Lower Arkansas Valley birding

I birded in the lower Arkansas Valley yesterday and the day before. I stayed at the Blue Spruce Motel in Lamar and would usually make a report from my room as they have wireless internet, the software on my laptop had some problem and I couldn't log on (though I was able to log on with the Palm handheld, but that is way too small for posting anything longer than a short sentence).

On Thursday I found what I believe to be a "Lillian's" subspecies of Eastern Meadowlark in the grasslands adjacent to the Two Buttes (not the "black hole" area, but right next to the buttes themselves). Lillian's are found in Arizona, New Mexico and west Texas so sightings in Colorado are quite rare.

Also by Two Buttes were several Vesper Sparrows, a Northern Harrier and lots of Horned Larks. After driving on down into the Two Buttes State Wildlife area "black hole", I was delighted to see a juvenile Golden Eagle flying. There wasn't much other action--2 Turkey Vultures played in the gusty winds, a Common Raven, a Great Blue Heron (perched on a cliff), and a Rock Wren.

At dusk I found a flock of 14 Turkey Vultures settled for the night on a large tower near the town of Two Buttes. Though most Turkey Vultures have left Colorado for the winter, this is so far southeast in the state that it is not unusual to have birds there that haven't migrated out (in fact, with temps around 80 it still feels like summer).
SeEtta