[cobirds] Re: South-central Colorado, Mar. 12– 17, 2024

Here's something fun, from the archives:

https://groups.google.com/u/1/g/cobirds/c/oqCyicSjiHc/m/S8EvX70veekJ

Literally, from the COBirds archives.

That was the first San Luis Valley road trip Hannah and I ever did together. And, now, a mere 17 years later... :-)

(No sandstorms and snow devils for that 2007 expedition, but how 'bout the incident with the car and the flame-thrower!)

—Ted Floyd, Lafayette, Boulder Co.

On Mon, Mar 18, 2024 at 5:55 AM Ted Floyd <tedfloyd73@gmail.com> wrote:

Hey, all.

Hannah Floyd and I were down in south-central Colorado for much of the past week—whilst so many of the rest of you were dealing with the big winter storm in the Front Range foothills and along the I-25 corridor. But we got to experience some weather ourselves, including an intense sandstorm, several prolonged bouts of graupel, and even an impressive "snow devil." Some quick highlights:

1. Lathrop State Park, Huerfano Co., Tues., Mar. 12. Breezy and warm and kinda slow birdwise, with 4 Woodhouse scrub-jays, 2 juniper titmouses, 2 American bushtits, 2 Bewick wrens, 1 curve-billed thrasher, and the first of the many hundreds, perhaps 1,000+, mountain bluebirds that we would see during our expedition. Also a nice showing by green claybank tiger beetles, Cicindela denverensis; we succeeded in audio-recording their sonations!—a first for us, for sure, and perhaps for anyone.

2. Great Sand Dunes National Park, Alamosa Co., Tues., Mar. 12. Arriving there at sundown and climbing the dunes during a sandstorm was memorable—but also unconducive to birding. We saw and heard nothing!

3. Medano Ranch [PRIVATE], Alamosa Co. On Wed., Mar. 13, as snow squalls were coming down off the Sangre de Cristo range, a singing loggerhead shrike, 1 sage thrasher, and at least 7 sagebrush sparrows. On Thurs., Mar. 14, in heavy snow, 3 northbound killdeer, a golden eagle, the famous ferruginous hawk x red-tailed hawk, back now for the 7th year; and an enchanting North American porcupine, Erethizon dorsatum, covered in snow and watching our group from just above eye level in an old willow.

4. Smith Reservoir State Wildlife Area [FEE, PERMIT], Costilla Co., Wed., Mar. 13. In rain, sleet, graupel, and then snow flurries, large numbers and a good diversity of ducks, including 100+ northern pintails, 150+ common mergansers, and 1 red-breasted merganser; 3,500+ sandhill cranes; 1 Wilson snipe; and 2 merlins.

5. Monte Vista National Wildlife Refuge, Rio Grande Co. On Thurs., Mar. 14, in on-and-off snow squalls and then a steadier snow, 4 cinnamon teal, 40+ ruddy ducks, and 2 more merlins. On Sat., Mar. 16, in bright sunshine and then heavy graupel, an amazing anserine showing, with 13 snow geese, 4 greater white-fronted geese, 4,500 cackling geese (their numbers at the refuge have gone off the charts in recent years), a few "lesser" Canada geese still hanging on, 2 Anser x Branta hybrids, and, just off the refuge, 5 domestic swan ("Chinese") geese; bald eagles at a nest; and 4 marsh wrens.

6. Home Lake, Rio Grande Co., Fri., Mar. 15. In bright sunshine, 125+ gadwalls; early shorebirds including 1 female American avocet and 6 greater yellowlegses; 5 American white pelicans; and wonderful viewing of a pair of muskrats, Ondatra zibethicus.

7. Lane 5, Alamosa Co., Fri., Mar. 15, & Sat., Mar. 16. Roadside stops produced hundreds more (but not thousands) of sandhill cranes, a ferruginous hawk and a prairie falcon, and large roadside flocks of mountain bluebirds and especially horned larks. 

8. Zapata Ranch [PRIVATE], Alamosa Co., Sat., Mar. 16. Under cloudy skies, 2 marvelous singing long-eared owls, including one in a nearby juniper; 5 great horned owls; 40+ pinyon jays; surprisingly, two pairs of nest-excavating pygmy nuthatches (the habitat here does not seem suitable for them); and our only western bluebird of the trip amid several mountain bluebirds.

9. Center, Saguache Co., Sun. Mar. 17. After a promisingly mild and sunny start to the morning, overcast with flurries, and our first and only Say phoebe of the trip; thought we mighta had a few tree swallows there, too, but not sure.

10. Russell Lakes State Wildlife Area, Saguache Co., Sun., Mar. 17. Under cloudy and cool conditions with snow squalls nearby, a likely Mallard x Mexican Duck intergrade, 1 notably pale Streptopelia collared-dove, golden and bald eagles, 2 agonistic loggerhead shries, a marsh wren, a screeching great-tailed grackle, and adult male winter midges, Diamesa mendotae.

11. Saguache, Saguache Co., Sun., Mar. 17. In a snow squall, an exuberant Cassin finch.

12.  Como, Park Co., Sun., Mar. 17. In off-and-on overcast and sunshine, with bright glare in the deep snow, 3 Hepburn rosy-finches, 2 nominate (tephrocotis) gray-crowned rosy-finches, 1 brown-capped rosy-finch, and 1 pine siskin.

Ted Floyd

Lafayette, Boulder Co.

--
--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group.
To post to this group, send email to cobirds@googlegroups.com
For more options, visit this group at
http://groups.google.com/group/cobirds
* All posts should be signed with the poster's full name and city. Include bird species and location in the subject line when appropriate.
* Join Colorado Field Ornithologists https://cobirds.org/membership/
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to cobirds+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/cobirds/CAGk944eJm4FzP8-reyhHX1sq3vygUoxS6tkbh863%3D8-SMvp6Vw%40mail.gmail.com.