SE Colorado birds 10/4-5

[Brandon]

Chris Knight and I spent the weekend birding around SE Colorado.  We ended up with 120 species of birds I think.  Warm sunny days, not always good for too many migrants.

We birded mostly in Otero, Bent, Prowers, and a little in Kiowa Counties.

Here's a recap.

October 4th:

Otero County:

Rocky Ford SWA (quick walk around the ponds close the first parking lot).

Spotted Towhee - 2 

Pine Siskins flying over

Lake Holbrook, east of Rocky Ford.

Western and Clark's Grebes still with fuzzy young

Snowy Egret - 2

Osprey - 1

Sandhill Cranes flying over

Sanderling - 1

Northern Mockingbird - 1

Lake Cheraw.

Black-bellied Plover - 1

Snowy Plover - 3

Semipalmated Plover - 6

Pectoral Sandpiper - 4

Wilson's Phalarope - 5

Chestnut-collared Longspur - few flying around

East of Cheraw (the Howdy Road, locals know what I'm talking about).

Western Kingbird - 1

Mountain Bluebird - 2

Bent County:

Fort Lyon Wildlife Easement area (Roads HH & 16)/

Red-naped Sapsucker - 1

Western Scrub-Jay - 2

John Martin Reservoir.

Lots of birds, most too far, since you pretty much need a high clearance vehicle to get to the birds. We walked about a mile, to the eastern part of the mud flats, so we could at least see some of the closer shorebirds.

Stilt Sandpipers - lots

Sabine's Gull - 1 juvenile

Black Tern - 2

Rock Wren - 1

Hasty Campground.

Northern Parula - 1 with Yellow-rumped Warblers and Ruby-crowned Kinglets

Melody Tempel Grove.

Red-bellied Woodpecker - 1

Red-breasted Nuthatch - 1

Hermit Thrush - 3

Wilson's Warbler - 1

White-throated Sparrow - 1

Kiowa County:

Neenoshe locust grove.

Say's Phoebe - 1

Yellow-rumped and Orange-crowned Warblers

Prowers County:

Lamar Community College grove.

Chimney Swifts flying over

Red-bellied Woodpecker - 1

Red-naped Sapsucker - 1

Least Flycatcher - 1

Plumbeous Vireo - 1

"Eastern" White-breasted Nuthatch - 1

Wilson's Warbler - 1

Harris's Sparrow - 1

Lamar at the Chek Inn parking lot:

Common Nighthawk - 20+ flying over before dusk, heading west/south

October 5:

Prowers County:

Fairmount Cemetery in Lamar.

Brown Creeper - 1

Red-breasted Nuthatch - 1

Pine Siskins

Lamar Community College grove.

Eastern Phoebe - 1

"Eastern" White-breasted Nuthatch - 1

Northern Cardinal - 1 male, 1 juv. male

Lesser Goldfinch - 1

not too birdy it didn't seem

Willow Creek Park in Lamar.

Red-naped Sapsucker - 1

Riverside Cemetery on Maple Street in Lamar.

quite birdy, though nothing too exciting

Bent County:

Melody Tempel Grove.

same birds as yesterday, except no Red-bellied Woodpecker, and we added a Golden-crowned Kinglet

Hasty Campground.

pretty good flock of Yellow-rumped Warblers, no northern parula.

Red-naped Sapsucker - 1

"Eastern" White-breasted Nuthatch - 1

CASSIN's FINCH - 1

Otero County:

Lake Cheraw.

less shorebirds around, nothing of note

Cheraw the town:

Blue Grosbeak - 1

Lake Holbrook.

Osprey - 1

Long-billed Curlew - 3

Spotted Sandpiper - 1

Brandon Percival
Pueblo West, CO  

[David Dowell]

Tim Smart and I also headed to southeast Colorado this past weekend, after participating in Chris Rurik's excellent DFO trip to some beautiful locations east of Denver.  Although we didn't find much in the way of rarities in southeast CO, the birding was good, and the weather was excellent.  I realize the excellent weather probably means many birds flew over Colorado without stopping, but we were definitely in the mood to be out on crystal clear fall days.

The southeast CO lakes remain busy, as reported previously by Steve Mlodinow.  At John Martin Reservoir (Bent County) on Saturday (October 5), shorebirds remained abundant (thousands of 'em) on the mudflats on the west end.  Highlights were 5 American Golden-Plovers (all juvenile) and 5 Black-bellied Plovers (including 1 adult).  Duck numbers were up from from two weeks ago, with perhaps 4000 or so present.  We also spotted 4 Sabine's Gulls around sunset.

The Kiowa County lakes remain loaded with shorebirds, ducks, and a few gulls and grebes.  With the exception of one distant shorebird that looked quite intriguing, we found expected species.  Neesopah Reservoir and Jett Reservoir were the best in terms of variety, while Neegronda Reservoir was dominated by fewer species, particularly Ruddy Ducks and Northern Shovelers.  For some reason, it seems this year that the lakes west of Hwy 287 have water but that the lakes east of Hwy 287 are dried up.

Brandon has already reported on the birds at Lamar Community College (Prowers County).  The only other bird of note we found there on Sunday (October 6) was a late Rose-breasted Grosbeak.

Our next stop was Two Buttes Reservoir, including some landbirding below the dam.  Unfortunately, we didn't find the Clark's Nutracker (!) that was there yesterday.  In general, the habitat there looks to be in good shape -- lush vegetation, lots of bugs -- an encouraging sign after last year's flood.

White-crowned Sparrows with the occasional White-throated Sparrow, Ruby-crowned Kinglets, Yellow-rumped Warblers, and Orange-crowned Warblers were found at most landbirding locations.  The rest area east of Holly (Prowers County) had these plus three sapsuckers:  one Yellow-bellied Sapsucker and two Red-naped Sapsuckers (one of these perhaps a hybrid).

David Dowell

Longmont, CO