Fox Ranch, Yuma County, May 12

[Ted Floyd]

Hello, Birders.

As John Rawinski mentioned earlier, The Nature Conservancy conducted a "bird blitz" of its Colorado preserves earlier today, Saturday, May 12. With Michele Battiste, Lauryn Wachs, and Andrew Floyd, plus a cameo (and a valuable assist) from a former mayor of Yuma, I birded the Conservancy's Fox Ranch in Yuma County. The weather was wretchèd (drizzle, mist, and fog, with a cold north wind), but the birding was great. We started at 3:40 am, when Swainson's Thrushes on nocturnal migration woke up Andrew and me. That, and a cold, wet cat trying to get into our tent. The race was on.

We found 94 species on the ranch, including 4 Greater Prairie-Chickens, 1 Cattle Egret, 2 Upland Sandpipers, 1 Long-billed Curlew, 1 Forster's Tern, 5 Red-headed Woodpeckers, 1 Red-bellied Woodpecker, 8 Least Flycatchers, 2 Eastern Phoebes, 1 Carolina Nuthatch, 1 Eastern Bluebird, 18 Swainson's Thrushes (not including nocturnal migrants), 20 Brown Thrashers, 1 McCown's Longspur, 2 Ovenbirds, 1 Palm Warbler, 40 Clay-colored Sparrows, 1 Field Sparrow, 1 White-throated Sparrow, 4 Lincoln's Sparrows, 10 Lazuli Buntings, 2 Orchard Orioles, and 45 Pine Siskins.

On the way back, we stopped off at Last Chance, Washington County, where we found a Northern Waterthrush and a smattering of expected migrants. We're still cold, but it's a good cold.

Ted Floyd

Lafayette, Boulder County