Colorado “Chicken Odyssey” – The Pawnees

In July the Pawnee National Grasslands, in the northern section of the Eastern Plains of Colorado, are ablaze in a mix of colorful wildflowers, native grasses and rich bird song. By contrast, when our trip passes through in April this isolated sea of grassland surrounded by vast agricultural acreage is brown and relatively desolate, or so it seems.

Though the majority of birds, especially the sparrows, will not arrive until the second half of the month, a few species have shown up early to claim territories on their breeding grounds. The good news is, that it is these species that most of us are interested in seeing. It is not easy, and there is a great deal of ground to cover, and to make matters worse, even amongst this relatively flat landscape, the dirt roads can be treacherous when weather turns to snow, sleet or rain. This was the case when the second group caught the end of the massive April 16-17th snowstorm that hit the Front Range, and we had to forego driving some of the roads!

Horned Larks are without a doubt the most common bird around at this time, often seen flying across the road in front of the van and feeding in the fields. Our first visit on a bright sunny day produced a number of raptors including Ferruginous Hawk (above), Golden Eagles, Rough-legged Hawk, Red-tailed Hawk and Northern Harriers. Burrowing Owl’s were found around Black-tailed Prairie Dog towns as we endlessly searched the short grass for Mountain Plovers. We were finally rewarded with a pair. Thirteen-lined Ground Squirrels (below) also kept us amused as they froze at the entrance to their burrows hoping that we could not see them. With all the rodents around it is not surprising that this is a major location for raptors.

At the Crow Campground we found a Barn Owl, and after Mike checked his photographs there seemed to be a second one well hidden in the cottonwood tree. Both species of longspurs proved tough to find. We came across a couple of cooperative McCown’s Longspurs (below) as they fed besides the road, and had to leave the Pawnees without finding Chestnut-collared Longspur. Maybe we were just a day or so too early? We did however find them in a mix longspur flock on the Kansas border as fews later.

On our second trip we were hoping that the late winter storm would move out before the end of our birding day. That was not the case and it made for some interesting though greatly reduced birding from the vehicle. The rain kept most of the raptors out of sight expect for a pair of Ferruginous Hawks that were on their nest. Our first Lark Bunting of the season was seen and both longspurs were easily located. At Pierce Pond (below) we came across a flock of White-faced Ibis and beautiful breeding plumaged American Avocets.

Both groups had some time to visit various wetlands south of the Pawnees. Water, water everywhere. The fields, meadows, ponds and reservoir where inundated with water. The waterfowl on this day seemed to prefer the greatly expanded bodies of water versus the reservoirs. There was a great comparison of Blue-wing and Cinnamon Teal females. Between the small Loloff farm pond and the extensive Lower Latham Reservoir we saw California Gull, Least Sandpiper, American White Pelican, Eared and Horned Grebe, Western Grebes and over a dozen duck species including Gadwall, American Wigeon, Northern Shoveler, Pintail, Green-winged Teal, Canvasback, Redhead, Lesser Scaup, Bufflehead. Common Merganser, Common Goldeneye and Ruddy Duck.

Around Beebe Draw the wet meadows were full of water. Wilson’s Snipe were found sleeping amongst tussocks. Small flocks of Yellow-headed Blackbirds and Great-tailed Grackles roved along the road pausing for a drink, and eight pairs of Cinnamon Teals (below) were a joy to see so close.

After a couple of wet days it finally dried out for the second group. A stunning female Wilson’s Phalarope was found working its way along the edge of a wet farm field, with Greater Yellowlegs, Long-billed Dowitcher, a Ross’s Goose and three Black-necked Stilts. We watched waterfowl take flight and a quick glance around revealed a Pergerine gunning its sight on one of them. The suspect was a female Gadwall that the falcon bought down to the edge of a pond. After a little flapping from the duck and the raptor trying to get a better grip, the duck somehow managed to break free and drop back into the water. Once the Peregrine took to the skies the Gadwall lifted itself up and flapped its wings as if to to say……….

Next……the Prairie-chickens.

all photos © adrian binns