[cobirds] Re: Elbert County on Nov 15

Correction - the spot along CR 66 where I had a large number of Lapland Longspurs on 11/15 was in the area of 1.4 miles east of CR 149 (not "a few miles" east of 149 as given in my original post. 

David Suddjian

Littleton, CO

On Wed, Nov 16, 2016 at 9:43 AM, David Suddjian <dsuddjian@gmail.com> wrote:

Yesterday I birded Elbert County, focusing on the northeast part of the county mostly in the general regions of the towns of Agate and Matheson. 

A Short-eared Owl crossing over Highway 86 near CR 117 shortly before sunrise was a nice start tot he day. A few late or straggling species were noted, perhaps reflective of the mild late fall (it was up to 75 degrees out there yesterday. These included a Rock Wren and a Northern Mockingbird along CR 125 north of Hwy 86, and a Lincoln's Sparrow at CR 158 at Bland Creek (just E of CR 125). A Swamp Sparrow was at an off-channel pond along East Bijou Creek north of Agate. I had Harris's Sparrows near Agate, at CR 118 (Big Sandy Creek xing), at CR 149 S of Matheson, and finally at Ramah (El Paso Co). eBird shows a big emptiness of Harris's in the Elbert region, probably a reflection of lack of coverage. A White-throated Sparrow was near Agate. A Merlin was at Agate. I crossed paths with 7 Northern Shrikes for the day. Lapland Longspurs were numerous in the areas I checked that had bare dirt fields, with many 100s noted SE of Matheson along CRs 169, 66, 153, and 70. The biggest numbers were along CR 66 a few miles E of CR 149. And a pond along CR 169 at 3.8 miles S of Hwy 86 had a series of flocks of longspurs coming in to drink water, offering nice looks with a scope. Other diurnal raptors were sparse: 1 Northern Harrier, 3 Red-taileds, 1 Ferruginous, 2 Rough-leggeds, 1 Golden Eagle, 1 Prairie Falcon, and a good handful of Am. Kestrels.

Waterbirds were only found at Ball Reservoir and the pond along Hwy 86 E of Kiowa. They included Canada Goose, Gadwall, Northern Pintail (1, Hwy 86 pond), Am. Wigeon, Northern Shoveler, Green-winged Teal, Lesser Scaup, Ring-necked Duck, Redhead, Bufflehead, Common Goldeneye, Ruddy Duck, Pied-billed Grebe, Ring-billed Gull, Herring Gull and Killdeer (1 at Ball was the only shorebird all day). All the dabblers except Mallard, as well as Common Goldeneye, Ruddy Duck and PB Grebe are flagged as rarities for the date according to the current Elbert eBird filter, but I think probably all or most of these species are regular in late fall. 

Lastly, I noted that Eastern Downy Woodpeckers were more widespread along the cottonwood corridors than in the nesting season, when they are rather uncommon in Elbert, and one Rocky Mountain Downy was well east of the county's pine habitat along Bland Creek at CR 158. Two or three Eastern Hairy Woodpeckers were at Big Sandy Creek near Matheson. Although this form is presumably regular in the county, I have so far only encountered it rarely in Elbert, with past coverage focused on the breeding season.

David Suddjian

Ken Caryl Valley

Littleton, CO

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