Date: 6/23/25 10:59 am From: Marty <wolfmartinc...> Subject: [cobirds] Edison BBS summary, El Paso
Greetings, CoBirders,
This past Thurs (6/19) I did the first of my two breeding bird surveys, which was out in the far southeast corner of El Paso County. It was pleasantly green out there, but without any playas, or water rushing in normally-dry creek beds, or muddy roads as I feared, considering the frequent rains in the past 4 weeks. [image: IMG_2407be.jpg] It was a 13-yr high count of Lark Buntings, at 163 a bit over twice the average for this route; plenty of Mourning Doves & Western Meadowlarks, maybe a bit below average on Horned Larks. Above-average on Mtn Plovers (not so many, but 12 vs the more typical 1-3), and slightly above-average for Com. Nighthawks. [image: IMG_2389bee-6.19-7.42am-Stop 22.jpg] [image: IMG_2402be.jpg] Below-average on a number of species-- L. Shrike (2 on scouting day, none on countday) & Burrowing Owl; NO Grasshopper Sparrows (well, MAYBE? 1 on the previous scouting day, but thru the everpresent chorus of Lark Bunting songs it was hard to say for sure). No Scaled Quail, fewer than average hawks and Cassin Sparrows (tho still a good number of the latter).
I tallied 26 species (the average over 13 yrs) on countday, with 3-4 others seen or heard only on the preceding scouting day. Oh, and as always, lots of Pronghorn & Black-tailed Prairie Dogs... and 2 nice-looking Black-tailed Jackrabbits. The prairie dog colonies seem to be slowly moving back farther from the roads over time, making it more difficult to pick out Burrowing Owls (especially during the 3-minute Stop limit!)--I found a definite 4 on my unrestricted scouting day, an uncertain 2 on count day...
This Wednesday I head down to the San Juans (Rio Grande County & Natl Forest) for my other BBS. Good birding.
Marty Wolf Nw CO Springs
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