First migrants of 2016

[Duane Nelson]

Birders,

While working in my yard in Las Animas (Bent County) today, I heard the
familiar calls of Sandhill Cranes migrating overhead. This is my first
certain migrant of spring here.

I predict muddy roads, verging on impassible, for viewing the gulls at
John Martin tomorrow afternoon. Paradoxically, gulls roost in the
afternoon, when light conditions are optimal. If weather warms, as
predicted, the ice shelf the birds prefer is not long for this world.

Duane Nelson
Las Animas, Bent County CO