Lincoln County, 5/21

[Chris Selvig]

I ventured out this afternoon on a trip, primarily hoping to find some vernal pools with amphibians but always with an eye on the birds.

The highlight of the trip turned out to be the weather, as I wound up a few miles west of multiple tornadoes, then drove back to Colorado Springs through torrential rains, hail, and violent outflow winds from the supercell storm.  I expect the vernal-pool action to be very good between Rush and Highway 71 over the next week.

Birdwise, the highlight was definitely a dark-phase Rough-legged Hawk on the ground off Road J, weathering heavy rain and hail.

  No luck on the amphibians, other than Bullfrogs, but before the storms hit I did find a Prairie Rattlesnake and a Painted Turtle in eastern El Paso County, and a 2020-hatchling Yellow-bellied Racer in western Lincoln County.

Chris Selvig

Colorado Springs