Tuesday, January 13, 2015

November 27 to 30, 2014

Richard Stevens:

Bryan and I returned to northeastern Colorado.  Temperatures remained cold, low 30s; winds were 10+ mph most of our trip.

November 27

We enjoyed the day at Tamarack Ranch Wildlife Area (Logan County).  Highlights included:
Northern Cardinal, five Red-bellied Woodpeckers, Eastern Screech-Owl, Field Sparrow and Eastern Bluebirds.

November 28

Today Bryan and I visited Jumbo Reservoir.  Highlights included: two Rusty Blackbirds below Logan County Road 93; Red-bellied Woodpecker, two Long-eared Owls (between Jumbo Reservoir and Red Lion Wildlife Area); an Eastern Screech-Owl.

A Greater White-fronted Goose was at Red Lion Wildlife Area.  No Short-eared Owl showed up this evening.

November 29

Bryan Ehlmann, Roger Danka and I visited five private ranches in Sedgwick & Logan Counties today.

Highlights included: seven Long-eared Owls (over two locations), Harris's Sparrow, Fox Sparrow and two Eastern Screech-Owls (over two locations).

A Northern Cardinal and Red-bellied Woodpecker were in Ovid Woods (Sedgwick).  A Purple Finch was found at a friend's feeder in Ovid.

A Greater Prairie-Chicken was seen around sunset in the Tamarack Ranch Wildlife Area southern section, west of Logan County Road 93 (north of CR 46).

November 30

Bryan, Roger and I birded mostly in the Julesburg area today (Sedgwick County).

Two Rusty Blackbirds were found walking along the S. Platte River at the Julesburg Wayside Rest Stop.  It was not a bad sighting; we would have preferred an American Woodcock.

Farther west of the bridge at the Julesburg Wayside Rest Stop, we found a Winter Wren at Julesburg Wayside Rest Stop.  We waited a good 20 minutes to obtain good looks and more important hear the Stub-tailed Wren.  It was quick certainly a Winter Wren (Pacific Wren for Sedgwick County would have been a superb find).

At DePoorter Lake (Sedgwick) two Harris's Sparrows were in the willows along the South Platte River.  Again no American Woodcocks.

At Pony Express Wildlife Area, we saw a male Red-bellied Woodpecker in the cottonwoods along the S. Platte River.

Sedgwick Bar Wildlife Area added only a few White-crowned Sparrows to our trip list.

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