Waterfowl

So far two local ponds continue to have some open water that is keeping some waterfowl around. There have been a good number of Common Goldeneye here this winter, including about 50 that were on Sell's Lake near the Canon City Riverwalk today. There were only 8 Northern Shovelers today though there have been up to about 20 in the past week or so at this small pond. (The Northern Shoveler in this photo is one that allows sharing shot by Mike Baird.)

A single Common Merganser was on Sell's Lake, a species that I have seen on the Arkansas River more than ponds lately. There were only 3 Canada Geese, though more would likely fly in before dark. And there were the requisite American Coots.
SeEtta

More snow and cold for SE Colo

Boy, what a winter this is--though it snows in the mountainous areas throughout the winter, the lower elevations of SE Colo generally don't get that much snow and certainly not week after week of it. Today Canon City and this area is getting several inches of snow. Tomorrow night an arctic front marches down bringing more snow and awfully cold temps. This photo is one I took recently of the Arkansas River near here.

We are now concerned that many bird species are suffering big loses from the continued snow cover in the lower Arkansas Valley. Though uncomfortable in my area, the snow cover is not deep. However I continue feeding black-oil sunflower seed in a feeder and white proso-milet on the ground as well as keeping my bird water heater plugged in for the juncos, sparrows, House Finches and Mourning Doves in my neighborhood.

Yesterday a small flock of Blue Jays were squawking in a neighbors yard. In winter they usually are eating the food they have cached in the fall so I was surprised at their visit (they usually come in the fall to get seed and nuts to cache). I found some nuts and put out some sunflower seeds on the top of a tree trunk (they have trouble accessing seed in feeders) for them. Though I am trying to add more native plants to provide food and shelter for birds instead of feeding, I just feel that in really cold and snowy weather it might be helpful to provide supplemental feed especially since some folks who feed birds stop doing so when the weather makes it uncomfortable to them.
SeEtta

Singing/chasing American Dippers again

This evening I was again at my friends place adjacent to the Arkansas River around dusk. First I heard a little American Dipper singing. Then I heard the call and saw 2 dippers chasing each other around the river.

My friend, though not a birder, knows what dippers look and sound like. He told me that he heard them and saw them in a chase flight, coming quite close to him, one morning before dawn when the temps were below zero. These birds are unusual in being up before dawn and staying out until dark.




The bird in this photo is the same dipper in yesterday's post, even has a worm-like object in its bill. However, this post shows a little of the nictitating membrane (the white on the top of its eye) that can cover the eye to protect it while diving under the water.

SeEtta

Singing American Dippers

I'm still pretty limited in my birding forays as my knee, which is getting better, is still swollen and sore. I looked unsuccessfully for the Yellow-bellied Sapsucker at Lakeview Cemetery and then went to the Abbey to look for the Red-naped Sapsucker. I ran into a birder from Colo Springs who had also not found the Lakeview bird. She and I looked unsuccessfully for the Abbey Red-naped. I am still leaving the Centennial Park Yellow-bellied Sapsucker alone as it had become so distressed the last time I was there, but the other birder had seen this bird this morning and she remarked that it was unusually shy. Unfortunately, as there are fewer pine trees in that location, it is the easiest sapsucker to find that sapsucker and most birders have been pursuing it.

This evening at dusk I enjoyed a chase by 3 American Dippers along the Arkansas River just east of Canon City. As has been my experience, American Dippers tend to get invigorated at dawn and dusk, engaging in chasing each other or even just flying around sometimes near humans. They also sing during these times, a real respite in Colorado wintertime. They are among the few bird species that sing in winter (though Birds of North Americasays they sing only sporadically in mid-winter, I hear them more frequently) here and they sing as sweet as songbirds.

It is unusual in my experience to have 3 birds in one location. Often a pair will maintain a winter territory on streams that do not freeze, like the Arkansas River her, but otherwise these birds are solitary. So I not sure if the third bird is an interloper or possibly an adult child of the other two. The chasing behavior of American Dippers can be either antagonistic to chase off a competitor or it can be part of courtship displays.

It was too dark to get a photo of the birds tonight, though I tried. I took this photo of an American Dipper last summer. This bird has a wormlike object in it's bill which can be seen clearly by double-clicking on the photo.
SeEtta

Lamar, Colorado

Hi from Sunny Lamar.

A few snow flurries yesterday paved the way for a bright sunny day, today. The flocks of White-crowned Sparrows (WCSP) crowding the feeders in the past few weeks are getting smaller and the Harris Sparrows haven't been seen for a few days. The three Inca Doves still visit the safflower feeder sporadically, but the water bath seems to be their biggest interest. (Thanks to Joanne of Pueblo for her homemade water bubbler idea, which I will make in the spring when I dig out of this incredible snow.) Interestingly, the WCSP and some Dark-eyed Juncos (DEJU) prefer the homemade suet I spread on the bark of a backyard Siberian elm tree. Someone suggested it is "quicker" and thus preferred, meaning the energy gained is "quicker". Two days ago, the feeders were full of seed; today the feeders are still nearly full and the suet is gone.

The adult and immature Sharp-shinned Hawks (SSHA) are still patrolling the area and attached is a photo of one I snapped a few days ago. They are fantastic hunters and it is easy to see why they strike such fear in the little hearts of their little prey. My daughter-in-law of Walsh is seeing quite a few sharpies and Coopers around town and Pat of the same town saw her winter Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (YBSA) recently. Well I remember the day Pat held the 6 foot ladder in gale winds as I photographed a YBSA and a Red-naped Sapsucker (RNSA) from the top rung in her pine grove.

Cheers,

JW Thompson

More Pueblo Reservoir birding

As I had an appointment with an endondist today in Pueblo, I again stopped by the Pueblo Reservoir. I am still not able to walk much, and due to warm temps that melted the snow there is a lot of mud that I wouldn't want to walk in anyway. So did some car birding.

At the North Marina I saw several dozen Common Mergansers, intersperced by about 10 Common Goldeneye. There were the requisite American Coots and the coots were walking up the ramp over a hundred feet from the water, apparently searching for food (though there is some open water around the North Marina, there is a lot of ice there and further out into the main reservoir body. And there were 8-10 Ring-billed Gulls there but no Lesser Black-backed Gulls as I have been told are often at this location in the afternoon.

At the South Marina and the southeast portion of the lake by the ice were hundreds and hundreds of gulls.
SeEtta

Common birds of winter--Dark-eyed Juncos

Thank goodness, temps in Canon City have been around 50 for the past 2 days with another 50+ day forecast for tomorrow. Lots of the snow from the last several storms is melting and someday my driveway will be dry. This is a good time to focus on one common bird of winter in SE Colorado, the Dark-eyed Junco.



Dark-eyed Juncos are winter residents throughout much of eastern Colorado, moving down to lower elevation areas in the fall then returning in the spring to Colorado's high country. A member of the sparrow family, they are easily drawn to one's yard by tossing some white-proso millet on the ground near some shrubbery or other protective vegetation (where they can quickly return in case a hawk comes hunting for a small bird snack).

The birds in both of these photos are of the Gray-headed race of Dark-eyed Junco. The bird in the bottom photo was just dropping down to the ground (a close look, by double-clicking on the photo, reveals that both feet are off the ground/snow)

SeEtta

Pueblo Reservoir and Eagle Day

I stopped by the Pueblo Reservoir this afternoon on my way to a doctor's appointment. Thought there is ice on the reservoir, much of it is open and there are multitudes of birds taking advantage of this. I didn't have much time but saw a number of Common Goldeneye (though I have seen posts showing Barrow's Goldeneye as well) in addition to the hundreds and hundreds of gulls. Those that I could identify were Ring-billed Gulls, common here in the winter.

Eagle Day, an annual event held at the Pueblo Reservoir, will be held on Saturday Feb 3. The event’s co-sponsors are the Colorado Division of Wildlife (DOW), Lake Pueblo State Park, Pueblo Zoo, Greenway Nature Center of Pueblo, The Pueblo Raptor Center, Aquilla Power Company and the Arkansas Valley Audubon Society (my Audubon chapter). Events at the day-long event include live bird demonstrations, bird watching classes, wildlife viewing stations and the release of three hawks that were nursed back to health by the Pueblo Raptor Center.

All of the activities are free and open to the public, but vehicles must have a valid Colorado State Parks pass to access activities on the north side of the park. A Park’s Pass is not required to attend activities at the Park Headquarters Building on the south side. Most exhibits and indoor events take place at the Headquarters Building. There will be free boat rides on Lake Pueblo for eagle viewing, on the hour every hour depending on weather.

This photo is one I took of "Hali", a Bald Eagle at the Pueblo Raptor Center.

SeEtta

Getting back to normal for birds (and me)

Today was more like our usual Canon City weather after a snowstorm--temps got up to around 40 and the sun was shining, beginning the melt of the snow cover. Water at local ponds is starting to open up more, with additional waterfowl on the ponds.

My knee was a little better so I ventured out to several ponds and other local birding areas. I found the Common Raven in the bottom photo scavenging leftovers in a strip-mall parking lot. Though a fairly common bird in much of the U.S., they are an interesting species--quite adaptive to opportunities afforded by humans and a member of the very intelligent corvid family (along with such species as crows and jays)



I saw this male Canvasback, along with 4 others, at a local private pond. Though these birds can be seen throughout almost all of the U.S. seasonally, they are not very common around here.
SeEtta

Lamar Colorado

Hi from snowy Lamar, Colorado

We received a few more inches of snow last evening and we are indeed a winter wonderland. My feeders have been busy in the late afternoon after the 3 sharpies that are regular visitors are not around. I did notice the 3 Inca Doves visiting today had frozen toes. Honestly, I am surprised they have even survived this artic blast. Here is a photo taken 1/13/07 of one of the remaining 3 of my orginal flock of six. Keep Warm. Janeal

Snowy Canon City

Though Canon City got up to 40 degrees yesterday there is still a lot of snow on the ground. I'm still sidelined as my knee was painful and stiff today. I took this photo last week when we got that 11" of snow. It is a photo of Canon City taken from the Dawson Ranch area,a sprawlette development on the southwest of town right in the middle of pinion-juniper habitat.

Cooper Mountain, much of it BLM land that is essential wildlife habitat, is in the distance. The city of Canon City is in the bottoms area--we are in a hole with mountain ranges on 3 sides.
SeEtta

Lesser Prairie-Chicken viewing

I just got an email from Fred and Norma Dorenkamp letting everyone know that they are taking reservations for Lesser Prairie-Chicken viewing that they provide via their Arena Dust Tours . Ok, so Lesser Prairie-Chickens don't start "displaying" until mid March, but if you are traveling to SE Colorado and Lesser Prairie-Chickens are target birds for you it's good idea to get your reservation in early to secure the date(s) you want.

I have no financial interest in this enterprise and am not related to the Dorenkamps. I just met them last year at a Colorado Birding Trail meeting. Like the few other businesses I provide links for (on the right side of the page), I like to help out those who provide exceptional service and, in this case, a great birding opportunity. Also, these folks are a part of the Colorado Birding Trail, which is (finally) scheduled to be launched next month at the Lamar Snow Goose Festival (I will post on that separately).

The Dorenkamps are ranch couple who fit the description "salt of the earth" (defined by Wikipedia as "decent, dependable and unpretentious"). They provide tours on private property to see displaying Lesser Prairie-Chickens, a species of special concern. They have access to several sites so if the birds are not displaying on one site, they will take visitors to one of the alternate sites. Fred Dorenkamp monitors the birds so knows how many birds have been showing up at each location. The alternative, the public lek provided on the Comanche National Grasslands, while free can be quite daunting. As it is required that visitors
arrive at the lek site no later than 1 hour before sunrise/or remain until 1 hour after sunset, it is necessary to drive for sunrise viewing in the dark or drive back in the dark after sunset viewing. It is about a 45 minute drive to the public lek from Springfield, which is closest location for lodging, and a lot of driving on dark, sandy county roads with several turns not well marked (and the sand can be deep causing problems similar to hydro-planing plus there are drop-offs at the edge of the roads down there). It is advisable to do a dry run during daylight hours to find the route when signs can be seen as one doesn't want to make the wrong turn into some farmer's field where they can be stuck in the mud or sand, possibly miles from any human habitation.

The way Arena Dust tours work is that you drive to the Dorenkamps and park your vehicle safely on their property. Visitors are driven to the lek site so they don't have to worry about getting to the correct location or getting stuck. After the viewing the courtship dances of the Lesser Prairie-Chickens is over, visitors will be able to see other local birds on the way back and Fred will tell visitors about the area and it's history. Fred has a wealth of experience and is very knowledgeable about the land and it's history.

The Dorenkamps charged $50/person last year and I suspect the fee this year will be not too different. The third option for viewing Lesser Prairie-Chickens is to join one of the professional tour groups that have trips to view all Colorado grouse. They charged between $2,100 to $2,500 per person for these 9-10 day statewide tours or $1,500 for a 7 day specialized tour last year.

If you attend the Snow Goose Festival you can meet the Dorenkamps as they will have a table at that event.
SeEtta

Greater Scaup + at Sell's Lake

Well, I've been sidelined for past two days by a colonoscopy (hey, if Kadie Courick can talk about it on TV ...--actually, it's a good thing to talk about it as everyone over 50 and some under need to get it and usually they are not all that bad). Yesterday I did the "prep" which requires staying pretty close to a bathroom.

However, I was able to get out for a bit and stopped by Sell's Lake. I was delighted to find 4 Greater Scaup with a 5th male Scaup species. Usually I only see one or two Greater Scaup, and most often only females. This time I saw 3 females and 1 male. They were with a number of other duck species including Common Goldeneye, Northern Shovelers, Ring-necked Ducks, Redheads, Pintails and American Wigeon. There were also about 20 Cackling Geese with an additional hundred Canada Geese.



In some ways it's rather amazing that so many waterfowl can be on this small private lake (adjacent to and visible from the Canon City Riverwalk parking area), actually a pond. (Unfortunately you have to view it through chain link fence--thus the fuzzy diamond shapes in this photo) And right now it is only about half open--and only because there are "guzzlers" on it and the large number of waterfowl to keep the water moving. Unfortunately the below zero temps caught one Common Goldeneye that I saw frozen into the ice. Species such as goldeneye that have to "run" or "paddle on top of the water" for a distance before they can take flight are suseptible to dieing when they don't get away in time and the ice forms around them.

That was all yesterday. Today I had the colonoscopy which was a piece of cake but took all morning then I was retricted from driving until tomorrow due to the medication they use. And now I am hobbling because after shoveling snow from my driveway I was sprinkling salt to melt some ice when I fell very hard on my knee. Nothing broke but I got a good gash that brought me back to the hospital where I was this morning, this time to get a tetanus shot and steri-stripps on my knee. I now sit with an ice pack on my leg as it has already swollen pretty good.
SeEtta

Watch for banded gulls

We get both Thayer's and Glaucous Gulls in SE Colorado so if you are looking at gulls here please check for these banded ones here or anywhere you see these species.

"LOOKING FOR COLOR-BANDED GULL–Please keep your "eyes peeled" for color-banded Thayer's and Glaucous Gulls. Adults and fledglings of both species have been banded over the past 4 nesting seasons (2003-2006) in the Canadian high Arctic and we'd love to know where these birds are going in the fall, winter and spring. Each THGU has been banded with a bright yellow leg band that has been engraved with a black alphanumeric code (e.g., B1). Similarly, each GLGU has been banded with a red or white leg band that has been engraved with a white or dark blue alphanumeric code, respectively. Each adult bird has additional solid color bands on one or both legs. If you observe banded adult or juvenile Thayer's or Glaucous Gulls, please record the location, date and the alphanumeric code. Also, any information regarding behavior or diet would be greatly appreciated. If you see any of these birds, please report the sighting(s) to CINDY ANDERSON, Wildlife Biology Program, University of Montana, Missoula, MT 59812 (EM: cindy.anderson@mso.umt.edu). Your help is kindly appreciated!"
SeEtta

Great Horned Owl taking an owl-nap

I spotted the Great Horned Owl in this pic while driving through Florence on Monday. As can be seen when the photo is double-clicked and enlarged, the owl's eyes are not closed all the way, likely sleeping lightly as many birds do-I referred to it as owl-napping in the title.

I took this photo from my car as I was trying not to disturb the owl. The photo looks close because I used my digital camera with a 12X lens, almost the equivalent of a 400 mm non-digital lens. As I didn't want to make more noise that might disturb the owl, I choose to handhold my camera (though leaning my arms against my car for stability). I have found in the past that rolling up my electronic window makes just enough noise to bother some birds. And then I cropped the photo to enlarge the owl to what you see (again, double-clicking on it will really bring up a nice close-up).
SeEtta

Sunny Canon City Sapsuckers

Yesterday, after a frigid overnight low of minus 8 degrees (not the worst, I remember going to minus 17 degrees in 1996), the snow stopped and the sun came out so I drove around town to all the locations where I had found sapsuckers before I went to So Texas. I first found the bird in the top pic, a female Yellow-bellied Sapsucker at Centennial Park. It's white throat is puffed out because it was making its "churr" call at me (though I was in my car and 50 feet away).

I next drove to Canon City's Lakeside Cemetery where I found the Yellow-bellied Sapsucker in the middle pic. This sapsucker was working (tapping holes) in deciduous tree. I watched it for about 5 minutes from my car so I did not disturb the bird. It appeared to "taste" a number of locations around this tree, apparently not liking most locations and quickly moving to a branch more to its liking where it drilled several sap wells.




After checking Rouse Park (though I saw a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker there in November, I didn't see one Monday and there were few fresh sap-wells in trees in the area so I don't think a sapsucker has been working this area much lately), I drove to the Holy Cross Abbey a few miles away. There I saw the female Red-naped Sapsucker in the bottom photo.




I think it is interesting to compare the back patterns of the Yellow-bellied and Red-naped Sapsuckers in these photos. Though I have previously felt that Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers have distinctive white stripes down their backs, these pics show that the Red-naped Sapsucker's white stripes are cleaner and without the "laddering" of black feathers found in the Yellow-bellies back.

Be sure to double click (a recent improved feather of blogspot that I think is pretty neat) on the photos to enlarge them for full benefit, especially to fully appreciate the deep red on the Red-naped Sapsucker's head.
SeEtta

Canon City deep freeze

Well, we got down to 2 degrees last night in Canon City but after the snow stopped this afternoon the temps rose to about 20!. We got another 4" of snow but now the cloud cover is gone and the temps are forecast to drop to minus 8 tonight. I got my bird bath heater out today to keep some water open for birds around my yard. Though I hadn't been feeding, I started putting out seed this week to help with the extremes of deep snow and serious cold temps.

I tried to load a photo some oversized icicles created where there are continuing seeps from a cliff area over the Arkansas River but blogspot is giving me the blues.



So I uploaded these pics of a female red-shafted Northern Flicker I took today. Though common and widespread, Northern Flickers are quite attractive birds which is evident in the close up on the bottom pic.
SeEtta

Dark morph Red-tailed Hawk

Dark morph Red-tailed Hawks, a western subspecies, are not seen very often around here so it is always interesting to see one. According to The Sibley Guide to Birds of Western North America both dark and intermediate morphs combined "account for up to 20 percent of local popoulations in western North America. Today I saw this one flying in the Canon City area.

The reddish colored tail can be seen by double-clicking on the photo though the detail in this photo is not very crisp (it was flying several hundred feet away and I used the full 12X of my digital camera to get this).
SeEtta

More Bluebirds

The bluebirds were just too beautiful in the snow today so I had to take lots of pics. These are more Mountain Bluebirds taken in the southwest side of Canon City. There were also many American Robins, Dark-eyed Juncos and one quite vocal Townsend's Solitaire enjoying the warmth of the afternoon sunshine with the temps up around all of 15 or so degrees!


Some of these bluebirds were eating juniper berries in the trees in these pics. That is what the bird in flight is doing--fluttering to stay in place while it plucks a berry from a branch.

SeEtta

Blue (snow) birds

There is something about snow that brings out the flocks of bluebirds and today was no exception. I found all of the bluebirds in these pics in Dawson subdivison on the sw side of Canon City, sadly an example of small town sprawl.

The top photos are of a Mountain Bluebird and the bottom photo is of a Western Bluebird.
SeEtta

Cold Canon City

It snowed almost 5 inches overnight in Canon City so everything was very white today.
I decided to ignore my still very sore tooth (from root canal retreatment yesterday) and the cold to see what birds were around.

Howver, after a low of 2 degrees this morning, I didn't venture out until the temps warmed up to about a sizzling 10 degrees at 11:30. I looked for Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers walking the area they are usually seen at Centennial Park without success. I checked Lakeside Cemetery but was now too cold to get out and walk around too much so didn't find one there either. Not sure if the cold temps were effecting the sapsuckers behavior or just my lack of motivation to walk around looking for them. There were a number of Dark-eyed Juncos and some Western Bluebirds at the cemetery, both often seen there but really quite striking in the snow.

I went to Shadow Hills Golf Course where I could look for birds from my car. There were flocks of 20-30 American Robins, small flocks of Dark-Eyed Juncos and plenty of Western Bluebirds. I took this photo from the golf course. The town of Canon City is in the mid-distance with Cooper Mountain as the backdrop.

SeEtta

Keep track of your birds sightings on eBird

Though I am still working at incorporating posting my sightings to eBird, I think this is a great website that provides several services. For one, you can use it to keep track of your bird sightings, and even make graphs for them. You can check sightings for areas you are interested in, such as locations you will visit. And it provides a great database of bird information that Cornell Lab of Ornithology and National Audubon Society, the sponsors, can use to track trends and problems--a great conservation source.

eBird is even linked-up to Google maps so you can see an aerial photo of many areas. And you can map your birding sites.

If you haven't checked it out, just click here.

SeEtta

This just ain't normal

Though it doesn't look like SE Colorado is going to be blasted like it has in the past 2 snowstorms, this one is becoming worse. The 1-2" originally forecasted is now increased to 6-9 inches across much of our area. And freezing rain is forecasted again for far SE Colorado. This just is not normal winter weather. I know that from a scientific standpoint these storms cannnot be attributed to Global Climate Change, but this sure is just weird weather.

I did not get to do any birding today as I had to drive to Pueblo to have root canal retreatment (the dentist didn't get all the root out during the first root canal so it abscessed again; after the endodontist worked for 1 1/2 hours to get the old root canal filling out, there was still some left and we ended for today; tonight I have a bad toothache) then had to get snowtires (hey, I sure didn't need them in So Texas with highs usually in the 70's and sometimes 80's). Usually I would have seen several Red-tailed Hawks along the drive to Pueblo, but it was too snowy today.

SeEtta

Canon City area ponds

I only checked two ponds in the Canon City area today as I was busy getting things done before another nasty storm hits Colorado (tho this one will leave the big snow in the mountains they say, it is predicted to cover everything with freezing fog and drizzle (very unusual for Colorado).

The large pond at the Sumo Golf Course in Florence had about 25% of its water open but there were only 2 male Common Goldeneyes there. Sell's Lake adjacent to the Canon City Riverwalk was totally open. I saw over a dozen Hooded Merganzers, some Mallards and American Coots there.

As the snow cover (only 4-8 inches deep here when I returned on Monday) has melted in nice temps here this week (today it almost got up to 60 in Canon City), there are lots more birds around.

Since this storm is bringing an arctic front, we will likely loose our open water just as has happened in the lower Ark Valley.

SeEtta

Lower Arkansas Valley still snow-jammed

I tried to do some birding in the Rocky Ford and La Junta areas today both before and after a water meeting I had down there. I say "tried" because the lower Arkansas Valley is still snow-jammed and many birding hotspots are inaccessible due to continued deep snow and lakes all frozen over. I had thought that since these lakes are irrigation water impoundments, and they get filled with water in the winter, that at least the intake area of the lakes would be open--not so.

First I stopped at the Rocky Ford Valco pond but it was frozen over with no birds around. The towns of Rocky Ford, Swink (that really is it's name) and La Junta still have not only large piles of snow where it has been pushed or dumped and large drifts, but also just a continuing significant dept of snow cover. As can be seen in these photos I took in La Junta, the snow cover is more than a foot deep and sometimes over 2 feet deep. The dog in the pic is Chase, my red-speckled cowdog/rat terrier mix, who provides some context for measuring snow dept. I saw similar snow depts in the surrounding countryside.

I tried Lake Cheraw but I couldn't get very close due to deep snow. I was finally able to ascertain that the lake was totally frozen-over. I found the same at Lake Holbrook.

I did see a number of hawks (the ones I identified were all Red-tailed Hawks) and some Western Meadowlarks as I drove around. Also there were several flocks of passerines that I saw flying. I did see more birds in areas with less deep snow cover.

The fact that there is still such an almost complete snow cover that is mostly 1-2 foot deep a full 10 days after the snow stopped falling is extremely unusual. SE Colorado usually warms up so that the sun melts the snow much faster and often warm winds (called chinooks, which means "snow eaters") increase evaporation.

Hopefully ground-dwelling birds and small mammals dug themselves out of the snow early on as now that it has melted some there it is getting harder.

SeEtta

John Martin Reservoir area

Lake Hasty, the small lake below the John Marting dam, had only a small area of open water that the American Coots had maintained. It was odd watching coots appearing to feed on the ice on this lake. I can't imagine what was out there to eat. A herd of white-tailed deer had taken over the campground that was draped in about a foot of snow.

As can be seen in the top photo looking towards the dam, John Martin Reservoir was iced over except for small areas near the shore. I saw some Dark-eyed Juncos and Mountain Bluebirds there.

I did find a Greater Roadrunner in the John Martin area. I also found a flock of mixed geese-dark geese (probably Canada), Snow and at least one Ross'. They were feeding in a corn field that had tall stubble as seen in the bottom photo.

I didn't have time to bird any other locations on my way home. The snow continued to be 1-2 foot high all the way to Pueblo County. According to a number of older folks who have lived in far SE Colorado all their lives, this is the worst snow storm they have ever seen or even heard about from their parents.

SeEtta

Lamar

It's amazing-8 days since the snow stopped falling and look at what the town of Lamar looks like. They are still trying to dig out. The photo at the bottom is of the Blue Spruce Motel where many birders, including me, stay. It is only a few hundred feet to the Lamar Woods.

I tried to do some birding at local hotspots. I walked in to the Lamar Woods area using a path made by some younger folks. I heard then saw a Hairy Woodpecker, a large male. Dark-eyed Juncos flitted about and several Blue Jays called vigorously. I saw the Great Horned Owl in the middle photo. Though I searched for one of the Red-Bellied Woodpeckers that live here, I did not see one. I also missed the Carolina Wren or the Northern Cardinl that is often seen at this birding hotspot (I did hear that one has been seen at a feeder about a half mile away).

I was told that locals who have feeders are inundated with birds. One location had a Harris Sparrow and a Carolina Wren and a second location had another Harris Sparrow.

SeEtta

Two Buttes

I stopped on my trip on the road to Two Buttes. This area is also still covered with 1-2 feet of snow and the gravel county road has a lot of ice from snow melting then freezing. Usually I would have seen or heard several flocks of Horned Larks feeding or flying around this prairie area and most often seen a hawk and frequently a corvid. Today I neither saw nor heard any birds along here.

The heavy snow cover makes it very hard for birds and other wildlife to find food.

More from Lamar tomorrow.

SeEtta

Far SE Colo still inundated with snow

Well, I made it back into Colo today. Only a few days ago the highway into Springfield and Lamar was closed due to the massive snowstorms the last two weeks. Though it stopped snowing a full week ago, as these pictures I took of Springfield this afternoon show the area is still facing significant problems from the large amount of snow still here.

From what I could tell, there was up to 1-2 feet on the ground from around Elkart, Oklahoma north through Springfield and further north to almost Lamar. I saw a military helicopter in Elkart land to get more hay to drop to cattle in that area and they are doing the same all through SE Colorado.

There was little bird action as I drove to Lamar. I saw a few Red-tailed Hawks on power poles next to the highway. A little further south below Elkart Okla where there was less snow, the sides of the highway were cleared of snow by the plows and many birds were in this far-too-close to traffic area. I slowed several times and had to hit my brakes for several Northern Harriers that either flew close or across my path as well as Western Meadowlarks that were feeding right next to the highway.

See next post for Two Buttes area.
SeEtta