COLORADO & WYOMING 
Great Egrets in Delta, Routt, and La Plata 24- 
27 Apr were all on the West Slope, where un- 
usual, while 13 Snowy Egrets 20 Apr-4 May 
among six West Slope sites (Eagle, Gaifield, 
Moffat, and La Plata) and single Cattle Egrets 
in Delta and La Plata 23 Apr-5 May were not 
quite so unusual but helped to illustrate the 
tight window of the seasonal migration of 
white ardeids there. Five Little Blue Herons (2 
ads., one imm., 2 of unreported age), the most 
in some years, were scattered singly over four 
e. counties 23 Apr-12 May. Only five of the 
12 reports of Glossy Ibis were documented; a 
report of 3 hybrid ibis was undocumented. A 
documented Glossy in Alamosa 23 May (N. 
Pieplow) provided the 4th or 5th report from 
the San Luis Valley, which hosts most of the 
state’s breeding White-faced Ibis. Tbe 300+ 
White-faced Ibis at Elkhead Res., Moffat 25 
Apr (EL) was a very large number locally. 
RAPTORS THROUGH TERNS 
An Osprey reported from Longmont, Boulder 
1 1 Mar (TD) was a bit early, as was the Mis- 
sissippi Kite 27 Apr at Lamar, Prowers (GW). 
Not far from Kansas were 2 ad. Northern 
Goshawks at Burlington, Kit Carson 8 Mar 
(MP) and a juv. at Neenoshe Res., Kiowa 14 
Apr (BKP). We received 22 reports of Broad- 
winged Hawks, with all but the report of 4 at 
Chatfield S.P, Douglas 28 Apr (JK, GW) being 
of singles; we did not receive data from the 
Dinosaur Ridge hawkwatch this spring. The 
latest Rough-legged Hawk was in Jackson 30 
Apr (MP). Quite out of the ordinary was a 
Sandhill Crane on the ground at Harvard 
Gulch Park, Denver 17 Apr (RA), perhaps the 
first such in living memory in the city/county. 
The 30 Black-bellied Plovers in alternate 
plumage at Walden Ponds, Boulder 13 May (R 
Heller) made for an incredible number in 
spring, much less at the foothill edge. Piping 
Plovers were not so rare but were still out of 
place at Jackson Res., Morgan 2 May (TD et 
al.) and Chatfield S.P., Douglas 22 May (P Dif- 
ferding, SS). A Black-necked Stilt in Custer 18 
May (RM) was in the mts., where rare, and 2 
Long-billed Curlews at Brush Hollow Res. 27 
Apr (RM) were rare for Fremont. We received 
four reports totaling 5 Ruddy Turnstones 3-11 
May, two of these from Adobe Creek Res., 
Bent. Two Sanderlings at San Luis Lakes, 
Alamosa 4 May QB) were locally rare, and sin- 
gle Least Sandpipers were very early 7 Mar at 
two sites in and near Rye, Pueblo (DS). The 
only Dunlin reported this season was a bird in 
breeding plumage 24 Apr-6 May at Lower 
Latham Res. QK)- Though nothing like last 
spring’s bonanza, the 400 Red-necked 
Phalaropes at Arapaho N.W.R., Jackson 9 May 
(LS, ML) was still a splendid sight. 
Two ad. Bonaparte’s Gulls were somewhat 
late 11 May and at high elevation at Hinman 
Res., Grand (LS, ML). Iceland Gull has be- 
come amazingly regular in Colorado in 
spring, considering the state’s first was found 
only in 1999. This spring’s bird, a first-cycle, 
was at Jumbo Res., Logan 29 Mar (CLW et 
al.). Lesser Black-backed Gull put in a poor 
showing, with only four reports of 7 birds. A 
first-cycle Glaucous Gull provided a Rio Blan- 
co first by being found at Kenney Res. 1 Mar 
(A. Spencer). Incredibly rare in spring, a first- 
cycle Black-legged Kittiwake at Jumbo Res., 
Sedgwick 21-23 Mar (MM) was a remarkable 
find. One wonders if the out-of-place ad. 
Least Tern at Chafield S.P., Douglas 21 May 
(ph. GW) also accounts for the report of one 
nearby at Cherry Creek Res., Arapahoe 24-29 
May (SS). Another such bird graced Smith 
Res., Costilla 23-24 May (TD), furnishing a 
very rare San Luis Valley record. The five re- 
ports of Caspian Tern included singles from 
the West Slope in Mesa and Moffat. Observers 
chasing the Least Tern at Smith Res. found a 
Common Tern there 24 May (S. Shaum), a 
species nearly as rare in the county and the 
San Luis Valley; another was at Russell Lakes, 
Saguache the next day (TF). 
DOVES THROUGH WAXWINGS 
White-winged Doves continue the coloniza- 
tion of Colorado, and they were described 
this season as “all over se. Colorado.” Inter- 
estingly, though, we received no West Slope 
reports. Incredibly early for a species that is 
usually regular in its arrival in Colorado in 
the mid- to late 20s of May, 10 Black Swifts 
were noted at Zapata Falls, Alamosa 19 May 
(J. Rawinski, JS). In fact, at the best-studied 
colony in the state, and a low-elevation 
colony at that, the 6 noted at Box Canyon, 
Our ay 27 May were described as record early 
by one day (S. Hirshman). A potential first for 
Colorado, a Vaux’s Swift was described from 
Prince Lake #2, Boulder 1 May (TF). After 
decades of decline and disappearance from 
ne. Colorado, Lewis’s Woodpecker was re- 
ported from two sites in Weld and one in Boul- 
der, perhaps providing a bit of hope. A Red- 
headed Woodpecker was a bit westerly at Ma- 
sonville, Larimer 27 May (P. & J. Hayward), 
and a Red-naped Sapsucker was a bit easterly 
for spring at Cheraw, Otero 27 Apr (B. Steger). 
Interesting was a pair of Hairy Woodpeckers 
in which the male was of the e. subspecies, 
the female of the mountain subspecies, at Barr 
L., Adams 5 May (RA). 
Quite early was the Olive-sided Flycatcher 
at Rocky Ford, Otero 17 Apr (MP, BKP). The 
highlight of the season, however, was the long- 
overdue first Colorado record (p.a.) of Acadi- 
an Flycatcher. This one-day wonder found at a 
small woodlot vagrant trap (Van’s Grove) near 
John Martin Res., Bent 12 May (ph. BKP) was 
wonderfully photographed. A Black Phoebe es- 
tablished a first county record for Boulder at 
Walden Ponds 8 Apr (M. Boswell). A relative 
flood of Vermilion Flycatchers came this 
spring, as no fewer than 4 were documented. 
Single males were early and a first for Adams at 
Barr L. 25-26 Mar Q- Schmoker, BS) and ap- 
preciated at Florence, Fremont 19 Apr (MP, 
CW, BKP), while females were at Crow Valley 
campground. Pawnee National Grassland, 
Weld 15 Apr (C. Kogler, L. Burke) and Walden 
Ponds 18-19 Apr (WS). Locally rare, a Cassin’s 
Kingbird was photographed in the Laramie 
River Valley of nw. Larimer 10 Apr (LS); the 
species is not known to breed in the vicinity. A 
Scissor-tailed Flycatcher visited Pawnee 
Buttes, Weld 14 May (E. Spencer). 
After coming off the Colorado review list in 
2002, White-eyed Vireo had become a rarer 
bird in recent years; however, this spring, no 
fewer than 17 were reported from across the e. 
plains, by far the most reports for one year, let 
alone a single season. Also found in high 
numbers, 7 Yellow-throated Vireos made ap- 
pearances in e. Colorado. A Blue-headed Vireo 
was banded at Chico, El Paso 7 May (N. Gob- 
ris), while another was at Fox Ranch, Yuma 
16-19 May (TF); there are only 21 accepted 
records of the species since its status was ele- 
vated in 1997. Quite away from its normal 
habitat and far e., a lone Pinyon Jay was at 
L.C.C., Prowers 22 Apr (D. Russell). Very rare 
on the e. plains, 2 Purple Martins were report- 
ed during the season, neither of them ad. 
males: one was in Lamar 16 May (D. Leather- 
man), the other farther w. at Chico, Pueblo 21 
C A With more and more active birders on Colorado's West Slope, our knowledge of shorebird distribution and abundance 
J/i is growing exponentially. As only 14 of the 41 shorebird species that have occurred in the state are of regular occur- 
rence on the West Slope, this season's shorebirding effort there was exciting. Among the occurrences of interest, we highlight 
the following; Single Snowy Plovers, very rare in the sw. portion of the state, at McPhee Res., Montezuma 25 Apr (HM) and at 
Pastorius 9 May (JB); single Black-necked Stilts in Moffat, La Plata, Montezuma, and Rio Blanco; 25 Long-billed Curlews at Pas- 
torius 1 0 Apr (A. Dobbins), a high number; and single Semipalmated Sandpipers at Highline Res., Mesa 26 Apr (L Stigen) and 
Rio Blanco Res., Rio Blanco 3 May (D. Hilkey). Nearly on the West Slope, a single Stilt Sandpiper at La Jara Res., Conejos 22 May 
(JB) was in the mts., where rare, and also provided a county first. 
470 
NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS 
