Other than cranes flying over intermittently almost all day, not a lot of bird numbers at Crow Valley Campground today but pretty good diversity.
Best birds were:
Cassin's Finch (f or imm) calling incessantly from near the main Picnic Pavilion
Merlin (taiga) in extreme ne corner near Work Center (spotted by Tanja Britton)
White-throated Sparrow (I saw 1, Tanja reported seeing 3), sw corner
Long-eared Owl (in junipers, sw corner)
Brown Thrasher (1) sw corner
Sage Thrasher (1) near Work Center, in shrub thickets w of the USFS junk
Wood Duck (3) flying over nw to se
Pine Siskin (1) sat next to its mountain pal the Cassin's Finch for about 10 minutes
All three expected longspurs were near a concrete cattle watering structure in a pasture ssw of Work Center (laplands tripped the ebird filter, but I think the strong n wind was bringing in the first wintering individuals)
Killdeer (3) near the cattle water tank ssw of the Work Center
Rock Doves (2) landed on the prairie walking amid the cow pies, looked out of place
Hermit Thrush (1) sw corner
Townsend's Solitaires (few) wondering where the olives went, settling for juniper cones
Ruby-crowned Kinglet (1) sw corner (Tanja said she had a Golden-crowned, also)
Rock Wren (1 reported by Tanja, near the host operation at the entrance)
Nothing better (pumpkin pie for one's ears?) in October than the sound of cranes all around.
Total of 39 species
I went to Jackson State Park in mid-afternoon but didn't see anything special due to relentless 30+ mph winds that were blowing the dry west shore sand into an optics-detrimental sand storm. Shorebird numbers and diversity seemed much reduced from that reported by Norm and others of late. I checked the Andricks SWA pond but did not see a Little Blue Heron.
Dave Leatherman
Fort Collins
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