Weld County Birding

[Dan Stringer]

Tom Whitten and I had a productive trip to Weld County, covering some ground and emptying a full tank of gas. Most of the day was high-velocity, cold winds.

We searched numerous spots for Sharp-tailed Grouse and found two on CR111 1/2 mile north of CR128 (thanks Dave Leatherman). We found a Mountain Plover on CR100 1 1/2 miles west of Hwy 390, previously seen by Gary Lefko. Then we actually found something on our own  : )  a few McCown's  Longspurs mixing with Horned Larks along the dirt roads back toward Briggsdale. Also a Burrowing Owl, 1 Lark Sparrow, 3 Vesper Sparrow, and a few Say's Phoebe on the drive. Raptors for the day included 5 Rough-legged Hawks, 1 Ferruginous Hawk, 3 Swainson's Hawks.

Loloff Reservoir had many ducks including Northern Pintail and Canvasback, and 1 White-faced Ibis, 4 Black-necked Stilt, 1 Lesser Yellowlegs,  2 Greater Yellowlegs, 4 Baird's Sandpiper, 5 Least Sandpiper, 1 Spotted Sandpiper. Also a few Barn Swallows and Tree Swallows.

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Lower Latham was quiet with 1 Black-necked Stilt, numerous Marsh Wrens and 6 Northern Harriers just to the west, water levels are setting up nicely for shorebird habitat. At Beebe Draw we saw 7 American Avocet.

With the sun finally out and the winds being warmer, the large pond on the west side of the road opposite Behrens Reservoir (private property, view from road) had the highlight of the day, 2 Whimbrel which we scoped and photographed on the ground and in flight.. Also 10 Black-necked Stilt, 4 White-faced Ibis, 2 Solitary Sandpipers, 1 American Pipit, several Savanah Sparrows.

Bird behavior moment of the day was straight west of Behrens Res about a mile or so, at a pond on the south, lake on the north, name which I don't remember, an American Avocet swimming. We'd seen them in fairly deep water today vs. their usual, but this one straight-up swam from about ten feet out, toward the shore, and when it's feet hit the bottom it casually strolled around like a shorebird. Also in that area were 7 Yellow-headed Blackbirds and 1 Accipiter sp..   Spring is way upon us.

Dan Stringer

Larkspur, CO