Horned Grebes+ in La Junta/Ordway area

I birded in the La Junta to Orway area in the lower Arkansas Valley this week. Lake Henry and Lake Meredith both had a few Horned Grebes in their gorgeous Alternate (breeding) plumage, several hundred American White Pelicans, several hundred Aechmophorus grebes, waterfowl dominated by Northern Shovelers, hundreds of Barn Swallows, white-headed gulls and hundreds of Yellow-headed Blackbirds. Holbrook Res had similar species.

Obvious in the American White Pelican pic at the bottom is an "epidermal plate" (that extension that rises up from the far end of it's bill--it kind of looks like a horn but is not, just fibrous tissue). According to Birds of North America online, it's purpose "plate not clearly defined, but it is probably involved in courtship or agonistic behavior during pairing and territory establishment." The other two pics are of a Horned Grebe that has a fish in it's beak. In the middle pic, the fish extends horizontally from it's beak as though it was a cigar. This middle pic shows the interesting way that it's plumage is arranged, reminding me of an improperly-fitting toupee. Their deep red eyes are almost as distinctive as the yellowish plumage "horns". SeEtta

Some lower Arkansas Valley lakes

Yesterday I had a meeting in Rocky Ford so took the opportunity to check out some of the lakes down that way. Though Lake Cheraw was just about 2/3 full, the rest were full to very full. This is due to being filled for irrigation storage as the water use rights belong mostly due farmers and ranchers in the area. The water levels are higher than in the past few years when most of Colorado was in the grip of a drought and water storage was reduced a lot. Following are the highlights:

Lake Holbrook (just nw of La Junta)--Horned Grebes in gorgeous alternate (breeding) plumage like those in the photos posted below at Brush Hollow. I saw several W. Grebes in addition to hundreds of common waterfowl.

Lake Cheraw (just ne of La Junta-there were waterfowl but all distant.

Blue Lake--(north of Las Animas) about 20 Am White Pelicans, some white-headed gulls, several hundred white geese (mostly Snow but usually would have some Ross'Geese)that haven't migrated north yet, some W. Grebes and Clark's Grebes in addition to common waterfowl. I also found a few N. Shovelers including the two in this photo at a drainage pond just south of the lake.

Lake Meredith--(north of Rocky Ford-I spotted 3 female Greater Scaup, a few Pintails, a number of Aechmorphorus grebes (including at least 2 Clark's Grebes), many N. Shovelers, many Ruddy Ducks, many distant gulls and hundreds of other common waterfowl.

Ponds across from the Ordway feedlot (which is right near Lake Meredith)-4 male Cinnamon Teal in beatiful alternate (breeding) plumage.

There were the usual Horned Larks and lots of singing Western Meadowlarks in the fields. I also saw several Red-tailed Hawks and one Harlan's Hawk. It was overcast all afternoon so difficult to get photos.

SeEtta

Horned & Eared Grebes getting all dressed up (amended)

Boy, I had to amend this post as it was all goofed up. I had typed the description for the Horned Grebes then added photos and a title for a page I was going to do separately for Eared Grebes. I found some of the Eared Grebe photos weren't very good so was going to combine both species in one post and got it messed up so I have amended the post. (that's what happens when I finish my posting too late at night)

After today's rain let up, I headed for Brush Hollow Reservoir to see if the weather front had brought in any migrating birds as can happen. I was delighted to find 5 Eared Grebes in varying stages of molt from their drab basic (winter) plumage to the very colorful altenate (breeding) plumage. Also present were 2 Horned Grebes already in alternate (breeding) plumage Of course they moved further out from shore when I arrived and stayed too far out on the water for even my 12X digital lens to get in a reasonable manner. After I drove a ways off looking for other birds, I noticed several of these grebes were feeding near the shore. So I did my best stealth approach, keeping some juniper trees between me and the grebes as I approached to about 50 feet from where they were feeding.

Though these are not the finest pics of these beauties, I think they provide reasonable views of one of the Eared Grebes undergoing molt. The colorful appearance of the grebe in the top photo show the gold feathers-"horns"-for which they are named. The middle pic shows off the gold "horns" in a rear shot. And the bottom pic shows one of the Eared Grebes in the process of molting--though still mostly in basic plumage it has acquired some of the golden "ear" feathers of alternate plumage.