We have seen an influx in birds over the last week, so a new sightings report was warranted.

Sandhill cranes are commonly flying through and some can be seen in the mornings and evenings in fields surrounding Cheyenne Bottoms.  No Whooping cranes have been observed at Cheyenne Bottoms, but several groups have been spotted at Quivira NWR.  So far, these groups have not stuck around more than one morning, so it appears that it is up to luck to see them on any given day.  For more information on Whooping crane sightings, visit the Whooper Watch page on the KWEC Website or see Quivira’s Whooping Crane site. 

Duck and goose hunting season is currently open at both Cheyenne Bottoms and Quivira NWR; however, with the presence of Whooping cranes, Quivira hunting has been closed.  If Whooping cranes show up at Cheyenne Bottoms Wildlife Area, the pools being used by the cranes will be closed to hunting.

Water levels remain good area wide at Cheyenne Bottoms.  Several of the pools have dropped in water level some over the last couple weeks exposing some shoreline.  These shorelines have provided some mudflat habitat that was not there a few weeks ago, and has provided some additional shorebird sightings.  However, shorebird habitat and shorebirds remain relatively scarce.  Storage pools remain relatively full, despite KDWPT maintaining Pools 2, 3a, 4a, and 4b at approximately 13-20″ depth.  Water levels and waterfowl reports are updated weekly on the KDWPT website:  http://ksoutdoors.com/KDWPT-Info/Locations/Wildlife-Areas/Southwest/Cheyenne-Bottoms  

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-some large groups can be seen in the area, especially in the evenings
• Snow Goose-more and more mixed in with White-fronts
• Canada Goose
• Wood Duck
• Gadwall-top 3 most abundant duck species
• American wigeon
• Mallard
• Blue-winged Teal
• Northern Shoveler-large influx of shovelers.  large groups hanging out in Pools 1a and 1c. 
• Northern Pintail
• Green-winged Teal-one of the more abundant ducks right now
• Canvasback
• Redhead-some large groups of up to 100 redheads
• Ring-necked duck
• Lesser Scaup
• Long-tailed Duck–1 reported on 11/5
• Bufflehead
• Ruddy Duck
• Ring-necked Pheasant 
• Pied-billed Grebe–typically quite numerous in most areas
• Horned Grebe-several being reported
• Western Grebe-several reported in Pool 1a
• Clark’s Grebe-1-3 reported since 11/8
• Mourning Dove
• American Coot-thousands of coots area-wide
• Sandhill crane–many can be seen flying over during the day and some in fields in evenings and mornings
• American Avocet –a couple still being seen occasionally
• Killdeer
• Wilson’s Snipe
• Greater Yellowlegs
• Bonaparte’s Gull–one reported on 11/5
• Franklin’s Gull-not as many as a couple weeks ago, but still seeing them
• Ring-billed Gull
• Herring Gull
• Little Gull–one reported on 11/5
• Common Loon–one reported on 11/4
• Double-crested Cormorant-have seen as many as 100 cormorants in the inlet canal some days
• American White Pelican–typically a couple large groups (100-200 birds) being seen often near the middle of Pool 1 or soaring in the sky
• American Bittern
• Great Blue Heron
• Great Egret
• Snowy Egret
• Cattle Egret  
• Black-crowned Night Heron-still multiple birds being seen occasionally. Mostly juveniles
• White-faced Ibis–2 birds reported in inlet canal on 11/7
• Northern Harrier–numbers continue to increase
• Sharp-shinned Hawk
• Red-tailed Hawk  
• Great Horned Owl  
• Downy Woodpecker
• Northern Flicker   
• American Kestrel
• Merlin
• Prairie Falcon
• Bluejay
• Horned Lark
• Northern Mockingbird
• House Finch
• Yellow-rumped Warbler
• Chipping Sparrow
• Song Sparrow
• Harris’s Sparrow
• White-crowned Sparrow
• Dark-eyed Junco
• Meadowlark Sp.
• Red-winged Blackbird
• Yellow-headed Blackbird
• Great-tailed Grackle
• Common Grackle
• Brown-headed Cowbird