southeast Colorado Dec 5-7

[David Dowell]

Here are a few more reports from southeast Colorado, to complement Dave Leatherman's.

A Friday evening (Dec. 5) stop at Rocky Ford State Wildlife area (Otero Co.) turned up a Winter Wren, a Mountain Chickadee, and a Western Screech-Owl.

On Saturday (Dec. 6), after birding in the Oklahoma Panhandle, I stopped by Two Buttes Reservoir / State Wildlife Area (Baca Co.).  The reservoir still has decent numbers of ducks, expected species as far as I could tell.  Below the dam, bird numbers have dropped considerably from where they were before the mid November cold snap.  The most interesting thing I saw below the dam was a porcupine.

On my way to some of the lakes in Kiowa County, I, like Dave L, also developed a greater appreciation for the tumbleweed problem during my drive through Tempel Grove.  The sobering sights continued as I arrived at the unfrozen but nearly birdless Kiowa County lakes.  I could not see a single bird at Jett Reservoir.  Neegronda Reservoir had several ducks and a bald eagle.  Neesopah Reservoir had a couple of dozen ducks, 3 species total.

On Sunday morning (Dec. 7), I birded the road southwest of Higbee in southeastern Otero Co, one of my favorite places to go on an unseasonably warm winter day.  Mountain Bluebirds and White-crowned Sparrows were everywhere.  Noisy Ladder-backed Woodpeckers were flying from cholla to cholla.  One cottonwood tree hosted 5 Cassin's Finches.  Rock Wrens, a Say's Phoebe, and a Lincoln's Sparrow provided some refreshing sounds of summer.  Greater Roadrunners can sometimes be found in this area.  Although I didn't find any yesterday, I did find two farther east along County Road J in southwestern Bent County.

Before heading home, I visited Adobe Creek Reservoir (straddling the Bent - Kiowa County line).  About a thousand gulls were in the area, along with a few hundred ducks and a few hundred geese.  Heat waves made it hard to identify many of the birds.  Although I failed to turn up rare birds, it does strike me as a place that is currently ripe for attracting one.  Somehow, I managed to have the place to myself yesterday afternoon, and it was very pleasant and peaceful.

David Dowell

Longmont, CO