Sandhill Cranes, Le Conte's Sparrows, etc.

[Ted Floyd]

Hello, Birders.

Saturday afternoon, Oct. 10, Andrew Floyd and I stopped by Last Chance, Washington County, where things were very, very quiet...except for a faint, faraway bugling sound. Sandhill cranes, of course, and it took *forever* for us to see them. But we persevered, and finally saw them, astonishingly high up, nearly invisible to the naked eye. They flew south in a continuous passage, horizon to horizon, the whole time we were there. From reports on eBird and on CFO's Facebook page (sorry, Dave), it looks as if there was a major push--indeed, THE major push of the season--this past weekend. Passerine-wise, Last Chance had practically nothing: seasonal stuff like orange-crowned warbler, Audubon's warbler, and white-crowned sparrow, and that's about it. Oh, and a flyover McCown's longspur, but it showed zero interest in the ground-based action, such as it was. eBird checklist here:

http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S25393642

Earlier in the day on Saturday, Andrew Floyd and I accompanied Bill Kaempfer's CFO group for their visit to the Fox Ranch, Yuma County. eBird checklist, highlighted by woodpeckers and sparrows, here:

http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S25373286

And here's an online natural history essay, sights and sounds, for the whole day (with a memorable stop at Cope Memorial Park, Washington County, although not for birds):

http://tinyurl.com/Colo-2015-10-10

Ted Floyd

Lafayette, Boulder County