Hey, everybody.
Hannah Floyd and I did the Limon-to-Lamar-to-Ordway 3-4-5 right triangle back on Sun., Aug. 23, 2020. Insects and birds were our primary desiderata. Highlights follow.
Neenoshe Reservoir, Kiowa County.
Insects: Great Plains giant tiger beetle, thin-lined tiger beetle.
Birds: upland sandpiper, long-billed curlew, stilt sandpiper, pine siskin; 100+ cormorants, and one has to wonder whether a neotropic or three is in the mix.
Comment: The whole rez is ringed with mudflats, and I imagine the long walk around would be productive of a splendid shorebird list; we covered only a thin sliver of the northwest coast of this vast inland sea. Further comment: On our way out, we were gently chastised by a CPW dude for not having a hunting license; it's real folks, you need to buy a hunting license to go birding in Colorado.
Willow Creek Park area, Lamar, Prowers County.
Insects: large orange sulphur, Hayhurst scallopwing, Tragidion coquus (check this out, T. coquus is a cerambycid beetle that mimics the giant tarantula hawks in the wasp genus Pepsis).
Birds: candidate ruby-throated hummingbird, 20+ Mississippi kites, 1 or 2 great crested flycatchers, red-breasted nuthatch, brown thrasher, 5+ lesser goldfinches, American redstart.
Comment: It's dry and unkempt in the LCC Woods proper right now, but ever-birdy; the kite show, especially the juveniles, was marvelous, but I suspect it will be all over in just a week or so. Further comment: Saw a lovely ornate box turtle in the woods.
County Road G east of Colorado 71, Crowley County.
Insects: millions of flies (see below).
Birds: brilliant close-ups of black-necked stilt, Baird sandpipers, pectoral sandpiper, and diverse peeps and yellowlegses; 34 white-faced ibises.
Comment: This place was as hadean as ever, 103 degrees Fahrenheit when we were there, overrun with thousands of cattle and millions of flies in putrid feedlots, the water ("water") a mesmerizingly dystopian Pepto-Bismol pink; a dude in his big-boy pickup truck glowered menacingly at us, but also had nothing on us, and went on his unmerry way.
Lake Henry, Crowley County.
Insects: great crested grasshopper, western pygmy-blue, checkered melon beetle.
Birds: not much, but a migrant sage thrasher was our only sighting of the day.
Comment: When the archaeologists of the future sort through those outhouses . . .
Box Springs Pond, immediately off Colorado 71, Crowley County.
Insects: an absolute infestation of Colorado soldier beetles.
Birds: nice diversity of shorebirds, including 3 solitary sandpipers.
Comment: An immediate "exit" off route 71, this pond typically has birds, year-round. I always think to myself "No way" on approach, but I'm also always pleasantly surprised by all the birds.
Limon, Lincoln County, had great-tailed grackles, of course, but the truly amazing grackle show was at Bennett, Adams/Arapahoe counties. Add that to the list of attractions--the place has a King Soopers, too!
It was a fun, long day. The smoke was terrible. The hunting license thing is real, affecting, for example, access to some of our favorite spots at John Martin Reservoir, which we couldn't visit. Except for one mask-wearing jogger and the one mask-wearing birder we crossed paths with, the region is utterly non-compliant with CDC guidelines. And we were very nearly killed by a semi in the wrong lane near Wild Horse; always be alert out there.
Ted Floyd
Lafayette, Boulder County
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