NE Colorado, White Ibis and more

[Glenn and Laurie]

Folks,

 

Steve Larson and I wandered out into northeast Colorado today... we had a blast!  We started early at a lackluster Last Chance rest area (Washington County).  Good news, it wasn't very birdy.  This prompted us to head to Akron golf course woods.  This little gem of a migrant trap is earning respect from those of us who bird it.  We started walking the dike between the pond west, and the wet riparian area to the east.  About halfway down, a White Ibis was seen flying low across the marsh to the east.  We lost the bird in the trees, but calmly returned to the car to gather our camera gear.  The bird was flying very low and we were certain it would put down again somewhere.  We circumnavigated the pond only to kick up the White Ibis along the northwest shore.  We captured the bird photographically as it climbed and bee-lined to the northwest (maybe Prewitt).  Some photos of this bird can be seen here:

 

http://www.pbase.com/gwalbek/2014_birds

 

Landbirds at Akron were relatively scarce, with the exception of an adult male Baltimore Oriole.  The fact of the matter... the White Ibis wasn't going to hang out there.  An off-the-leash Bulldog and weekend fisherman were certain to send this bird into next week..  We were lucky!

 

Deciding not to drive pavement to Tamarack SWA (Logan Co.), we wandered some nice county roads zig-zagging north and east.  We found some lovely native grasses along the way and many shelterbelts.  We stopped at one along WashCo. JJ and 52.  Several migrants were using this habitat and a male Tennessee Warbler was one of them.  Along the way, multitudes of Grasshopper Sparrows sang from appropriate and marginally appropriate habitat.  They seemed to be everywhere. 

 

Upon receiving messages from Steve Mlodinow about goodies at Tamarack SWA, we headed that way.  At area 11, we quickly found a singing Spotted Towhee and many Cedar Waxwings.  The rest of the birds were not quick or easy.  The first real goody was a Yellow-throated Warbler found in the second of 3, water-filled, tree-lined holes just west of the main hedgerow.  We subsequently found an Eastern Towhee (GW only), a hybrid towhee and a glimpse at a Kentucky Warbler (SL only, later seen by Kellner and company).  A Yellow-billed Cuckoo and 2 Field Sparrows were noted at area 10.  Twelve hedge rows and we birded one and a half.  A great day of Colorado birds!

 

Glenn Walbek

Castle Rock, CO