Monday, May 22, 2017

Return to Weld & Adams Counties

May 21, 2017

Rebecca and I went to visit a friend's ranch in Weld County this morning.  Mountain Plovers have nested in the past.  Today we could only find one plover.  A pair of Long-eared Owls is nesting in the windbreak 60 yards from the ranch house.

On the drive home, we stopped at Banner Lakes Wildlife Area (Weld).  No owls were found; however, we did relocate the Gray-cheeked Thrush and Chestnut-sided Warbler that Terry Michaels and I found yesterday.

In the afternoon, I drove over to Barr Lake (Adams).  My hike was from the Visitor's Center footbridge to the western end of the Niedrach boardwalk, back to the footbridge and continued to mile 8.0, not far from the boat ramp.

None of the birds reported earlier in the day were relocated.  The bird population today was much different from my visit two days ago.  Western Kingbird numbers were significantly lower, as were Western Wood-pewee numbers.

A few interesting birds were encountered.  A male Black-headed Grosbeak was in the cottonwoods at mile 8.85.  A Blackpoll Warbler popped out of the thickets while I watched the grosbeak.

They were the only uncommon sightings recorded to mile 8.0.  On the return trek, I was thinking that all the thrushes found Friday had moved on.  Then a Veery scurried out of the underbrush at mile 8.05.

One Yellow-rumped Warbler and just a couple of Yellow Warblers were the only warblers found today.  Winds picked up around 5:00 pm; fifteen minutes later the skies opened up.  A downpour ensued and I was 1/2 mile from my SUV.

After the rain stopped, I walked from the old stone house (mile 6.0) to the southern end of the dam.  Two Yellow Warblers were the only birds found.  One of the Long-eared Owls was found in the trees along the eastern canal.

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