[cobirds] Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge, Adams Co., May 25 (& a late report, May 10)

Hey, all.

It was humid and chilly earlier today, Sun., May 25, with light drizzle at times and a low cloud ceiling, at Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge, Adams Co. And Hannah Floyd and I found some cool birds indeed out there. Highlights: one black-necked stilt at Big Havana Pond; one upland sandpiper giving a flight song near Lower Derby Reservoir; four stilt sandpipers at Big Havana Pond; multiple black terns at all three major waterbodies; a western cattle-egret at Big Havana Pond; burrowing owls continuing along the wildlife drive; a Cassin kingbird near Gun Club Pond; four Swainson thrushes in the woods near Upper Derby; three singing and skylarking Cassin sparrows; 28 singing grasshopper sparrows; one clay-colored sparrow; 13 Brewer sparrows; 45 lark buntings; two singing male bobolinks; eight great-tailed grackles; and six blue grosbeaks. And the one that got away. I'm not positive, but I believe we heard a least bittern near the southwest corner of Lake Ladora. Needless to say, it would be fantastic if somebody could go out there and confirm the report. The bird was vocalizing at or near 39.813793 N, 104.855978 W. It wasn't giving the cuckoo-like song but rather the steady chatter, harsh and grating, that, once learned, proves to be the more common, albeit less famous, vocalization of the species.

Apologies for the late report, but back on Sat., May 10, the weather at The Arsenal was exceedingly different from what we experienced there today: sunny and hot that day, with no wind, and not a cloud in the sky until around noon. And on that World Migratory Bird Day, Harold Eyster, Kieran Schnitzspahn, Helen Butts, and I found 2 Wilson phalaropes, 1 solitary sandpiper, 1 Clark grebe, 1 burrowing owl, 1 dusky flycatcher, 1 Cassin kingbird, 4 loggerhead shrikes, 1 rock wren, 1 marsh wren, 1 sage thrasher, 1 Swainson thrush, 5 grasshopper sparrows, 1 clay-colored sparrow, 8 Brewer sparrows, 1 green-tailed towhee, 3 great-tailed grackles, 1 orange-crowned warbler, 3 western tanagers, 1 rose-breasted grosbeak, and 2 blue grosbeaks.

May 25 eBird checklist, 86 species:
ebird.org/checklist/S242740912

May 10 eBird checklist, 92 species:
ebird.org/checklist/S235996323

108 species total for my two May 2025 visits to this legendary and incomparable urban national wildlife refuge. The Arsenal is my favorite place on Earth.

Ted Floyd

Lafayette, Boulder Co. (where a few Swainson's thrushes were migrating in the drizzle earlier tonight)

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