Kansas to Mont Alto, PA 11/28-11/30, 2009

After leaving Quivira and not finding the whoopers, we headed for Maize, Kansas, where an almost completely albino red-tailed hawk has been residing.  He was also in this area last winter.  We couldn't find him that night, but quickly found him the next morning sitting on a telephone pole.  A newspaper article had just been printed about him, so many people must have been stopping to see him.  He flushed very easily and flew into a tree.  Nearby, was a large female red-tailed hawk, perhaps its mate?  Did not get great photos, but you get the idea.  We spent time looking for another partial albino hawk just south of the city, but came up short on that one. 

We also stopped at a city park, where we found a group of birds that included carolina wren, white-breasted nuthatches, black-capped chickadees, downy and red-bellied woodpeckers, golden-crowned kinglets, and brown creepers.

downy woodpecker

brown creeper

Along a road in eastern Kansas, we came across this Krider's red-tailed hawk.  Alex spotted it in a tree, and we made about a 25 mile detour when we exited, since the next exit wasn't for a few miles. 

Rocky Mountain Arsernal NWR CO, Two Ponds NWR CO 11-25-09

I am finally posting the rest of our trip details, so I don't get too behind on posting my blogger updates.

On November 25, Alex and I drove to Rokcy Mountain Arsenal NWR.  Here we joined a bus tour of the refuge, since most of the refuge is not open to the public.  Highlights of the trip were numerous ferruginous hawks circling over prairie dog colonies, in addition to a prairie falcon, that flew right over our bus.  Alex spotted a snow goose in a flock of canada geese, and the volunteers that were giving the tour said they had never seen one on the refuge (rare in this part of CO).  Mule deer were also in rut and were everywhere.  At one point, we had to stop the bus and wait for one to get out of the road; he could not be concerned with the bus, as a female mule deer was on the other side.  We also saw shovelers and green-winged teal, the first on our trip.

snow goose at Rocky Mountain Arsenal NWR

   

northern shoveler in Colorado

Next we travelled to Two Ponds NWR. This is a very small refuge in the middle of town, but still had a few good birds. This american kestrel did not seem to be concerned by our presence. Walking along the trails, we spotted house finches, blue jays, and white-crowned sparrows.

american kestrel at Two-Ponds NWR

white-crowned sparrow at Two-Ponds NWR

We also spotted this partial alabino red-tail hawk.  From below, it looked very normal, but its upperwing coverts were mostly white.  Alex has better photos here. Alex's blog  We ended the night just outside the border of Colorado in Kansas.