Long-tailed Duck and Least Sandpipers at Lake Hasty, Bent County, CO

[Duane Nelson]

Birders,

There was an immature / female Long-tailed Duck today on South Lake
Hasty. This bird is rare, but regular, in Bent County in the late fall
and winter.

More interesting to me were the shorebirds still present. Today, there
were six Least Sandpipers inconspicuously inserted among the large
number of Killdeer in the stilling basin beneath John Martin Dam. Today,
I counted 28, but there may be more. Greater Yellowlegs are still
present, with five counted today on islets in Lake Hasty. They move
around a lot, and can almost always be encountered along the Arkansas
River or ponds where water is not yet frozen. While Killdeer and Greater
Yellowlegs are almost always encountered on John Martin Reservoir CBCs,
Least Sandpiper would be new to the count.

Duane Nelson

Las Animas, Bent County, CO