Bent County -- Tempel Grove Wednesday, 9/11

[David Gillilan]

Early Wednesday morning I did some birding at Lake Hasty and the Lamar Community College woods without finding much of note, unlike the experience I had the day before with Duane Nelson at LCC with the numerous good birds we saw there. I then went to Tempel Grove and birded for 3 hours in the often heavy rain, wet thigh-high weeds, and slippery, sticky mud, starting around 10:45. (For some unknown reason, no one else was out there birding . . . . ) The birding started out fairly slow for the first half hour or so, but thereafter started to pick up.

The highlights:

PHILADELPHIA VIREO (I actually believe there were two of them there together, but I ended up focusing on only one);
Cassin's Vireo (1);
Blackpoll Warbler (1, bright fall male that had me wondering about Pine Warbler).

Others of interest included:

Townsend's Warbler (1 male);
American Redstart (1 female);
Great-crested Flycatcher (1);
Red-bellied Woodpecker (1);
Swainson's Thrush (2);
Clay-colored Sparrow (at least 3, likely more);
Several empids, including one "Traill's" that I thought was most likely a Willow Flycatcher;
Olive-sided Flycatcher (at least 2);
Warbling Vireo (1);
Rock Wren (2).

Species found in the greatest numbers out there were probably Wilson's Warblers, low-flying Common Nighthawks, and Barn Swallows, with at least a few dozen of each. Most of the best birds, including the 3 highlight species I mentioned, were strung out along the first 1/2 mile or so of the eastern canal road, which I started walking around 12:30, the rest were all in the woods on the western side of CR 35 which I birded first. I never did walk out the west side canal road, so don't know what, if anything, might have been out that direction. It is also quite possible that I missed a lot of birds where I did walk, given the challenging conditions while I was there.

David Gillilan
Littleton