Kansas, Nebraska and the Chicken Hunt

Up and at ‘em early doors, and headed out into the prairie from Dodge City to a new location in our search for Lesser Prairie Chicken. We bowled up at the allocated spot and began scanning, but only the call of a Great Horned Owl could be heard. All of a sudden the distinctive call of prairie chickens wafted our way on the breeze and we strained our eyes, moved along the road and all of a sudden Brian spotted them. They were far away but in the scope the views were ok, but fortunately there seemed to be a road running behind the lek and we hot-footed it there. Although slightly looking into the sun, the views were much better and we were treated to a fine display of up to 16 birds strutting their stuff. 

Also here was a singing Lillian’s Meadowlark (a likely future split) and Savannah Sparrow. Once the prairie chicken activity died down we drove slowly along the roads that criss-cross the prairie and found Grasshopper Sparrow, Vesper Sparrow, and a male Yellow-headed Blackbird. Then we began driving north and came across a large flock of Brewer’s Blackbirds, then a flock of Yellow-headed Blackbirds, a dark morph Rough-legged Hawk, and Great-tailed Grackle at a rest stop.

Grasshopper Sparrow

Our route took us across the corner of Nebraska where some roadside ponds yielded a flock of White-faced Ibis, 5 Greater Yellowlegs, Wood Duck, and a perched Cooper’s Hawk around some ponds. Once back in Colorado we checked out a small lake with loads of waterfowl. There was a pair of Lesser Scaup, Cinnamon Teal, Northern Pintail, Green-winged Teal, Blue-winged Teal, American Wigeon, Black-necked (Eared) Grebe, American White Pelican and other commoner waterbirds. The nearby trees held an Eastern Bluebird, Eastern Phoebe and Chipping Sparrow.

Greater Prairie Chickens at dusk

At 4.30pm we headed out to a nearby ranch where we had an introductory talk by the owner before driving out into the prairie where we had up to 32 Greater Prairie Chickens around a lekking area. Only 12 or so came into the lekking arena and a few began displaying by puffing out their throat sacs and raising their ‘ear’ tufts. It was a great look at our second prairie-chicken species of the day in our third state of the day.

Heading to Kansas

We targeted Gunnison Sage Grouse this morning and left the motel at 4.15am, getting settled into the hide by 4.50am. We then had to wait for sunrise before scoping two males on a distant ridge and both were in view for over an hour. We returned to the hotel for breakfast before heading back towards Monarch Pass, stopping along the way to check out the sagebrush flats where a Brewer’s Sparrow was the only new bird. 

American Three-toed Woodpecker

Up in the mountains we had a pair of American Three-toed Woodpeckers without too much hassle and enjoyed crippling views right in front of us. After a stop at the souvenir shop on the pass, we headed out on the long drive into Kansas that took around 9 hours. We checked out our long shot for Lesser Prairie Chicken and had a Short-eared Owl quartering the fields at dusk to end our day.

Colorado Tour: Day 2

We drove out into the desert towards the Arkansas River Valley and once away from the highway spotted a few Scaled Quails beside the road. One individual was extremely confiding and showed very well, even calling form a fence right in front of us. 

Scaled Quail

Continuing on we searched the Junipers for any sign of life in the gale force winds but it was hard work, although a Rock Wren gave point-blank views. 

Rock Wren

We finally found ourselves at an overlook with a grand view of the Arkansas River below us. A Mountain Bluebird was quite close, whilst some Chipping Sparrows and a Canyon Towhee gave fleeting glimpses. A flock of Franklin’s Gulls appeared, along with American White Pelicans, and we scoped Clark’s and Western Grebes side-by-side. Also on the water were American Wigeon, Cinnamon Teal, Double-crested Cormorant, and other common wildfowl. Hirundines were plentiful and included Tree Swallow, Northern Rough-winged Swallow and a few Violet-green Swallows.

We returned to the motel to collect our luggage before setting out on the drive west, and this took us through a scenic river valley. A stop along the river produced a pair of American Dippers feeding young at a nest, plus a male Audubon’s Warbler, and a herd of Bighorn Sheep a little further on. Another roadside stop was made to view a flock of 20+ Pinyon Jays that performed very well although it wasn’t great photo opps. 

Pinyon Jay

The road then wound ever upwards to Monarch Pass (11,321 feet). A quick stop at the gift store for some souvenirs and even ice-cream for some was followed by a few stops where we searched for American Three-toed Woodpecker without luck, and our best find was a Townsend’s Solitaire.  

Townsend's Solitaire

Then we drove out into the plateau and found a pair of Sandhill Cranes and flocks of wildfowl before reaching our motel in Gunnison.

Colorado at Last!

For those folks who arrived early we visited xxx, a large lake complete with breeding Bald Eagles – always a great bird if you’re from the UK. There was a mas of waterfowl here with Lesser Scaup, American Wigeon, Blue-winged Teal, 300+ Ruddy Duck, Green-winged Teal, 250+ Western Grebes, 6 American Avocets, 1 Bonaparte’s Gull, a few flyby Ring-billed Gulls and at least 9 summer-plumaged pink Franklin’s Gulls.

We had arrivals spread all over lunchtime and by 3.00pm we were on our way south to Pueblo. Upon arrival we headed along a dirt road out into the desert scrub where we met up with Rick Bowers who had been scouting the area for us. Thanks to him we quickly notched up the first of several Sage Thrashers along here, plus there was also a covey of 6 Scaled Quails, Loggerhead Shrike, Curve-billed Thrasher, Say’s Phoebe, 3 Coyotes, lots of Black-tailed Prairie-Dogs, and a herd of Pronghorn Antelopes. Not a bad start to our Colorado adventure.

Pronghorn Antelopes

Colorado: Loveland Pass to Denver

Just had today to find some feeders around the Silverthorne/Dillon area and then go up to Loveland Pass to find White-tailed Ptarmigan. Well, it took a bit of driving around but we eventually found some feeders - and there were loads of birds. I was immediately entranced by up to 10 Pine Grosbeaks sat around the garden....

Pine Grosbeak

And there was also Downy and Hairy Woodpeckers, Mountain Chickadee, Red Crossbill, Oregon and Pink-sided Juncos, and several Pygmy Nuthatches. All of a sudden a flurry of wings proved to be a large flock of Brown-capped Rosy-Finches. In excess of 200 birds were present, and we also managed to pick out a couple of Grey-crowned Rosy-Finches as well. 

A distant Grey-crowned Rosy-Finch

I tried a bit more phones coping when this Brown-capped Rosy-Finch flew down to one of the feeders....

Then we headed up to Loveland Pass at just under 12,000 feet where the scenery was awesome.

Loveland Pass at almost 12,000 feet

Well we didn't find any ptarmigans.... It's Sunday and it seemed everyone was up here skiing or snowboarding today. But we'll be back with my group later so I wasn't too disconcerted. 

So we headed back to Denver stopping along the way to see a Woodhouse's Scrub Jay, a few White-throated Swifts and Mountain Chickadee.

Mountain Chickadee

Woodhouse's Scrub-Jay

Then we drove out into the prairies where we saw lots of Western Meadowlarks and Horned Larks.

Horned Lark

There were also lots of raptors with numerous Red-tailed Hawks showing a huge variety of plumages, plus we picked up a Krider's Hawk, Swainson's Hawk, Northern Harrier and a pair of distant Ferruginous Hawks.

Krider's Red-tailed Hawk

Red-tailed Hawk

Swainson's Hawk