Pawnee Grasslands - WELD County

[John Shenot]

I participated in the Fort Collins Audubon Society field trip today at Pawnee National Grasslands, led by Bill Miller. Highlights included:

• a slightly too close for comfort encounter with a prairie (?) rattlesnake
  
• Ferruginous hawks (2 - on nest)
• Burrowing owls (3 - we didn't try to find more)
• Cassin's sparrow (1, singing and perched)
• Grasshopper sparrow (1, singing but not seen)
• Orchard oriole (1 - textbook first year male)
• Loggerhead shrikes (3 - two were on a nest)

We dipped on plovers and longspurs. Too late a start, I suspect.

John Shenot

Fort Collins, CO