Listing Through Life

Chico Basin Ranch is a working cattle ranch that straddles the border between El Paso and Pueblo Counties. That’s out in the cholla flats, but a series of ponds along a small creek, and the cottonwoods growing around them, make it a great migrant trap. I’ve known about the ranch almost as long as I’ve lived in Colorado, but I’d never gone because (1) there’s a $15 fee, and (2) skepticism about how good it could be.

But during a fairly slow first week of birding in May, I decided to give it a try. I spent 6 or 7 hours. I saw 55 birds, including 8 new for the year, 2 new for El Paso County, and 9 new for Pueblo County.

One of 7 Ladder-backed Woodpeckers.

Lark Sparrow

Spotted Sandpipers at Headquarters Pond.

When I was birding at Rose Pond, I met three other guys who were birding together. They were very nice and told me how to get to all the hot-spots on the ranch. One of those spots, called Bell Park (for an old dinner bell that hangs on a wooden frame), has hosted a Prairie Warbler for the past several days. I decided to take a look, even though the guys said they hadn’t seen the bird when they’d been there earlier that morning. To get there, I had to open a gate made of old strips of wood and barbed wire, and then close it behind me.

At Bell Park, I spotted a pair of Ash-throated Flycatchers.

I also saw a gray empidonax flycatcher with a long, slender tail that it constantly pumped up and down, phoebe-like. I don’t usually attempt to identify empids by sight, but the shape of the tail, the wagging, and the color convinced me this was my second ever Gray Flycatcher.

I had done a fairly comprehensive scan of the area when the three guys I’d met by Rose Pond showed up. Someone told them the Prairie Warbler was still hanging around. We all set out in search of it. Sometimes I was separated from them, at other times I was with one or more. I pointed out a Golden Eagle sailing over, and that impressed them. After that, they pretty much accepted me as one of the group. I was talking with one of them when I spotted a MacGillivray’s Warbler in the brush at the base of a cottonwood about 40 yards away. The other two had just seen it, but they were much closer and were again impressed that I’d seen it from so far away. When I then picked out the Prairie Warbler foraging high in a cottonwood, my reputation was sealed.

We drove back through the gate to the trees around the banding station. They only stayed a couple minutes, and I only stuck around a little bit longer. Just after I’d exited the ranch gate, I spotted a small flock of Lark Buntings near the Hanover Fire Station.

There isn’t much migration action happening locally, so I drove to southeast Colorado to see if I could find some elsewhere. I started on Higbee Valley Road where Vermilion and Scissor-tailed Flycatchers have been seen recently. I saw some good birds, but even there things were slower than I expected. I’ve seen Black-throated Sparrows there before, but this one was particularly cooperative.

Orange-crowned Warbler

From Higbee Valley, I drove east to Lamar. A small creek in a patch of brushy woods tends to draw some eastern birds. I saw a pair of Cardinals and a couple Chimney Swifts. The woods were crawling with Swainson’s Thrushes. I also saw my first Colorado Carolina Wren. But there wasn’t much in the way of migrants. The one small patch of open water was home to a snapping turtle.

The problem with making this trip all in one day is that a lot of valuable birding time is spent driving and the urge to move on to the next spot is strong. In Lamar, I met another birder whom I’ve talked with before. He said he’d stopped at Hasty Lake, but there weren’t many migrants there either. That had been my next planned stop, but when I heard his report, I strongly considered skipping it. At the last minute, I decided to go. I’m glad I did because the shorebirds were out — not so much in numbers, but in variety.

A male Wilson’s Phalarope. There were perhaps 25 on the lake, of both sexes, but this one was particularly tame and came wandering up the shore to within maybe 20 feet of where I stood.

The large bird in front is a Long-billed Dowitcher, as is the one with its tail sticking up. The small sandpiper in the background is a Least. The other bird, facing the camera, is a Stilt Sandpiper. They have a similar foraging strategy to dowitchers and often feed with them. I can’t remember seeing one in spring plumage before.

Black-necked Stilt

My last stop of the day was Holbrook Reservoir near Rocky Ford. Even though it’s two hours from home, it has become my go-to spot for shorebirds since Ramah Reservoir dried up a couple years ago. But when I arrived, I discovered that Holbrook Reservoir was now Holbrook Big Flat Dirt Patch. There wasn’t a drop of water in it, and I didn’t even get out of my car. I headed home, but while I was still on the back roads near the reservoir, I spotted this very cooperative Scaled Quail.

I’d left home at 5:45 AM and got back around 6:15 PM. I saw 66 birds on the day, including 18 new for the year and 1 new for Colorado. It was a lot of driving, but it had its highlights.