COLORADO & WYOMING 
A little bird on a big lake, this Ancient Murrelet avoided detection by all but a pair of canoeists at well-birded Pueblo Reser- 
voir, Pueblo County, Colorado on 16 November 2008. Photograph by Rkk Qawges. 
cific Loon were received this fall, though both 
of the birds w. of the Front Range (where a re- 
view species) went undocumented. A single 
at Yant’s Puddle, Natrona 28 Oct (CM) was in 
Wyoming, where rarely reported. Apparently, 
2 different juv. Yellow-billed Loons were not- 
ed at Antero Res., Park 28 Oct (AS, CW, 
IBM), though only one was documented; one 
apparently stayed through at least 15 Nov. 
Two Red-necked Grebes made for a nice 
sight at Yant’s Puddle 29 Sep (CM). Eight 
were scattered among six sites in Colorado, 
including a bird at Adobe Creek Res. 1 Nov 
(SO) that was Kiowa’s first; a juv. and an ad. at 
Cherry Creek 27 Nov (GW, AS) that moved to 
Chatfield Res., Jefferson/Douglas the next day 
QK); and a juv. at Woods L., Weld 29 Nov 
(TRL), a much smaller water body than that 
on which the species is typically found in the 
state. The Western Grebe high count this fall 
(1103) came from Standley L. 3 Nov (LSS), a 
typical location for such a concentration. A 
Clark’s Grebe was a rare find at Yant’s Puddle 
22 Oct (G&JL). Juv. Brown Pelicans were 
documented from Prewitt Res., Washington 11 
Aug (L. Griffin, D. Smith) and Baseline Res. 
and a variety of other Boulder water bodies 5 
Sep-4 Oct (A. Brown, ph. TRL). 
HERONS THROUGH SHOREBIRDS 
An American Bittern at Sweitzer Res. 27 Oct 
(LS) was fairly late. A Least Bittern was an in- 
credible find at Cottonwood Hollow, Larimer 
19 Aug (tDAL), as most Colorado records 
come from the lower Arkansas R. valley. A 
Great Egret 9 Oct at Ice Pond (RM) was not 
only late but provided only the 2nd record for 
high-elevation Chaffee- a Snowy Egret at 
Stagecoach Res., Routt 11 Oct (T. Litteral) was 
also late, particularly for nw. Colorado. Ad. 
Little Blue Herons made news at McClellan 
Res., Arapahoe 8 Aug (S. Stachowiak) and 
near Avondale, Pueblo 18 Sep (SO). Single 
Cattle Egrets at Timnath Res., Larimer 4 Nov 
(AS, NK) and Nucla, Montrose 22 Nov (CD) 
joined the procession of late white herons, 
with the latter being record late for the West 
Slope. A Green Heron in Teton, WY 7 Aug (R. 
Haberfeld) provided the county’s 2nd record. 
A molting ad. Glossy Ibis x White-faced Ibis 
hybrid made for a rare autumn find at jumbo 
Res. 2 Aug (TRL, LSS, TS) — identifying Ple- 
gadis ibis in autumn can be 
very challenging. 
Quite late was a Turkey 
Vulture over Pueblo, Pueblo 
14 Nov (RM). The 24 Mis- 
sissippi Kites over Pueblo 8 
Aug (C. Smith) made for 
quite a high number, and 
the single at Chico, Pueblo 
13 Sep (BG) was that well- 
birded site’s 2nd. An ad. 
Red-shouldered Hawk over 
Broomfield 9 Oct (tTS) was 
a very rare find. While 4 
Broad-winged Hawks (18 
Aug-23 Sep) made for a 
typical fall count in Col- 
orado, the last one was re- 
ported from L. Catamount 
(L. Williams) on the West 
Slope, where decidedly rare and/or under-re- 
ported. Additionally, the 5 in the Casper area, 
Natrona, WY 21 Sep (CM) was a high num- 
ber; and the single reported near Keyhole 
Res., Campbell, WY 17 Nov QA) was incredi- 
bly late. The earliest Colorado Merlin report 
came from Morgan 30 Aug (TD). A gray- 
morph Gyrfalcon was documented from An- 
tero Res. 10 Nov (AS, NK), while individual 
gray- (23 Oct-r) and white-morph (21 Oct-f-) 
Gyrfalcons were noted in the Casper area (fide 
DF); no details on the very rare white bird 
were provided. Juv. Peregrine Falcons were 
quite late in Wyoming at Fontanelle Res., 
Sublette 6 Nov (SP) and Riverton, Fremont 8 
Nov (T. Axthelm). 
A very early migration pulse brought 
>5000 Sandhill Cranes over Douglas and El- 
bert 9-10 Sep and another 403 over Frank- 
town, Douglas 12 Sep (H. & U. Kingery), 
while 500 over Craig, Moffat 6 Nov (FL) were 
somewhat late. A Black-bellied Plover at Hax- 
tun 1 Sep (R. Linfield) was a nice find for wa- 
ter-poor Phillips. Oddly, the abnormal num- 
ber of American Golden-Plover reports great- 
ly outnumbered those of Black-bellied Plovers 
this fall, as no fewer than 43 (15 reports) were 
noted in six Colorado and two Wyoming 
counties. Three Snowy Plovers running 
around at Jumbo Res., Logan/Sedgwick 5 Sep 
(N. Erthal et al.) were out of place. A Black- 
necked Stilt 25 Aug and single American Av- 
ocets 12 Aug and 21 Oct at DeWeese Res. (all 
RM) were rare for montane Custer, particular- 
ly the stilt; a Lesser Yellowlegs was late there 
21 Oct (RM). The 113 Upland Sandpipers in 
the vicinity of CRs 42 and FF, Yuma 2 Aug 
(TRL, LSS, TS) probably provided a new Col- 
orado high count, while 23 at Prewitt Res. 8 
Aug (GW et al.) was a local high count. Sin- 
gle Long-billed Curlews in Mesa (4 Sep; LA) 
and Delta (7 Sep; B. Bradley) were rare on the 
West Slope in fall. A Marbled Godwit at Jack- 
son Res., Morgan 3 Oct QK. D. Schottler) was 
late. The only report of Ruddy Turnstone 
came from Jumbo Res., Sedgwick 1 Sep (NK, 
CW). 
Sanderlings showed poorly this season, 
with only eight reports (4 Sep-14 Oct), 
among them one from Wyoming at Keyhole 
Res. 25 Sep QA, V. Hays) and one from the 
Despite a night with temperatures as low as -1 6° C, this male Hooded Warbler per- 
sisted from early September through the weekend of 8-9 (here 8) November 2008 in 
Monte Vista, Colorado. Photograph by Jenny Mehring. 
VOLUME 63 (2009) 
NUMBER 1 
123 
