Re: [cobirds] Last Chance comeback. Washington County

Thanks for the update, Tom, especially with the good news!

Larry Modesitt

Greenwood Village

On Jul 10, 2017, at 4:32 PM, Tom Wilberding <twilberding@comcast.net> wrote:

As you may recall, the birding hotspot, Last Chance Rest Area, was destroyed by a prairie fire in June, 2012. All the trees were killed, along with the grass and bushes. CFO's Joe Roller organized a band of volunteers, both birders and the local community, to plant trees and shrubs, along with drip irrigation in November, 2012. But in August 2013 a 100 year rainstorm/flood damaged much of that. It looked like Last Chance had run out of chances.

But nature often bounces back, fortunately. Barb and I stopped there on Friday, and saw many of the 21 bird species reported at Last Chance on eBird in June--including orchard oriole, brown thrasher, a bunch of nesting yellow-headed blackbirds, and many nesting red-wing blackbirds.

Some of the young poplar trees are now are about half the height of the dead snags. The pond looks good, and the valley toward the north is a thick jungle of plants, including a lot of gooseberries. I think we planted flood-proof gooseberries in November, 2012!

I just called the Kleinschmidts, who live in the house just south of the rest area, and spoke with Mary. She said Jim keeps the rest area tidy for the Lion's Club, and recently sprayed for thistle, so visitors wouldn't get stung. Mary said they keep their bird feeders full, which attracts birds to the rest area. She said rainfall has been decent this year, and they hope for some more after the wheat is harvested. Jim maintained garden hoses to water the new plants in 2013, but has not had to do that this year. Mary thinks that in a couple more years Last Chance Rest Area will be back to its old self. (Maybe hosting rare warblers as in the past.) I thanked Mary!

So it seems that Last Chance is joining Lazarus and the Phoenix in an encouraging comeback.

Tom Wilberding
Littleton, CO

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