Thursday, June 2, 2011

Yuma to Douglas Counties, A Long Day

June 1, 2011

Richard Stevens:

At first light, I checked the recently found Greater Prairie-Chicken lek in Yuma County. Three birds displayed before sunrise. I hurried over to the Yuma County Road 45 leks and found another two Greater Prairie-Chicken dancing. The late date for displaying prairie chickens has reached into June!

It was quite windy again today. Winds 18 mph with gusts to 27 mph. I was going to visit Bonny Reservoir when I received a text message about a probable Western Gull at Chatfield State Park (Jefferson/Douglas Counties). It would be a first state record; so I headed back to Denver (180 miles west).

When I arrived at Chatfield Reservoir, the adult probable Western Gull was lying on the beach at the marina sand spit. It stood up once and stretched its wings, allowing for a couple of good photos.

Later I met up with Bryan & Sue Ehlmann and Rebecca Kosten and we decided to search for the Flammulated Owl reported along the South Platte Trail (about 20 miles south of Sedalia).

On the way down, we stopped at Highway 67 and Rampart Range Road. A male and female American Three-toed Woodpecker were 10 yards north of Hwy 67, 0.1 miles east of Rampart Range Road.

After dark, we managed to find a Flammulated Owl and 2 Northern Pygmy-Owls (heard only). The Northern Pygmy-Owls were near previous gps waypoints. Only two of the four waypoints turned out to be productive.

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