Tom Whitten and I arrived at Picketwire Canyon in Otero County at 7:30 this morning to search for Black-throated Sparrows previously reported by Duane Nelson. We found four in the area he described, Picketwire trail to the bottom where there's a sign saying .9 miles back up to the trailhead, then right (south) to the two old abandoned homesteads and just beyond. Interesting were two Rufous-crowned Sparrows very nearby but associating closer to White-crowned Sparrows than the BTSP's. A couple Canyon Towhees joined in from the hill above to keep us on our toes. A single Juniper Titmouse was heard, then seen on the way back up to the trailhead.
We saw an eye-opening 35 or so Sage Thrashers in the general area, per Duane's mention of it being a banner year for over-wintering of this species. They mostly topped the Chollas and greasewood bushes but would also go straight into the junipers solitaire-style, I'm assuming it was not just for cover but for food source. Mountain Bluebirds he mentioned have moved up from the canyon floor and were in the wide Comanche National Grassland area en masse, along with House Finches, Raven sp., a Ferruginous Hawk, Horned Larks and a Say's Phoebe. At Vogel Canyon noon-ish were a large amount of American Robins, another ton of MOBL's, and a high concentration of Dark-eyed Juncos, primarily Pink-sided and Oregon. Four more Canyon Towhees and we turned around shy of the water areas, vowing to come back during spring migration. On Higbee Valley Road not far past the cemetery we saw two Curved-billed Thrashers among the usual suspects, again this area appears that it will be ideal habitat in spring and fall. Dan Stringer Larkspur, CO -- 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/9debb632-ad91-4367-8990-c2b864deae8b%40googlegroups.com.
