Greetings CObirders, I scouted this route on July 1 this year, then did the official survey July 2. The route starts at around 8,400' in rural riparian montane, soon climbs to 9,000'+ riparian forest thru about Stop 15, then quickly climbs further with most of the route being above 10,000' (after Stop 23)--and above 11,000' from Stops 33-50. The whole area above 9,600' or so in the subalpine zone has been devastated by spruce beetle since 2016, and there has been a significant decrease in total numbers of birds for the route (tho NOT of species numbers) in the past 5 years (due to lower numbers of individuals present and breeding in the subalpine). I started the route in 2013. The average total individual count decreased 25% to 360 for the past 4 years, from 480 for the previous 4 years. (This route had "boom" years for both #species and #individuals from 2001-2003, with total individuals going over 500 and into the 600s and species counts reaching 51. Average #species over the past 10 counts is 43, with little variation. But averages for the route are tough to really determine, since there is a lot of missing data/years. For a scattered 10 of the 27 years--including up to 4 consecutive years--since its inception in 1994, no one even did the survey, which suggests there may have been a frequent turnover of observers, which could introduce error into the counts.)
In the subalpine zone since 2016 I've observed decreased #s of Am. 3-toed woodpecker, hermit thrush, robin, junco, Audubon warbler, Clark nutcracker, and chipping sparrow. Further decreases particularly this year occurred in Audubon warbler, pine siskin, and chipping sparrow. But I was thrilled to have three long-eared owl individuals compared to the avg of less than one, an atypical bald eagle, and a probable golden eagle (apparently first for this route--but only on scouting day unfortunately). Good birding. Marty Wolf NW CO Springs -- -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group. To post to this group, send email to cobirds@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/cobirds?hl=en?hl=en * All posts should be signed with the poster's full name and city. Include bird species and location in the subject line when appropriate * Join Colorado Field Ornithologists https://cobirds.org/CFO/Membership/ --- 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/CADoSYTM10KBunnJu4zbq%3DSojx3tJnCxLOAtXNQwf7VGze4kvkQ%40mail.gmail.com.
