Sunday, January 7, 2018

Wray and Surrounding Area

January 4, 2018

Richard Stevens:

It was much warmer today than yesterday.  Temperatures reached 53 degrees.  Winds were a mild 4-5 mph in the morning, but rose to 12-17 mph in middle afternoon.

Terry and I drove Yuma CR 45 about an hour before sunrise.  We did not come across any Short-eared Owls at their often visited spot at CR 45/CR P.  A Greater Prairie-Chicken crossed the road between 1.7 miles east of Hwy 385 and 1.4 miles east.

We of course visited three of my friend's yards in Wray after the decent hour of 9:00 am.  Private yard #1 had a pair of Northern Cardinals.  Private yard #2 had two male, a female Northern Cardinals, and three Pine Siskins (quite out of range).  Private yard #4 had the continuing red Fox Sparrow.

Other highlights included:

At Sandsage Wildlife Area: two Common Redpolls with six American Goldfinches, two White-throated Sparrows and a Swamp Sparrow.
At Wray Fishing Unit: we relocated two White-throated Sparrows, which appear to be residents

Misses: a friend reported hearing an Eastern Screech-Owl along hwy 34, east side of Wray
Nothing uncommon sparrows or wrens at Stalker Pond 

No additional Greater Prairie-Chickens or Short-eared Owl along CR 45/CR P just before sunset.

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