San Luis Valley anseriformes, March 18-19

[Ted Floyd]

Hey, everybody.

Lots of ducks and geese this past weekend, March 18-19, in Colorado's San Luis Valley.

At Monte Vista National Wildlife Refuge, Rio Grande County, on March 18, Casey Setash and John Rawinski's apparent Graylag Goose x Canada Goose hybrid was still there:

One of the Redheads, a female, at Monte Vista showed extensive white on the head:

There were thousands of white-cheeked geese, most of them apparently Cackling Geese:

And there was a scattering of white geese, both Ross's and Snow:

Cinnamon Teal were back at the refuge. Over at Smith Reservoir, Costilla County, there was a Greater Scaup with the hundreds of Lesser Scaup. Also a Horned Grebe.

Some other odds and ends: Rough-legged Hawk, gazillions of Sandhill Cranes, four species of owls at the Zapata Ranch (private), widespread Say's Phoebes, a few Loggerhead Shrikes, Pinyon Jays, Woodhouse's Scrub-Jay, a good Tree Swallow flight, Western Bluebirds in suitable habitat, Mountain Bluebirds everywhere, Sage Thrashers, and Sagebrush Sparrows.

Ted Floyd

Lafayette, Boulder County