Arkansas Valley Audubon Socirty - Past field trip results

		Results from Previous Fieldtrips - 2008 - January thru July

BUTTERFLY COUNT, SUGARITE CANYON SP AND LAKE DOROTHEY, JUNE 28-29: This year was the beginning of something new and expanded for this traditional event, including two hikes each day of the weekend, programs presented by the SP staff, butterfly-attracting plant sale, crafts and face painting – butterflies of course Butterfly expert and count organizer, Steve Cary, was peased with the numbers of folks who participated in the hikes. On Sunday’s walks this included seven other Coloradans who where alerted to the Count by AVAS’s newsletter and/or website - three from Nathrop, two from Canon City and two from Trinidad . The unofficial total of 43 species of butterflies and the number of individuals in each species follows. Even though were not officially birding, it’s hard not to hear and see the wonderful diversity of birds in the park and a total of 43 species was tallied on Sunday. Highlights were Wild Turkey, singing Hermit Thrush, Steller’s and Western Scrub-Jays, Western and Mountain Bluebirds, Cedar Waxwing, MacGillivray’s Warbler, Lesser and American Goldfinches and an adorably curious Black-headed Grosbeak fledgling. The list of sightings in the park plus the surrounding area (total of 60) is also below. On Lake Dorothey we observed a lone, non-breeding male Bufflehead – a surprise as those Buffleheads that do remain in Colorado this time of year are usually found much further North, I understand from the Breeding Bird Atlas. He seemed agitated when we approached and flew around the Lake and returned to the same spot – as far from us as possible - at least twice, happy that we finally moved on. This Butterfly Count Festival is scheduled next year on June 27 – 28. Participation can be one walk or the whole weekend’s activities. There’s beautiful camping in the SP and Raton is only a few minutes away. Even if you don’t know butterflies, this is a truly beautiful area and there are experts to take care of the identification. SUGARITE CANYON SP, LAKE DOROTHEY AND SURROUNDING AREA , JUNE 29, 2009 Gadwall Mallard Blue-winged Teal Bufflehead Wild Turkey DC Cormorant Turkey Vulture Northern Harrier Swainson’s Hawk Red-tailed Hawk American Kestrel American Coot Killdeer Spotted Sandpiper Rock Dove Eurasian Collared-Dove Mourning Dove BT Hummingbird Northern Flicker Western Wood-Pewee Cordilleran Flycatcher Say’s Phoebe Cassin’s Kingbird Western Kingbird Warbling Vireo Steller’s Jay Western Scrub-Jay Black-billed Magpie Violet-green Swallow Cliff Swallow Barn Swallow Bewick’s Wren House wren Western Bluebird Mountain Bluebird Hermit Thrush American Robin Northern Mockingbird Cedar Waxwing Yellow Warbler Yellow-rumped Warbler MacGillivray’s Warbler Common Yellowthroat Spotted Towhee Chipping Sparrow Vesper Sparrow Lark Sparrow Song Sparrow Black-headed Grosbeak Red-winged Blackbird Western Meadowlark Common Grackle Brown-headed Cowbird Bullock’s Oriole Pine Siskin Lesser Goldfinch American Goldfinch House Sparrow BUTTERFLY COUNT RESULTS – 28-29 JUNE 2008 NM CO TOTAL Silver-spotted Skipper 6 5 11 Northern Cloudywing 1 1 Dreamy Duskywing 1 1 Rocky Mountain Duskywing 1 1 Common Checkered-Skipper 1 1 Mexican Sootywing 2 2 Russet Skipperling 3 2 5 Garita Skipperling 4 1 5 Draco Skipper 1 1 2 Tawny-Edged Skipper 1 3 4 Taxiles Skipper 2 2 Hobomok Skipper 3 3 Dun Skipper 2 2 4 Common Roadside-Skipper 3 3 6 Black Swallowtail 1 1 Western Tiger Swallowtail 2 1 3 Two-tailed Swallowtail 3 3 Checkered White 1 1 2 European Cabbage White 6 3 9 Clouded Sulphur 2 1 3 Orange Sulphur 10 4 14 Dainty Sulphur 1 1 Gray Hairstreak 1 1 Marine Blue 3 1 4 Western Tailed-blue 2 1 3 Spring Azure 2 2 Reakirt’s Blue 4 1 5 Melissa Blue 7 7 Boisduval’s Blue 4 3 7 Acmon (Lupine) Blue 3 3 Artic Blue 1 1 Monarch 1 1 Variegated Fritillary 1 1 Aphrodite Fritillary 2 3 5 Northwestern Fritillary 7 3 10 Edward’s Fritillary 1 1 Silvery Checkerspot 7 17 24 Northern Crescent 3 3 Field Crescent 1 1 2 Satyr Comma 1 1 Painted Lady 1 1 Weidermeyer’s Admiral 1 1 Common Ringlet 6 6 TOTALS 95 78 173

	Apologies for the late post of our sightings, but I've been out of town and am just catching up with my email. Below is a recap and list of our sightings for the day. Thanks again for joining the outing and we hope you will attend another AVAS trip again soon. Check our website, www.socobirds.org for a list of field trips planned for the Summer months. Saturday, April 26, 4th Saturday Birdwalk at the Nature and Raptor Center, Pueblo: Eight birders from Pueblo and La Veta commemorated J.J. Audubon's birthdate by extending the normally morning-only trip into the afternoon. Despite a cool, stiff wind, Spring was definitely in the air with much bird song and colorful blooms. One participant from La Veta noted later "In addition to a beautiful hike on a fabulous day full of so many firsts in the bird-department, I also saw blooming daffodils and wild iris, bright yellow forsythia, several crabapples and one of the most beautiful trees I’ve ever seen; the Redbud…in full bloom; a cloud of pink. Donna pointed out another pretty little bush with small yellow flowers that were clove-scented. She told us they were currants and that the birds love the fruit. I loved the scent.". Spring migrants were more in evidence and the group spotted Orange-crowned, Yellow and Yellow-rumped Warblers, Chipping Sparrows, Violet-green and Barn Swallows, Killdeer and Double-crested Cormorants in additon to the residents we expect. Special sightings for the day were a pair of Mandarin Ducks on the River just East of the footbridge to City Park and a female intergrade Red- and Yellow-shafted Northern Flicker in City Park. There was a good assortment of grebes and ducks on the River and ponds. --Donna Emmons On Saturday morning, during the 4th Saturday birdwalk at the Greenway and Nature Center in Pueblo (which is on the Arkansas River on the West side of town) we saw a lone Turkey Vulture gliding over the Raptor Center compound. We felt this was an early arrival date for this species. Other sightings included Double-crested Cormorant, Great Blue Heron, Killdeer and a relatively small group of ducks that included Ruddy, Hooded Merganser, Northern Shoveler, Green-winged Teal, Bufflehead, Ring-necked and Gadwall. There were several Wood Ducks on the River and a pair in an old cottonwood nearby. Other highlights were a group of three Brown Creepers, a Ruby-crowned Kinglet and great looks at a Wilson's Snipe. Check Arkansas Valley Audubon's website, www.socobirds.org, for details of next month's walk, which falls on April 26, the 223rd birthday of James John Audubon. Donna Emmons Here is the delightful review submitted by Clif and Pearle for the trip to Lathrop State Park on Jan 20. How many birders does it take to see 16 birds? The answer is blowing in the wind. Dave Moore, Tom Doerk, Margie Joy, Susan Simons, Paul and Polly Wren Neldner all braved the wind to see those 16 birds at Lathrop State Park on the 20th of January. Clif Smith even managed to set up a scope, without it being blown over, for great views of numerous Townsend's solitaires, Mountain bluebirds and bushtits. As promised, we walked with the bushtits. Contrary to the group, the leaders were not "The Bushtits" that they would be walking with. It did give us a chuckle though and we may adopt the bird for our last name. The other species to brave the wind were the regular winter birds in a pinyon juniper habitat. Mountain and Black-capped chickadees, Cassin finch, song sparrow, hundreds of robins and Northern flickers and dark-eyed junco. The rarest bird of the day was not seen by everyone and was a merlin chasing breakfast. That bird was just too quick for us to park and get out of cars and search for. Might be worth another trip to the park to find him/her. I'd like to extend a thank you to Karen at the Lathrop State Park for meeting us early and being there so we could sign in and get park passes. The park was beautiful and well maintained even in all the snow and wind. Good job Lathrop State Park! From: Clif Smith <cli-pea@hotmail.com> To: <emmons7@yahoo.com> Subject: You asked for it... Date: Wed, 30 Jan 2008 11:22:09 -0600