Sunday, August 11, 2019

Adams County

August 9, 2019

Richard Stevens:

High temperature was 92 degrees.  Winds were 18-19 mph with gusts to 29 mph.  Hot winds kept temperatures high well after dark.

I started driving toward the eastern Adams County Roads an hour before sunrise.  By 11:00 am, it was quite hot.  No Mountain Plovers or Cassin's Kingbirds were found in Adams County today.

One of the Burrowing Owls that have been around at the prairie dog town along 160th avenue approximately 0.5 miles west of Yellow Jacket Road since April 19 was still there.

Many stops along 160th avenue did not turn up any Mountain Plovers.  The few birds flying around were Red-winged Blackbirds.  Two Loggerhead Shrikes were the highlights and not too exciting.

With the poor showing in Adams County, I turned southeast and visited Richmil Ranch Open Space (Arapahoe County).  Birding here was not much better when I hiked the nature loop.  Two Cassin's Kingbirds were the highlights.

No additional Cassin's Kingbirds or the Yellow-billed Cuckoo was relocated at Arapahoe County Road 38 and East Bijou Creek this trip.

It was only another 30 miles east to Last Chance, so I headed over there by way of Arapahoe CR 34 and CR 241.  Another Loggerhead Shrike and two McCown's Longspurs were observed along the way.

Last Chance Rest Stop located at Hwy 71 and Hwy 36 in Washington County was very slow.  A Brown Thrasher was the highlight here.  If the Northern Waterthrush was still around, it did not appear today.

I headed for home before the thunderstorm arrived.

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