April 29, 2013
Rebecca Kosten: cell phone transcript and personal account;
Before sunrise, Stevens and the Millers parked at the eastern Elkhart, Kansas Lesser Prairie-Chicken Lek. Only one Lesser Prairie-Chicken appeared and stayed briefly.
They then walked from the oil tank closest to J Road south toward the windmill. Two additional Lesser Prairie-Chickens were seen. Sixteen+ Burrowing Owls were around the prairie dog town about a half mile from the oil tank.
Thinking on the Lesser Prairie-Chicken Lek: As written before, maybe due to disturbance or just abandonment of the prairie-chickens, they believe this lek has become a satellite lek; the major lek is not on public land or at least does not have public access. This lek may go the way of the Campo Lek in Colorado and be shutdown to the public?
The group returned to Colorado by way of Baca County Road G. Along the way, they found half a dozen Burrowing Owls, Sage Thrashers and an Eastern Screech-Owl at its traditional riparian area.
A walk around the closed entrance to the Campo Lesser Prairie-Chicken Lek found many sparrows including Cassin's Sparrows! Others included Brewer's, Clay-colored, Lark, Song and Chipping Sparrows.
Their next stop was Cottonwood Canyon in Baca County. They considered two Mississippi Kites as the highlight bird of the stop. Other birds found included seven Eastern Phoebes, two Rufous-crowned Sparrows, one Lewis's Woodpecker, Canyon Towhees, Bewick's Wrens, Rock Wrens, Canyon Wrens and a male Ladder-backed Woodpecker.
They looked around for the possible Arizona Woodpecker reported earlier in the week, without success. The Winter Wren was also not relocated.
No Mountain Plovers and only one Burrowing Owl were found at Pasture G, Baca County. A traditional spot for both those birds and migrating Long-billed Curlews, however, not today.
Two Buttes Reservoir was not birdy. They did find a Tennessee Warbler, Ladder-backed Woodpecker, Brown Thrasher and Barn Owl.
They kept their eyes open for Scissor-tailed Flycatchers along highway 387/285. Late April and early May are good times to find one migrating along the route.
Lamar Community College in Prowers County was a gold mine of birds. While most were reported by others yesterday and early in the day, Richard, Bob & Jan split up and covered the area well.
Final tally included Northern Parula, Blue-winged Warbler, Carolina Wren, a pair of Northern Cardinals, Broad-winged Hawk, Wilson's Warbler, Yellow Warbler and Brown Thrasher.
Their day was not over, but ended at Hale Ponds, Yuma County. At dusk, they got a Common Poorwill to respond to a recording. A Red-bellied Woodpecker drummed along Yuma County Road 4.
After dark, two Eastern Screech-Owls were relocated near previously recorded GPS waypoints!
Rebecca Kosten: cell phone transcript and personal account;
Before sunrise, Stevens and the Millers parked at the eastern Elkhart, Kansas Lesser Prairie-Chicken Lek. Only one Lesser Prairie-Chicken appeared and stayed briefly.
They then walked from the oil tank closest to J Road south toward the windmill. Two additional Lesser Prairie-Chickens were seen. Sixteen+ Burrowing Owls were around the prairie dog town about a half mile from the oil tank.
Thinking on the Lesser Prairie-Chicken Lek: As written before, maybe due to disturbance or just abandonment of the prairie-chickens, they believe this lek has become a satellite lek; the major lek is not on public land or at least does not have public access. This lek may go the way of the Campo Lek in Colorado and be shutdown to the public?
The group returned to Colorado by way of Baca County Road G. Along the way, they found half a dozen Burrowing Owls, Sage Thrashers and an Eastern Screech-Owl at its traditional riparian area.
A walk around the closed entrance to the Campo Lesser Prairie-Chicken Lek found many sparrows including Cassin's Sparrows! Others included Brewer's, Clay-colored, Lark, Song and Chipping Sparrows.
Their next stop was Cottonwood Canyon in Baca County. They considered two Mississippi Kites as the highlight bird of the stop. Other birds found included seven Eastern Phoebes, two Rufous-crowned Sparrows, one Lewis's Woodpecker, Canyon Towhees, Bewick's Wrens, Rock Wrens, Canyon Wrens and a male Ladder-backed Woodpecker.
They looked around for the possible Arizona Woodpecker reported earlier in the week, without success. The Winter Wren was also not relocated.
No Mountain Plovers and only one Burrowing Owl were found at Pasture G, Baca County. A traditional spot for both those birds and migrating Long-billed Curlews, however, not today.
Two Buttes Reservoir was not birdy. They did find a Tennessee Warbler, Ladder-backed Woodpecker, Brown Thrasher and Barn Owl.
They kept their eyes open for Scissor-tailed Flycatchers along highway 387/285. Late April and early May are good times to find one migrating along the route.
Lamar Community College in Prowers County was a gold mine of birds. While most were reported by others yesterday and early in the day, Richard, Bob & Jan split up and covered the area well.
Final tally included Northern Parula, Blue-winged Warbler, Carolina Wren, a pair of Northern Cardinals, Broad-winged Hawk, Wilson's Warbler, Yellow Warbler and Brown Thrasher.
Their day was not over, but ended at Hale Ponds, Yuma County. At dusk, they got a Common Poorwill to respond to a recording. A Red-bellied Woodpecker drummed along Yuma County Road 4.
After dark, two Eastern Screech-Owls were relocated near previously recorded GPS waypoints!
No comments:
Post a Comment