COLORADO 2011: A Tiring Day

Day 8 / April 14 – Today was the first of a number of consecutive long distance drives as we worked our way out of the foothills of the Rockies to the southeastern corner of Colorado.

Beginning at a pond at Desert Hawk Golf Club in Pueblo West we watched male Great-tailed Grackles displaying, bowing their heads then raising them straight up and calling, as they tried to attract a female. A flock of Yellow-headed Blackbirds (above) could be seen drinking water from the pond before resting in the top of a tree. A pair of Blue-winged Teal circled the pond a few times, made a brief landing then took off. Far less nervous was a lone female Canvasback and the resident Pied-billed Grebe. Amongst the grasses and bushes of the neighboring residential area, pairs of Scaled Quail were running around comically, picking up the pace as they ventured across an open area at top speed.

As we headed east, the winds were noticeably strongly. Our only American Avocets were spotted sleeping in the shallow water of a farm pond. Chihuahuan Ravens became a common sight as we needed the more arid region of Comanche Grasslands. Some of these were beside the road feeding on roadkill deer along with Turkey Vultures.

Even in the relatively sheltered Cottonwood Canyon dust was blowing all around. A few of the Merriam’s race of Wild Turkey walked through the riverine habitat. In the bottomland flats a heard of re-introduced Desert Bighorn Sheep we feeding in a tight group, to protect themselves from the blowing wind and dust.

There was a little migrant movement with “Audubon’s” Yellow-rumped Warbler and a Northern Parula that Richard picked about. A lone Sharp-shinned Hawk was flapping as best as it could in the wind along a ridge. However, the star bird near had to be a pair of beautiful Lark Sparrows (above).

We got a blown tire going through the Comanche Grasslands. Looking for the manual to find the tools was an experience, but we eventually found it in a compartment that we never knew existed! We accepted the generous help offer by a young man who just happened to take many wrong turns before finding himself on our road! He had a 2 ton jack, so that made life easier. A steady strong wind did not help matters but after an hour we got the spare on and knowing that we were losing light, we pressed on to Kansas.

Dozens and dozens of Vesper Sparrows flittered off the dirt road as we cut a trail of dust through the Comanchw (above). A small of group of Lark Buntings lifted up from feeding amongst the roadside grasses as we passed by. Along a stretch of barbed wire fence that a Loggerhead Shrike used as a perch we could see an immature Golden Eagle hunting low over a field. An interesting sighting was a group of 45 Swainson’s Hawk hunkered in a field doing their best to stay out of the howling wind that had encompassed the south eastern part of the state.

Pulling into Elkhart one of the first shops we saw was a tire station. As luck would have it they had a replacement tire. Once that was replaced, we found that the opposite side rear tire was about to blow. That was then replaced and finally we were all set to continue.

As one would expect with 35 mph winds whitecaps were on the sewer ponds in Elkhart. There was a nice assortment of waterfowl that included Blue-winged Teal, Wood Duck, Ruddy Duck, Shoveler and Pied-billed Grebes along with Black-crowned Night-Herons in a tree roost. However it was the two dozen Franklin’s Gulls (above) that garnered the most interest with their breeding plumage pink wash on their breast.

We went to check out the East Blind and caught sight of four Lesser Prairie Chickens flying away from us. Upon our return to the motel, we found that the third tire of the afternoon had ruptured! This time we were experts and in no time it was replaced!