Joe Mammoser and I birded Weld County today. Highlights:
SR14/CR51 east of Ault (pasture to the east of this intersection):
Mountain Plover (4)
CR90 east of CR 51:
Golden Eagle (has been sitting on the silo (the other day with a second bird)
on the south side of CR90 for the last week - there are nests in the Siberian
elm at this locale but they look too small for use by eagles)
Crow Valley Campground:
Lincoln's Sparrow (1) west of the main picnic shelter in the willow thicket
Red-naped Sapsucker (1 adult m) northwest corner
Great Horned Owl (female on nest) right over the group shelter in a tree
(elm?, forgot to check) in the northwest corner
Ruby-crowned Kinglet (heard)
Say's Phoebe (2) out in the north part (Mourning Dove Trail)
McCown's Longspur (1 flyover)
[The gate is now open and you can drive into the campground. Things are dry
and the cottonwoods seem behind in their development, compared to Fort Collins.]
GR96 ("Murphy's Pasture"):
McCown's Longspur (several, but not a zillion) almost had a great photo of one
but a birding tour van tried to pass us on the right, believe it or not, and
scared it off!
Chestnut-collared Longspur (1)
[Just east of the intersection of GR96 and GR69 there are a few places along
the north side of 96 with standing water. In the next day or so until this
dries up, these waterholes would be good places to watch, from a distance, for
longspurs, etc.]
Crom Lake (west of Pierce on CR31 s of CR90:
Lesser Yellowlegs (1) FOS
American Avocet (10+) FOS
Baird's Sandpiper (1) FOS
Cackling Geese (hundreds)
Unnamed lake on the east side of CR31 about 1 mile south of SR14:
Few thousand geese, most of which looked like Cackling and a few (3-4) "white"
geese that looked small enough to be Ross's
Woods Lake (on the south side of CR74 between Rd 27 and Rd 29:
Clark's Grebe (at least 2) FOS
Western Grebe (several)
Great-tailed Grackle (heard)
Yellow-headed Blackbird (heard)
lots of other common waterfowl
Still conspicuous numbers of kestrels on the grasslands, as well as a
mini-plague of Redshank grasshoppers (Xanthippus corallipes). This big,
yellow-winged grasshopper with red hind "thighs" is a common prey item for
Loggerhead Shrikes and Swainson's Hawks. One of these days soon, both bird
species will arrive and be elated to see the table set with a favorite entree.
Unless it rains a little bit soon, not sure what the grasshoppers will have to
eat, however.
Dave Leatherman
Fort Collins
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