Hi all, Van Truan and I, and his two young sons (not birders), did a Big Day on Saturday, 8 May in Pueblo County. We wanted to see if we could beat our own Pueblo County Big Day record of 156 species several years ago. We were successful in finding 167 species of birds in Pueblo County on Saturday. We didn't see anything really rare, maybe our best birds were Common Loon, Gray Flycatcher, Least Flycatcher, Northern Waterthrush, Rose-breasted Grosbeak, and Pine Grosbeak. We did well with several bird families: 16 species of waterfowl, 11 species of shorebirds, 7 species of owls and nightjars, 7 species of woodpeckers, 13 species of flycatchers, 9 species of warblers, and 9 species of native sparrows. We started at midnight in the eastern part of the county, trying to find rails. It was very windy, and we heard one species. Then we headed west to the foothills and mountains to try our luck with owls and nightjars, luckily it wasn't windy, and a few were calling. Sunrise was up at Lake Isabel in the mountains, where it was very cold, like it the high 20s probably. Then we drove a good mountain road, on the way to Rye and Colorado City, where we picked up most of the mountain birds. Rye and Colorado City added quite a few birds. Then we drove some more dirt roads though the pinyon juniper, and added several more birds. Then to Pueblo, where each stop produced birds we hadn't seen yet. Then off to Huerfano Reservoir in the eastern part of the county, where several late ducks and more shorebirds were present. We then checked out dirt roads near the Huerfano River, and added a more species. We got back to Pueblo in time to find Chimney Swifts, and a couple staked out birds in Van's backyard. We missed quite a few species, that maybe we should have seen, though we were happy with our results. There were quite a rare birds found in Pueblo County on Saturday, during the Pueblo County Spring Migration Count, though we didn't really seen any of them. According to Dave Silverman, the county wide total for bird species counted in Pueblo County by all parties on Saturday, May 8, 2010, was a new record of 202 species!!
Good birding, Brandon Percival Pueblo West, CO -- 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