Thursday, March 30, 2017

Trip To Northern Colorado

March 30, 2017

Richard Stevens:

Another day of partly sunny skies, temperatures reached 66 degrees.  Winds were 6 mph with gusts to 13 mph.

Rebecca Kosten and I went north to Pawnee National Grasslands area (Weld County) in search of Mountain Plovers.  No suspense there..........none was found.

The Tundra Swan was at the CR 37/CR 46 Ponds.  The Eurasian Wigeon if still there did not appear.  The near shore cannot be scoped from the public roads.  On past visits, he eventually did swim into view.  Our stay was brief.

Crow Valley Campgrounds added no uncommon birds to our trip list. 

We did see eleven Sharp-tailed Grouse on private land near Glover (Weld).  They are sometimes observed from public roads, however not today.

Traditional Mountain Plover nesting sites were checked.  A couple of McCown's Longspurs and Horned Larks were the only birds found.

The Chestnut-collared Longspur nesting field at Weld CR 114 & hwy 85 did not have any longspurs today.  It is a little early in the season for them and Mountain Plover.  Entrance to this field may require a permit (which we do have).

A Barn Owl was found north of the CPER Experimental Office.  No Common Redpolls, Snow Buntings or Short-eared Owls this trip was found along Owl Creek.

We continued to Soapstone Prairie Natural Area (Larimer) and enjoyed a pleasant although windy hike.  No Baird's Sparrows or any other sparrows were found. 

Wellington Wildlife Area is closed until July 16.  No Short-eared Owls appeared around sunset.

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