I birded Elbert Co. yesterday (6/27), focusing on the northeast part of the county in the Agate region and the large area of pine forest that is near Ridge Road and CR 150 between the Bijou and Comanche watersheds. eBird has only 8 prior complete checklists for the 4th week of June in ELB, so it was another great opportunity to add a lot of info there.
-- It was a good day for Dickcissels, with one or a few widely distributed at 21 stops. There were quite a few along CR 153 from 0 to 5 miles north of Hwy 86. Lots of Grasshopper Sparrows along that same road (and elsewhere), and one Cassin's Sparrow, 2 McCown's Longspurs, and 3 Mountain Plovers.
Ball Reservoir had a Bald Eagle, which I think is good for ELB in summer. It made a single pass low over some Canada Geese, and then disappeared. Some early shorebirds included 1 Greater Yellowlegs and 2 Spotted Sandpipers. Redhead was the most numerous duck, with a flock of 74. Other ducks were Gadwall, Nor. Pintail, Mallard, Blue-winged Teal, Cinnamon Teal, Green-winged Teal, Nor. Shoveler, and Ruddy Duck. Also present were a Black Tern, Western Grebe, Eared Grebe and some Am. White Pelicans.
Another Cassin's Sparrow was along CR 166 east of Agate. A lively spot along the I-70 frontage road north of Agate had 3 Orchard Orioles, a Yellow-breasted Chat, Lazuli Buntings, Blue Grosbeak and more, and another Cassin's Sparrow was close to the county line north of Agate. Heading east from the Agate region, a trio of early Long-billed Curlews flew over going south over CR 178 at CR 133.
The Ponderosa pine stand immediately west of Ridge Road had pretty much all the pine species of the county. Of interest to me were 2 Blue-gray Gatcatchers at a spot with scattered pines and some junipers, and some Gray-headed Dark-eyed Juncos, including a nesting confirmation for a female carrying food. There is a big cone crop maturing, and even though open (old?) cones are not plentiful, there were Type 2 Red Crossbills at most stops I made in the pines, including a couple fledglings.
Moving west toward Comanche Creek Road on CR 150 there was a Ferruginous Hawk nest with young along West Bijou Creek (seems to be a sparse breeder in ELB), and a colony of Bank Swallows (the first breeding colony I've happened upon in ELB). There were about 100 holes in a low bank of a tributary creek, but only about 20 Bank Swallows were in the immediate area during my visit. Another Blue-gray Gnatcatcher was in some juniper/pine habitat along CR 150 less than a mile from Comanche Creek Road.
The pond along Hwy 86 east of Kiowa had more early shorebirds, with a Lesser Yellowlegs and a Spotted Sandpiper. The mix of ducks was the same as at Ball Reservoir.
David Suddjian
Littleton, CO
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