[cobirds] Ft, Morgan CBC

The annual Ft. Morgan/Weldona CBC was held today, and if I hear veteran compiler, Bruce Bosley correctly, this was the 50^th count in the circle.  I’m posting this to Cobirds because I think there will be interest among the Cobirds community, but I hope Bruce posts the official version later.  Overall, the count was approaching an excellent total of 80 species at our late lunch compilation, and there were still some relatively easy targets out there. 

 

[Note here that “Target” is really an appropriate word since one of the birds available for a late day pick up was Great-tailed Grackle and there is a flock with the habit of congregating at the Walmart in the late afternoon before roosting.  If you’ve birded for Green Parakeet in McAllen, TX you will know what I’m referring to.  50,000, or maybe even 100,000 Great-tailed Grackle (and a few Green Parakeets) congregate every afternoon on a crossroads in McAllen that features a Target, among other stores.  It is absolutely Hitchcockian.]

 

Best bird on the Ft. Morgan CBC (I’m back to that, now) was undoubtedly Snowy Owl, and very likely the same individual that was spotted about three weeks ago right along I-76 in Ft. Morgan.  The owl was spotted in a dry irrigation ditch Thursday afternoon by a sharp-eyed school bus driver heading home after drop-off.  The SBD took a picture of the owl, looking much like what was photographed in November, sitting on top of a black-tailed jackrabbit (pesky wabbit).  That made a lot of us think that the bird would be satiated and stationary the next morning, and it was, at least for a while.  This morning five of us convereged on the general area and found the owl perched on the end of a center pivot just east of the intersection of Roads W and 15.  However, within two hours it was no longer to be found at that site.  In any event, since the bird was found yesterday only about 4 miles from the November sighting, it’s a good bet that it is the same bird and that it will continue to hang somewhere in the area.

 

As always, be thoughtful and ethical.  Respect the bird, private property, local residents, and drive carefully.

 

Bill Kaempfer

Boulder