Gwen Moore and I headed NE yesterday and found several birds of interest, especially in the Jumbo/Red Lion area.
We stopped first to go the Prewitt Reservoir. The good news is that the canal bringing water to Prewitt is now dry. I hope this means that the over-full water level will soon recede. The recent heavy rains in the area haven't helped any and basically the inlet canal area at the west end of the reservoir is flooded right now. However, when we first got off the interstate at the Merino exit we found about a dozen Dickcissels singing from both sides of the road. They proved to be abundant albeit a bit spotty throughout the day. North Sterling Reservoir is also more full than I've ever seen it. Again no water is coming in and the outlet canal is at peak delivery, which may help things soon. We then swung out, via Nebraska (groveling for some cheap total ticks on the national level) and headed back west from east of Julesburg. In town there was a Northern Cardinal singing away in the mid-afternoon heat just west of the elementary school. The Pony Express road had no Eastern Bluebirds, but lots of Red-headed Woodpeckers. We were unable to find any Upland Sandpipers as we headed over to Jumbo Reservoir, but had quite a sight just east of that body of water-a flock of more than 2,000 Cliff Swallows. That number is conservative based on counting 25 segments of fencing on one side of the road with about 40 swallows in each segment. Then there was the other side of the road, then the road itself, then the weeds in the field north of the road, then under the bridges crossing Whiskey Creek (?) just to the west. (I wonder if there were any Cave Swallows in the congregation?) Jumbo has a few nice surprises along the SE dam. There were a few gulls, one of which was a sparkling 1st summer Lesser Black-backed Gull; a basic Common Loon was actively feeding and about a half dozen fresh looking Snow Geese were on the bank. The Red Lion-Bell's Vireo hedgerow had only one bird evident, but Field Sparrows could also be heard singing. Finally Red Lion itself produced the shorebirds we had been seeking with lots of good habitat (again with a lot of water present) and 12 species seen including Least, Semi-palmated, Baird's and Solitary Sandpipers, both yellowlegs, Long-billed Dowitchers and about a half dozen Black Terns. Bill Kaempfer Boulder -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to cobirds+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to cobirds@googlegroups.com. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/cobirds/F90B1155A81D474890D22EEFFFA7CAE51C1AD65B9D%40EXC4.ad.colorado.edu. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
