Bobolink, Elbert County 5/24

[Eric DeFonso]

Hi all,

Apologies for the delayed report, but while on a county-busting trip yesterday to Elbert County I had singing Bobolinks along Elbert Road, about 3 miles S of Kiowa. They were too far away to get easy visuals on, and as you may know that road is not the easiest to bird from. The same field also hosted displaying Wild Turkeys, with one in particular hosting a covey of about 6-7 females.

The Colorado County Birding site mentions this area as being reasonable for Dickcissels. That's actually what I was thinking I might find in those fields, but I wasn't able to turn up any. I also didn't find any Cassin's Sparrows amongst the yuccas along and around Bennett Road.

A few other eyebrow-raising finds were made at the large pond just south of CO 86 about 8 miles east of Kiowa. It was surprisingly active and birdy with several duck species including many Redhead and a lone Canvasback, as well as both American Avocet and a single Black-necked Stilt. I also had a single Great-tailed Grackle there.

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Eric DeFonso
Westminster, CO