Opportune rains have brought much needed moisture to the wetlands over the last 2 weeks.  KDWPT staff has managed the inflowing water well, while also preserving excellent mudflat habitats for thousands of migrating shorebirds.  TNC staff estimated over 150,000 “peeps” during shorebird surveys 2 weeks ago.

As is historically the case, the weeks surrounding right now prove to be the best birding weeks at Cheyenne Bottoms.  Diversity and abundance are at annual high levels typically during the last 2 weeks of April and first 2 weeks of May.  Duck numbers remain relatively high, while shorebirds and wading birds dominate the landscape.  Song bird migrants also have shown up in the last few weeks.

One major highlight was a White Ibis that was spotted about 1 mile NE of the KWEC along K-156 Hwy on Saturday, April 30 evening.  It persisted, and was seen again this morning, May 2, about 1/2 mile East of the KDWPT headquarters.  This is only the 7th record of this species at Cheyenne Bottoms in the last 40 years.

Give us your reports.  We rely heavily on other birders to know what is being seen at Cheyenne Bottoms.  Submit reports to Ebird, or email your observations to wetlandscenter@fhsu.edu.

Here is a list birds that have been reported over the last couple weeks:

• Greater White-fronted Goose–1 remaining bird has been spotted several times over the last couple weeks
• Snow Goose–a couple individual birds remain in the area.
• Canada Goose–quite a few pairs area-wide.  Young hatchlings have been spotted for several weeks now.
• Gadwall
• American Wigeon
• Mallard
• Blue-winged Teal–probably 2nd most abundant duck species
• Cinnamon Teal
• Northern Shoveler–probably most abundant duck species
• Northern Pintail–Just a few pairs still hanging around
• Green-winged Teal
• Redhead
• Common Merganser
• Ruddy Ducks
• Ring-necked Pheasant
• Wild Turkey–Quite a few seen along the surrounding treed areas
• Pied-billed Grebe
• Eared Grebe
• Double-crested Cormorant–can be spotted area wide
• Neotropic Cormorant–1 pair seen on the same island in Pool 4a as seen the last 2 years 
• American White Pelican
• American Bittern
• Least Bittern
• Great Blue Heron
• Great Egret
• Snowy Egret
• Little Blue Heron
• Cattle Egret
• Black-crowned Night Heron
• White Ibis
• White-faced Ibis–some large groups of these moving around different parts of Cheyenne Bottoms
• Turkey Vulture
• Northern Harrier
• Red-tailed Hawk
• American Coot
• Black-bellied Plover
• American Golden Plover–A couple larger flocks of these have been reported
• Snowy Plover
• Semipalmated Plover–some very large numbers of these for this area reported this Spring
• Piping Plover
• Killdeer–Many area-wide
• Black-necked Stilt
• American Avocet
• Greater Yellowlegs
• Lesser Yellowlegs
• Whimbrel
• Willet
• Upland Sandpiper
• Hudsonian Godwit–typically 3-5 large flocks of these have been reported most days with 100’s of birds
• Marbled Godwit
• Semipalmated Sandpiper
• Western Sandpiper
• Least Sandpiper
• White-rumped Sandpiper–seemingly has replaced many of the Baird’s Sandpipers
• Baird’s Sandpiper–numbers have decreased significantly in the last week
• Pectoral Sandpiper
• Dunlin
• Stilt Sandpiper
• Long-billed Dowitcher–may be the most numerous sandpiper present
• Short-billed Dowitcher
• Wilson’s Snipe
• Wilson’s Phalarope
• Franklin’s Gull–large flocks of Franklin’s on and near the Bottoms
• Ring-billed Gull
• Forster’s Tern
• Mourning Dove
• Great Horned Owl
• Northern Flicker   
• American Kestrel
• Peregrine Falcon–at least 1 bird seen harassing shorebirds
• Western Kingbird
• Eastern Kingbird
• Loggerhead Shrike
• Horned Lark
• Tree Swallow
• Cliff Swallow 
• Barn Swallow
• Marsh Wren
• Brown Thrasher
• Chipping Sparrow
• Vesper Sparrow
• Lark Sparrow
• Savannah Sparrow
• Harris’s Sparrow
• Eastern Meadowlark
• Western Meadowlark 
• Red-winged Blackbird
• Yellow-headed Blackbird
• Great-tailed Grackle