Jeff Dawson and I made a long, lonely loop into Northeast Colorado today,
Saturday March 16.
Dryland birding, like the dryland farming practiced in much of the area we
covered, is often unrewarding and this early spring trip was no exception.
Birds not seen, e.g., Northern Harrier and Long-eared Owls, were noteworthy.
Low microtine numbers and the drought may be to blame for the scarcity of these
raptors, however, we recorded a dozen Rough-legged and Red-tailed Hawks in the
course of the day. Careful checking of three Barn Owl nest sites established
that owls were not currently occupying the sites and probably have not yet
returned from their winter quarters.
We logged more miles than birds and, in desperation, responded to a call from
Joe Roller who suggested we detour some 50+ miles into Yuma County in pursuit
of a corvid reported the previous day. Always needing additions to our Yuma
County lists, we searched in vain for the target before turning our cell phones
off and returning to the City of Yuma in search of water. The sewage ponds
were dry but when we finally locating two fishing ponds on S. Idlewild Street,
we were pleased to find they hosted an array of waterfowl including 2 Ross'
Geese and a Hooded Merganser.
Deciding to abandon any effort to find Greater Prairie Chickens in midday
(opting instead to wait for the ASGD lek trip in early May), we headed north to
Haxtun in Phillips County where the sewage ponds rewarded us with 5 species of
Geese (Ross's, White-fronted, Snow and both white-cheeked species) plus a pair
of Wood Ducks among the numerous diving and dabbling ducks. The adjacent
stockyard was source of our FOY Great-tailed Grackle. The community park
hosted an incubating Great Horned Owl. Time running out, we headed straight
for Denver, bypassing the areas we had originally planned to visit.
Doug Kibbe
Littleton, Colo
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