Latest San Luis Valley Dickcissels

[mvjo...@gmail.com]

I led a group of 9 of us to the CC Road south of Alamosa this morning. Our goal was to see and possibly count the number of Dickcissels in this area. I can assure you there are more birds in that area than what we counted but we tallied 14 individuals...both male and female, in our morning trip. This exceeds all previous amounts ever recorded in the San Luis Valley. Consider for reference, Atlas I had 1 block with Dickcissels, Atlas II....none. Suddenly they are being found far and wide in the Valley. Pretty amazing phenomenon for sure. Now WHY is this happening is worth discussion. Theories?

All of these birds straddle the Alamosa and Conejos County Line.....

John Rawinski

Monte Vista, CO