, Snowy Egret (4/20 only), a few ibis, Willet (4/19), and Swamp Sparrow (4/20 at the end of the south side boat ramp). Today I had several FOY Bank Swallows over the water getting midges in the cold rain.
Fairmount Cemetery has a large number of Pine Siskins and I suspect they will nest for one cycle and then head to the mountains for cycle #2. Currently they are feasting on dandelion seed heads (along with a lot of other birds like Chipping Sparrows, American Goldfinches, Lesser Goldfinches, House Finches, White-crowned Sparrows, and House Sparrows). One Clay-colored Sparrow on 4/24 was pretty early. So far no Summer Tanagers, grosbeaks or buntings, although a Rose-breasted Grosbeak and Indigo Bunting have shown up south of town in a private farmyard.
The Great Plains Reservoirs north of town west of US287 that have water are good for waterfowl and shorebirds but most are private. Lots of eBird reports from these lakes, some without permission. Not cool here, or anywhere else. At Sweetwater today I had at least 10 Snowy Plovers, a few Semipalmated Plovers, and a FOY Stilt Sandpiper. This lake has also had two hybrid ducks, which I guess in an of themselves makes this location of interest. Not sure what the parentage of these two birds is for sure, but it looks like shoveler might be part of both. Along the lane leading from the county road to the west (39.5?) east to the res, we had a Field Sparrow and Brewer's Sparrow the other day, and there were a couple Savannah Sparrows today.
At Tempel Grove, as others have inputted to eBird, there are Harris's Sparrows, White-throated Sparrows (not seen today by me), Northern Parula (male), Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Wild Turkey, Orange-crowned Warblers, lots of Yellow-rumped Warblers, a Spotted Towhee singing a lot like an Eastern today, Cooper's Hawk, not a lot else (for ex., no thrushes). West of the road seems to be better. Mr. Tempel and his help have done an amazing job of digging out from the tumbleweed blizzard of last winter but still tons of them piled up in tough to clean up places. The seeds of tumbleweed (Russian Thistle), seem to be a major attraction for sparrows at present.
At North Gateway Park east of the Cow Palace in north Lamar, and off-limits gravel ponds to the east, today were FOY Forster's Terns (at least 4), and a fly-over adult, breeding Laughing Gull. Bank Swallows here, too, along with a few Eared Grebes.
Per the introductory mention of the leafing out situation, last autumn's sudden temperature drop killed a lot of plants up and down the eastern plains, including here, especially shrubs. The leafing out of trees and shrubs that survived has been odd. Some things looks great, like hackberry, some cottonwoods, some elms. Other trees look like they struggled to leaf out, got caught on the wrong side of a late March freeze, ran back in their hole for three weeks, and now look almost dead (but most are not). Will be interesting to see how insects and insectivorous migrant birds use various species of trees, if and when they get here.
Dave Leatherman
Fort Collins
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