TO find the site, go to the hotspot map on eBird and enter "Gateway Cottonwoods". Chances of seeing Lucy's here are low this late in the year.
PLease respect these birds, which are nesting in this County for the first time. Please do NOT play a tape, or do anything to disrupt them. A better place to find Lucy's is in MOntezuma County, Yellowjacket County, late April, early May. Lucy's breed here and need to be respected here too. >From CFO site "County Birding" Yellow Jacket Canyon - Montezuma County Ownership: None Listed Description: This ribbon of riparian habitat is the undisputed crown jewel of southwestern birding locations. Yellow Jacket Creek has water flowing through it all year, and an extensive riparian corridor lines it for at least two miles. Unfortunately, much of it, including the best stuff, is on private property. The reason most birders come here is to look for Lucy's Warbler, first discovered breeding here in 2004 and seen in numbers every summer since then. A pair typically nests right on the public property boundary (see below), and up to three other pairs have been seen upstream from there on public land. They usually arrive in late April and are present through July, though they get increasingly harder to find after mid-June. Lucy's Warblers are far from the only reason to come, though. Summer Tanagers have maintained territories here in 2006 and 2007 and likely breed; rarities such as Yellow-throated Vireo have been seen, and the potential here is phenomenal. Gray Vireo is common along the road in, along with other PJ species such as Pinyon Jay, Common Poorwill, Black-throated Gray Warbler, Black-throated Sparrow, and others. A few Scott's Orioles can typically be found in the sparser PJ closer to McElmo Canyon. Habitat: Pinyon/Juniper Forest, Lowland Riparian, Stream Elevation: Directions: From the intersection of McElmo Canyon Road (CR G) and US-160/491 just south of Cortez head west on CR G for 20.2 miles to an unmarked and gated road on the right. Open the gate and head north for 2.4 miles, heading straight over the cattle guard at a junction at 1.5 miles, past a National Monument sign for Cannonball Mesa, well off the road. Just before the junction at 2.4 miles you will cross a (usually) dry arroyo. Take a left at 2.4 miles onto an inconspicuous and rough track. Drive down it as far as you can and walk the rest of the way (about 1.5 miles total; bring water!). When you get towards the end of the road, you'll be getting close to the top of some short rimrock cliffs above the cottonwood gallery. If you're in the right place, the road should split shortly before the cliff. Take the right (lower) fork, but watch for a broken-down, unposted fenceline. Do not follow the road through the fence line--it is the beginning of private property that birders are specifically forbidden from accessing. Instead follow the fenceline to the right, until you reach the top of the short cliff. Below you'll see how the road does a hairpin turn and comes back out into public land through the continuation of the fenceline. Head right (northeast) along the cliff until you find a safe place to descend. Stay east of the fence. In 2006, at least one Lucy's territory seemed to stretch along about 100 meters of stream bottom, roughly centered on the fenceline. Everything down-canyon from here is private property; you can bird upstream from here to about the first side canyon on the right and stay on public land. To navigate around this area you will probably want to use the Bowdish Canyon Quadrangle topographic map or the Cortez area BLM map. On Sat, Jun 20, 2020 at 6:03 AM George Miller <fly83...@gmail.com> wrote: > Use eBird's Explore to get to the Top Hotspots of Mesa County. > Click on number nine, Gateway Cottonwoods. > At the left, click on any list. > Under the Date at the top of the list is a the location and a Flag that > will take you to the location. > > > On Friday, June 19, 2020 at 7:57:42 PM UTC-6, Brian Johnson wrote: >> >> Hello, >> I'm going camping this coming week and >> I have seen reports of Lucy's Warblers >> At a ebird hot spott called Gateway Cottonwoods. I have not been to Mesa >> County before and would appreciate some info on how to get there and where >> to go to hopeful find them. I tried to look this place up on the internet >> but I could only find a resort. Do I need to stay visit the resort to reach >> the birds? >> Thank you >> Brian Johnson, >> Good birding > > -- > 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 view this discussion on the web visit > https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/cobirds/a38fbd03-3a70-4926-b05a-7cd39e7420dbo%40googlegroups.com > <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/cobirds/a38fbd03-3a70-4926-b05a-7cd39e7420dbo%40googlegroups.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> > . > -- 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. 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