El Paso county --- Acorn Woodpecker, NO, Long-tailed Duck, yes 2/24/2016

[Mark Peterson]

Hi COBirders,

After dropping the kids off at school this morning I ventured over to the Acorn Woodpecker neighborhood near Cheyenne Blvd. and Willow Street.  This is my 4th search for this bird since mid January.  Again I had no luck and in case others are thinking about coming to look for it here is a bit of information that I learned. 

The owners of the house that it most frequents (mostly for peanuts) have not seen the bird since some time in January.  They apparently keep fairly detailed notes, at least of this specific bird.  So, if you had any thoughts on traveling to see this bird you might want to take that into consideration.

I did have a handful of CEDAR WAXWINGS in the area along with the other usual suspects.

Over at Big Johnson reservoir I was able to spot a LONG-TAILED DUCK and the BURROWING OWL that Alan Versaw originally found continues over on the "northeast" side of the reservoir.  I did not see anything else of note but with the ice receding there are many more ducks, mostly divers, out there.  There was also a NORTHERN SHRIKE doing a little bit of vocalizing below the dam.

 

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Mark Peterson
Colorado Springs