Big Day (Bird Race)
16 October 1995
by Blake Maybank
Big Day Statistics:
We started well, in the Green Mountain Falls area. For the first time ever I enjoyed having three species of nuthatch around me simultaneously: White-breasted, Red-breasted, and Pygmy; a Brown Creeper added to the cacophony.
Once we left the mountains we hit wind and heat (temperature in the
80's), and birds were few and far between. We never could find my
life Pinyon Jay, and, amazingly, we saw only one species of warbler
(Yellow-rumped)
-- a week earlier in Nova Scotia I had seen 22 species in seven
days!
The day was not without its wonderful moments: I had my best look ever
at a Prairie Falcon gently soaring a few feet above our car, and soon
thereafter
we found a very early N. Shrike, my 550th bird for the lower 48.
We enjoyed the day, and each other's company, and managed to set an
eminently
beatable October CO record.
| COMMON NAME | SCIENTIFIC NAME | WHERE OBSERVED |
| Pied-billed Grebe | Podilymbus podiceps | Pueblo reservoir |
| Eared Grebe | Podiceps nigricollis | Lake Henry |
| Western Grebe | Aechmophorus occidentalis | Lake Henry |
| Clark's Grebe | Aechmophorus clarkii | Lake Henry |
| Double-crested Cormorant | Phalacrocorax auritus | Lake Henry |
| American White Pelican | Pelecanus erythrorhynchos | Lake Henry |
| Ruddy Duck | Oxyura jamaicensis | Lake Henry |
| Wood Duck | Aix sponsa | Pueblo reservoir |
| American Wigeon | Anas americana | Pueblo reservoir |
| Gadwall | Anas strepera | Pueblo reservoir |
| Green-winged Teal | Anas crecca | Pueblo reservoir |
| Mallard | Anas platyrhynchos | Pueblo reservoir |
| Northern Pintail | Anas acuta | Pueblo reservoir |
| Northern Shoveler | Anas clypeata | Lake Henry |
| Ring-necked Duck | Aythya collaris | Pueblo reservoir |
| Great Blue Heron | Ardea herodias | Lake Henry |
| Northern Harrier | Circus cyaneus | Lake Henry |
| American Kestrel | Falco sparverius | Pueblo reservoir |
| Merlin | Falco columbarius | Holbrook reservoir |
| Prairie Falcon | Falco mexicanus | Lake Henry |
| American Coot | Fulica americana | Pueblo reservoir |
| Greater Yellowlegs | Tringa melanoleuca | Lake Henry |
| Ring-billed Gull | Larus delawarensis | Pueblo reservoir |
| California Gull | Larus californicus | Pueblo reservoir |
| Franklin's Gull | Larus pipixcan | Holbrook reservoir |
| Band-tailed Pigeon | Columba fasciata | Green Mountain Falls |
| Mourning Dove | Zenaida macroura | Fort Carson |
| Belted Kingfisher | Ceryle alcyon | Las Animas |
| Northern Flicker | Colaptes auratus | Colorado Springs |
| Blue Jay | Cyanocitta cristata | Pueblo reservoir |
| Steller's Jay | Cyanocitta stelleri | Green Mountain Falls |
| Western Scrub-Jay | Aphelocoma californica | Green Mountain Falls |
| Black-billed Magpie | Pica pica | Colorado Springs |
| Black-billed Magpie | Pica pica | Green Mountain Falls |
| American Crow | Corvus brachyrhynchos | Colorado Springs |
| Common Raven | Corvus corax | Colorado Springs |
| Northern Shrike | Lanius excubitor | Lake Henry |
| Mountain Bluebird | Sialia currucoides | Pueblo reservoir |
| Townsend's Solitaire | Myadestes townsendi | Colorado Springs |
| American Robin | Turdus migratorius | Green Mountain Falls |
| Pygmy Nuthatch | Sitta pygmaea | Green Mountain Falls |
| Red-breasted Nuthatch | Sitta canadensis | Green Mountain Falls |
| White-breasted Nuthatch | Sitta carolinensis | Green Mountain Falls |
| Brown Creeper | Certhia americana | Green Mountain Falls |
| Bushtit | Psaltriparus minimus | Rte 115, Fremont County |
| Black-capped Chickadee | Parus atricapillus | Green Mountain Falls |
| Mountain Chickadee | Parus gambeli | Green Mountain Falls |
| Juniper Titmouse | Baeolophus griseus | Rte 115, Fremont County |
| Horned Lark | Eremophila alpestris | Lake Henry |
| Horned Lark | Eremophila alpestris | Pueblo reservoir |
| American Pipit | Anthus rubescens | Lake Henry |
| Pine Siskin | Carduelis pinus | Pueblo reservoir |
| Pine Siskin | Carduelis pinus | Green Mountain Falls |
| American Goldfinch | Carduelis tristis | Lake Henry |
| House Finch | Carpodacus mexicanus | Green Mountain Falls |
| Yellow-rumped Warbler | Dendroica coronata | Pueblo reservoir |
| Song Sparrow | Melospiza melodia | Pueblo reservoir |
| White-crowned Sparrow | Zonotrichia leucophrys | Green Mountain Falls |
| Dark-eyed Junco | Junco hyemalis | Green Mountain Falls |
| Canyon Towhee | Pipilo fuscus | Pueblo reservoir |
| Canyon Towhee | Pipilo fuscus | Rte 115, Fremont County |
| Western Meadowlark | Sturnella neglecta | Rte 115, Fremont County |
| Common Grackle | Quiscalus quiscula | La Junta |
| Brewer's Blackbird | Euphagus cyanocephalus | Lake Henry |
Blake Maybank
maybank@bigfoot.com