Chico Basin Yesterday (El Paso Co, Pueblo Co)

[Dan Stringer]

Friday 10-16 I visited Chico Basin Ranch (El Paso Co, Pueblo Co), did not see anything resembling reported Spraque's Pipits but had some birds of interest: A single Bufflehead and flocks of McCown's Longspurs at the lake S of headquarters, two Great Horned Owls and a couple of weak-sounding Marsh Wrens at the now dried-up headquarters pond, two Loggerhead Shrikes and two Mountain Bluebirds along the road. Ravens which shall go unidentified. Northern Harriers, Sharp-shinned, Coopers, and Red-tailed Hawks (seems like all the Swainson's suddenly vanished). Hundreds of White-crowned Sparrows, mostly immature.

The banding station was more active that I'd anticipated, a lone Hermit Thrush, Red-naped Sapsucker, a drumming Ladder-backed Woodpecker, Brown Creeper, Townsend's Solitaire, lots of Dark-eyed Juncos (Oregon, Pink-sided, Slate-colored), Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Orange-crowned Warbler, and my highlight bird Cassin's Vireo which had eluded me all year despite being seen frequently by others. Wild Turkeys on the road out, fall foliage, a day that started with my car heater and ended with air conditioning.