SE Colorado Birding: Lake Hasty at John Martin State Park

Saturday, April 14, 2007

Lake Hasty at John Martin State Park

Lake Hasty sits at the base of the John Martin dam and includes a campground with lots of trees that draw neotropical migrants. Though I walked through the campground I could not find any warblers, not even a Yellow-rumped Warbler. I did see a Say's Phoebe working the edge of the trees.

At Lake Hasty I found around a hundred Double-crested Cormorants, about the same number of American White Pelicans, 1 Western Grebe and 1 Turkey Vulture. I took these photos of some cormorants and pelicans taking off from the lake. And the bottom pic shows part of the lake and part of the treed camping area.
SeEtta

Labels: Am White Pelicans, DC Cormorants, Lake Hasty

Why bird southeast Colorado?

From our high montane areas to the riparian areas along the Arkansas River as it exits Colorado, southeast Colorado offers birding opportunities for beginners to those serious birders who seek out the less common species. We have great shortgrass and sandsage prairie birding including public areas on the Comanche National Grasslands. We have wetlands including playa lakes (playas are important shallow, depressional wetlands that provide essential habitat for waterfowl and many other bird species). We have small lakes (such as Lake Cheraw north of La Junta)and large lakes (such as John Martin Reservoir that encompasses 35 square miles) that host an impressive diversity of bird species. And we have large expanses of pinyon-juniper woodlands with their special birding opportunities.

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