[cobirds] Elbert and Lincoln Counties Nov 16

Yesterday (Nov 16) Norm Lewis and I toured through parts of Elbert, and stepped into Lincoln just a bit. There were zero checklists entered for Elbert in eBird for the 3rd week of November when I checked the night before, so we'll be able to make an impact there.

The best bird was in Lincoln: a Winter Wren along CR 11 at Horse Creek about 0.175 mile south of where the road crosses the creek, and just south of the Elbert line. It did not show itself in the thicket of willows and weeds there, but calls and agitated chatter were heard well at close range.

The Ponderosa pine forest at Elizabeth had Type 2 Red Crossbills at nearly every stop we made in that habitat. The main pond along Hwy 86 east of Kiowa had lots of water and a moderate amount of ducks. 2 Canvasback and a Hooded Merganser were of some interest, plus Mallrds, Gadwall, Green-winged Teal and Ring-necked Ducks. Good shorebird habitat, but only Killdeer (5) were present along the margins. 

Birding on roads out in the plains was not too active beyond the small number of most expected species, but there were these highlights. A Loggerhead Shrike was at CR 125 near CR 85 north of Simla. We saw a more expected Northern Shrike at CR 197 x 46. That same intersection also had about 25 longspurs flying around. The only calls I could ID were Lapland Longspur, and we never saw any on the ground. Nine American Pipits also flew over at that spot. An adult Golden Eagle made a nice show just east of Simla. We crossed paths with 4 Ferruginous Hawks, 3 Rough-legged Hawks, 3 Northern Harriers and 1 Merlin. 62 Canada Geese flying south east of Matheson were the only 

2 Common Ravens were at Hwy 86 west of Elizabeth, and 1 was at Hwy 86 east of Kiowa. The ID is somewhat assumed (cf the recent article in the Colorado Birds journal) but I've yet to see or hear any raven in Elbert that raised suspicions of the other species.

A question...we some 20-25 American Kestrels. All of those I was able to get a good look at, which was most of them, were males. Is that skewed situation the norm out on the plains at this time of year?

David Suddjian

Littleton, CO

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