Seldom posted about (and as seldom birded?), DFO's field trip to eastern Arapahoe County yesterday ended up with a fair cross section of species, but mostly it was pretty quiet except for Vesper Sparrows, Horned Larks, and Western Meadowlarks along the prairie roads.
-- Richmil Ranch Open Space near Deer Trail was lovely with the early sun sliding in for a time before being shut out by clouds. The highlight there was a pair of Eastern Bluebirds that flew over us. And there were at least 31 Blue Jays, including flocks moving west.
There was only water at one location - a small pond along Wall Road (CR 42). There we had Blue-winged and Green-winged Teal, Ruddy Duck, Mallard and Pied-billed Grebe... a bounty of water birds for eastern ARA in September!
We enjoyed a Cassin's Kingbird at CR 241 just north of an abandoned ranch a short way north of CR 34, and another Cassin's at CR 157 (Strasburg Road) near Dorado St. Both were eating grasshoppers. No Westerns seen.
At CR 169 there is a prairie dog town on the east side over a mile south of Hwy 36. Maybe there are a few more here or there, but this is the only dog town I've seen out in eastern Arapahoe. We had 3 or maybe 4 Burrowing Owls there.
I was fairly sure I heard Lapland Longspurs flying over at two spots along CR 241, and saw the small birds flying. But it is early, I was not able to actually see any marks on the birds, and the encounters were brief. I think that is what I heard, but I'm letting it go.
Migrants included: Northern Harrier (6), Say's Phoebe (4), Loggerhead Shrike (2), Barn Swallow (7), Rock Wren (2), Ruby-crowned Kinglet (1), Sage Thrasher (1), Orange-crowned Warbler (1), Audubon's Warbler (3), Wilson's Warbler (9), Clay-colored sparrow (12), Vesper Sparrow (~150), Savannah Sparrow (2), White-crowned Sparrow (8), Red-winged Blackbird (70), Brewer's Blackbird (3), Yellow-headed Blackbird (2), Pine Siskin (2).
New birds for DFO's September Big Month were Burrowing Owl and Eastern Bluebird.
David Suddjian
Ken Caryl Valley
Littleton, CO
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