The Pueblo County Spring Count was held May 8 2010. These Counts are sponsored by the Arkansas Valley Audubon Society in celebration of International Migratory Bird Day(IMBD). History was made by this year's 19 participants who tallied 202 species, the most ever on any Pueblo Migration Count, spring or fall. The previous record was 200 on the 2008 Spring Count. Donna Emmons recruited and compiled feeder watchers; Brandon Percival compiled lists for parties in the field.
 
Brandon and Van Truan reported an amazing 167 species, which is certain to be the largest list ever compiled by a single party in Pueblo County. The Greenhorn Valley team was a distant second with 112. We missed the Baltimore Oriole in Rye found by Joyce Muhic; it is a 1st Valley record & new to the Count(photos Elly Trujillo). The Chico Basin team led by Bill Maynard saw 12 species of shorebirds including a Mountain Plover, no longer easily found in the County. Pearle & Clif Smith had a great day at CF&I Lakes and Burnt Mill Rd with early arriving Mississippi Kites(photos) and a Common Nighthawk. Red Crossbills have all but disappeared in Rye this year, so it was welcome news of 7 in Beulah found by Rich Miller. BB Hahn often finds the Count's top bird. She did it again with a Canada Warbler at the Hatchet Ranch along with a Tennessee and Black & White Warbler.
 
This year's Count was all the more remarkable given the unseasonably cool spring. It was 28F degrees in Rye at the Count's start with up to 20 mph north winds, more appropriate for a CBC than a spring count! My pessimism was happily unwarranted thanks to all the eager birders, who braved bone chilling weather to make 2010 the top Count for the Pueblo area. All birds seen will be entered in the ebird/IMBD data base.
 
To receive a complete list of birds seen on this year's Count, please respond to this message.
 
The next Migration Count will be September 18 2010. Can we break the Fall Count's record of 180 birds seen in September 2005? Let's give it a try!
 
Dave Silverman, compiler
Pueblo County Migration Counts
Location: Pueblo County
Observation date: 5/8/10
Notes: 18th PUEBLO COUNTY SPRING COUNT
15 participants in 6 parties + 4 at feeders
17 miles,25 hrs foot; 450 miles,47 hrs car; 88 miles,5 hrs, owling
Temp: 28-68F degrees
Number of species: 202
 Pueblo County Spring Count Results
Snow Goose 1 Cassin's Kingbird 57
Canada Goose 63 Western Kingbird 209
Wood Duck 8 Eastern Kingbird 11
Gadwall 71 Loggerhead Shrike 6
American Wigeon 4 Plumbeous Vireo 6
Mallard 47 Warbling Vireo 4
Blue-winged Teal 56 Red-eyed Vireo 1
Cinnamon Teal 7 Steller's Jay 18
Northern Shoveler 38 Blue Jay 19
Green-winged Teal (American) 30 Western Scrub-Jay 34
Canvasback 1 Black-billed Magpie 71
Redhead 58 American Crow 37
Ring-necked Duck 6 Chihuahuan Raven 3
Lesser Scaup 5 Common Raven 16
Bufflehead 7 Horned Lark 70
Ruddy Duck 63 Tree Swallow 227
Wild Turkey 9 Violet-green Swallow 64
Scaled Quail 2 Northern Rough-winged Swallow 147
Common Loon 3 Bank Swallow 72
Pied-billed Grebe 2 Cliff Swallow 1408
Eared Grebe 60 Barn Swallow 638
Western Grebe 43 Black-capped Chickadee 23
Clark's Grebe 13 Mountain Chickadee 43
American White Pelican 9 Juniper Titmouse 11
Double-crested Cormorant 6 Bushtit 14
Great Blue Heron 38 Red-breasted Nuthatch 51
White-faced Ibis 14 White-breasted Nuthatch (Interior West) 10
Turkey Vulture 35 Pygmy Nuthatch 24
Osprey 4 Brown Creeper 2
Mississippi Kite 4 Rock Wren 24
Northern Harrier 11 Bewick's Wren 23
Sharp-shinned Hawk 5 House Wren 58
Cooper's Hawk 1 Marsh Wren 1
Swainson's Hawk 16 Ruby-crowned Kinglet 5
Red-tailed Hawk 33 Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 19
Ferruginous Hawk 2 Eastern Bluebird 2
Golden Eagle 2 Western Bluebird 38
American Kestrel 28 Mountain Bluebird 42
Peregrine Falcon 1 Swainson's Thrush 2
Prairie Falcon 2 Hermit Thrush 6
Virginia Rail 5 American Robin 135
American Coot 71 Gray Catbird 5
Black-bellied Plover 1 Northern Mockingbird 41
Semipalmated Plover 3 Sage Thrasher 3
Killdeer 51 Brown Thrasher 11
Mountain Plover 1 Curve-billed Thrasher 9
American Avocet 2 European Starling 280
Spotted Sandpiper 77 American Pipit 2
Solitary Sandpiper 1 Tennessee Warbler 1
Greater Yellowlegs 1 Orange-crowned Warbler 14
Willet 1 Virginia's Warbler 2
Lesser Yellowlegs 8 Northern Parula 2
Marbled Godwit 6 Yellow Warbler 74
Sanderling 1 Yellow-rumped Warbler 515
Semipalmated Sandpiper 21 Black-and-white Warbler 1
Western Sandpiper 1 American Redstart 1
Least Sandpiper 26 Northern Waterthrush 1
White-rumped Sandpiper 1 MacGillivray's Warbler 2
Baird's Sandpiper 1 Common Yellowthroat 11
Stilt Sandpiper 1 Wilson's Warbler 7
Long-billed Dowitcher 8 Canada Warbler 1
Wilson's Phalarope 133 Yellow-breasted Chat 2
Franklin's Gull 7 Western Tanager 18
Ring-billed Gull 7 Green-tailed Towhee 9
California Gull 1 Spotted Towhee 75
Rock Pigeon 56 Canyon Towhee 11
Band-tailed Pigeon 6 Cassin's Sparrow 2
Eurasian Collared-Dove 176 Chipping Sparrow 452
White-winged Dove 1 Brewer's Sparrow 69
Mourning Dove 182 Vesper Sparrow 72
Greater Roadrunner 2 Lark Sparrow 94
Barn Owl 1 Lark Bunting 23
Flammulated Owl 2 Savannah Sparrow 9
Western Screech-Owl 4 Song Sparrow 6
Great Horned Owl 22 Lincoln's Sparrow 7
Burrowing Owl 8 White-crowned Sparrow 108
Northern Saw-whet Owl 2 Dark-eyed Junco 14
Common Nighthawk 1 Rose-breasted Grosbeak 4
Common Poorwill 5 Black-headed Grosbeak 46
Chimney Swift 2 Blue Grosbeak 2
White-throated Swift 25 Lazuli Bunting 22
Black-chinned Hummingbird 18 Red-winged Blackbird 422
Broad-tailed Hummingbird 29 Western Meadowlark 258
Belted Kingfisher 5 Yellow-headed Blackbird 68
Lewis's Woodpecker 8 Brewer's Blackbird 91
Red-headed Woodpecker 1 Common Grackle 124
Williamson's Sapsucker 1 Great-tailed Grackle 19
Red-naped Sapsucker 6 Brown-headed Cowbird 66
Ladder-backed Woodpecker 3 Bullock's Oriole 86
Downy Woodpecker 15 Baltimore Oriole 1
Hairy Woodpecker 8 Pine Grosbeak 1
Northern Flicker (Red-shafted) 20 Cassin's Finch 3
Olive-sided Flycatcher 1 House Finch 130
Western Wood-Pewee 2 Red Crossbill 7
Willow Flycatcher 1 Pine Siskin 51
Least Flycatcher 2 Lesser Goldfinch 8
Hammond's Flycatcher 2 American Goldfinch 166
Gray Flycatcher 1 Evening Grosbeak 172
Dusky Flycatcher 2 House Sparrow 101
Black Phoebe 1
Eastern Phoebe 3
Say's Phoebe 31
Ash-throated Flycatcher 9