Elbert County! 5/11

[David Suddjian]

I had an amazing day at Elbert County yesterday May 5. Weather was fantastic (mostly calm and sunny or partly cloudy), and I think the timing after the recent snow storm and days of rain was fortuitous. There was water everywhere out there. Ponds, ponds and more ponds (most without any birds, though), flowing streams, flooded roads. It was an embarrassment of aquatic riches for Elbert. Frogs were happy. 

I think I had about 150 species for the day, and that is with a relatively short supply of shorebirds. I found 15 species of warblers and some other really good birds. I made nearly 80 stops, beginning early in pine forest near Elizabeth and then spending most of the day in the northeast part of the county. I found that areas of creeks that had very recently had high flow with obstructions near road crossings catching flotsom and debris were especially good for some of the rare migrants. Apparently the flotsom provided for good foraging conditions. For the sake of brevity I'm going to hit just the highlights. 

The block of pine forest just east of Elizabeth still has Cassin's Finches. I found 5, including 4 singing males and 1 female type that seemed to be fiddling with possible nesting material. A male and female Evening Grosbeak flying over at Down West Ride were a big surprise in May! Also had a late Townsend's Solitaire (Casey Jones Park), Townsend's Warbler (Down West Ride at Darting Bird Lane), Dusky Flycatcher, Plumbeous Vireo, and other migrants that like pine forest. Lots of Red Crossbills.

A White-throated Sparrow was at Freese Road. A Red-eyed Vireo was along CR 73 in the Freese area at a tributary of West Bijou Creek. When I first saw it, it was down in some rabbit brush (!) with migrant Clay-colored Sparrows and Yellow Warblers 

Ball Reservoir had an alternate plumaged Black Tern, 2 Common Mergansers, 3 Willets, Western Grebes, Franklin's, California and Ring-billed gulls. The very full conditions precluded most shorebirds.

East Bijou Creek had a Chestnut-sided Warbler near CR 125. The crossing at CR 117 had a Yellow-breasted Chat, Gray Catbird, MacGillivray's Warbler, and Dusky Flycatcher. The crossing at CR 162 had a Least Flycatcher, Dusky Flycatcher, American Redstart and Indigo Bunting. The area near the crossing of CR 170 had a male Mourning Warbler (crippling views), Field Sparrow, 2 American Redstarts, 2 Northern Waterthrushes, Nashville Warbler, Orchard Oriole, 3 Wilson's Warblers, Broad-winged Hawk fly-over, and 3 Dusky Flycatchers. Funny thing about this last spot. At first there did not seem to be anything out of the ordinary, then all of a sudden birds began to appear, as if things were moving in and out. Some stayed for several nice views, while others appeared once and I did not see them again.

Big Sandy Creek near CR 118 had a male (!) Painted Bunting, Northern Waterthrush, Marsh Wren, and Dusky Flycatcher. Same stream near Matheson had a Northern Waterthrush, while 2 Chimney Swifts were over the town area itself. Big Sandy near Simla had a Gray-cheeked Thrush (and Swainson's), Black-and-white Warbler, and American Redstart.

I found a male Virginia's Warbler in some juniper habitat at Cedar Point, southeast of Agate. 

A Whimbrel was standing in a field at the south end of CR 153, with McCown's Longspur nearby, and a Blackpoll Warbler at a tree grove further north along CR 153.

Tons of kingbirds (tallies from just my stops were 290 Western, 44 Cassin's and 12 Eastern), carpets of sparrows and scads of Lark Buntings, of course.

Two non-bird sightings of interest for me were a Tiger Salamander crossing CR 153 and a Porcupine along Big Sandy Creek near Matheson.

I'm probably forgetting something...

David Suddjian

Littleton, CO