A big thanks to all the bird counters who helped with yesterday's 50th annual Pueblo Reservoir Christmas Bird Count. At the end of the compilation party at Mark Yaeger's Art Gallery in downtown Pueblo last night, we were at 130 species. Just two lower than our 132 record, only four species lower than the state Cheistmas Bird Count record held by the Penrose CBC. Here are the most noteworthy birds for the count yesterday.
Two new birds for the count:
Eastern Towhee - male stakeout West of the Pueblo Nature Center. There was also a female Eastern Towhee present through Wednesday, though it seems to have dissappeared.
Black-and-white Warbler - a big surprise found on count day, below the dam, at Lake Pueblo State Park. At one point was near a Northern Parula. The Black-and-white Warbler is the 15th species of warbler to be found on the Pueblo Reservoir CBC over the last 50 years!
Greater White-fronted Goose - 1 in Pueblo City Park
Snow Goose - 2 in Pueblo City Park
Mexican Duck - stakeout bird in Pueblo West
Barrow's Goldeneye - 1 male below the dam, Lake Pueblo State Park
Red-throated Loon - 1 at Pueblo Reservoir
Pacific Loon - 3 at Pueblo Reservoir
Common Loon - 12 at Pueblo Reservoir
Red-necked Grebe - at Pueblo Reservoir
Double-crested Cormorant - 2 started at Pueblo Reservoir, likely one of these wandered east along the river, being seen by many groups of birder
American White Pelican - 1 West end of Pueblo Reservoir
Black-crowned Night-Heron - 1 adult at Valco Ponds
American Goshawk - a nice adult found at Liberty Point in Pueblo West
Rough-legged Hawk - 1 in Pueblo West
Virginia Rail - 1 at Valco Ponds
9 species of gulls at Pueblo Reservoir
Bonaparte's Gull - hundreds
Short-billed Gull - 1 adult
Iceland Gull (Thayer's) - a few
Lesser Black-backed Gull - a few
57.Great Black-backed Gull - 1 adult (the 31st time for the count)
White-winged Dove - several places
Greater Roadrunner - a record high of 4
Red-bellied Woodpecker - 1 found in October stayed for the count, only the 3rd time for the count
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker - 2 at Pueblo City Park
Say's Phoebe - quite a few
Pinyon Jay - 18 at one location on the southwest side of the circle
Chihuahuan Raven - 2 Southwest side of the circle
Montain Chickadee (Rocky Mts) - only two
Red-breasted Nuthatch - only two
Pygmy Nuthatch - 1 at Pueblo City Park
Rock Wren - a few
Winter Wren - 1 Valco Ponds
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher - 1 at Pueblo Nature Center
Ruby-crowned Kinglet - always a few, good numbers this year
Eastern Bluebird - a flock hangout in the Valco Ponds area
Mountain Bluebird - good numbers this winter
Townsend's Solitaire - lower numbers
Thrush sp. (likely Hermit) - 1 recorded giving chuck calls in good habitat, didn't come out to be seen
Sage Thrasher - a few in different locations
Northern Mockingbird - 1 in Pueblo West
Northern Parula - 1 found the day before the count, and appeared on count day for only the time in 50 years
Yellow-rumped Warbler - pretty good numbers on the river mostly
Harris's, White-throated, Lincoln's,Swamp Sparrows were found along the River
Rusty Blackbird - 1 along the river, below the dam close to the two rarer warblers
Cassin's Finch - 2 in southwest part of the circle
Lesser Goldfinch - few in Pueblo West
A pretty fun day,thanks to all our helpers from near and far who helped every year to make this count a successful one.
