Black-throated Sparrow in Bent County

[Duane Nelson]

Birders,

I made a brief hiking stop in Setchfield SWA in SW Bent County today. I
parked on the west side of the broken Muddy Creek Dam, and hiked about
200 vertical feet up to the wooded juniper mesa north and west of my
parking spot on Bent County Road J. Where the mesa takes a southward
bend, I heard, and saw, a territorial Black-throated Sparrow. This was
my first observation of this species in Bent County, and I think it's a
county first. This is noteworthy, because I've hiked up this mesa more
than 100 times, and never seen it here, or anywhere else in Bent County.
Of note, I did most of the atlasing for COBBA II in Bent County, and
have covered all corners of the county on public and private land.

The bird was singing from the tops of junipers on top of the mesa.
Setchfield is the only public land in juniper woodlands in Bent County,
and many canyon country birds can be found here, although almost always
in low numbers, requiring significant birder effort.

Duane Nelson

Las Animas, Bent County, CO