Spanish Peaks CBC - Huerfano County

[Polly Neldner]

The Spanish Peaks Christmas Bird Count wrapped up on January 3rd with a respectable 54 species for the day and 56 for the week. The weather conditions were clear with a low of 38 and a high of 63 degrees. Winds were from the Southwest between 15 and 20 mph with stronger gusts throughout the day. All bodies of water were completely open, quite unusual for January. 

We had 18 enthusiastic participants with one dedicated feeder watcher.

Canvasback (drake) was a new species for the count! Photo of CFO Facebook page

Other highlights for the day were:

4 Bufflehead - 3rd time seen 

47 Common Goldeneye - 7th time seen

2 Northern Harrier - 9th time for the count

4 American Coot 5th time seen 

16 Lewis's Woodpecker 13th time seen and the best numbers in a while

1 Prairie Falcon was seen marking is 6th time seen on count day

1 Harris's Sparrow - 15th time seen

1 Spotted Towhee 16th appearance on the count - was afraid we might be skunked on that one!

A flock of Rosy-finch were spotted:

13 Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch  10th time seen

150 Brown-capped Rosy-Finch were seen making their 9th time

All in all it was quite a successful day! 

Polly Wren and Paul Neldner

Huerfano County