Spring Migration is fully here. It is worth a trip through the wetlands right now.  And, repeat trips over the next couple weeks are encouraged, as new birds are showing up frequently.  We see our highest abundances and diversity of birds at Cheyenne Bottoms from the last 2 weeks of April through the first 2 weeks of May.

All pools are quite full at Cheyenne Bottoms from rains last Fall and through the winter.  KDWPT staff continue to move water around and release water from the basin.  Shorebird habitat (mudflats) are not real plentiful, but several locations are getting to the point that they should hold shorebirds in the next couple weeks.  The best pools for shorebirds are Pools 4b, 5, and places on the Nature Conservancy Preserve.  At this time all roads on the Cheyenne Bottoms Wildlife Area are open and passable.  A section of NE 20 Ave (the road heading north from the KDWPT maintenance office) is closed for a mile South of Highway 4.

Common birds this time of year include: Ducks of all types, Blackbirds (Red-winged and Yellow-headed), Cormorants, Pelicans, Grebes, Ibis, Avocets, Stilts, Great Blue Herons, Bitterns, Egrets, Coots, Killdeer, Gulls, Terns, Meadowlarks, and several Shorebird species.

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:

• Snow Goose (a group of 3 birds-possibly injured have been seen regularly)
• Canada Goose
• Gadwall
• American Wigeon
• Mallard
• Blue-winged Teal
• Cinnamon Teal
• Northern Shoveler–most common duck species right now
• Northern Pintail
• Green-winged Teal
• Redhead
• Ring-necked Duck
• Lesser Scaup
• Bufflehead
• Hooded Merganser
• Ruddy Duck
• Ring-necked Pheasant
• Wild Turkey
• Pied-billed Grebe
• Eared Grebe
• Double-crested Cormorant
• American White Pelican
• American Bittern
• Great Blue Heron
• Great Egret
• Snowy Egret
• Cattle Egret
• Black-crowned Night Heron
• Glossy Ibis
• White-faced Ibis
• Turkey Vulture
• Northern Harrier
• Red-tailed Hawk
• American Kestrel
• American Coot
• Sandhill Crane
• Snowy Plover
• Killdeer
• Black-necked Stilt
• American Avocet
• Lesser Yellowlegs
• Greater Yellowlegs
• Long-billed Curlew
• Marbled Godwit
• Least Sandpiper
• Baird’s Sandpiper
• Long-billed Dowitcher
• Wilson’s Snipe
• Bonaparte’s Gull
• Franklin’s Gull
• Ring-billed Gull
• Herring Gull
• Forster’s Tern
• Mourning Dove
• Great Horned Owl
• Northern Flicker
• Scissor-tailed Flycatcher
• Horned Lark
• Tree Swallow
• Bank Swallow
• Cliff Swallow
• Barn Swallow
• Eastern Bluebird
• American Robin
• Brown Thrasher
• European Starling
• Vesper Sparrow
• Savannah Sparrow
• Song Sparrow
• Northern Cardinal
• Red-winged Blackbird
• Eastern Meadowlark
• Western Meadowlark
• Yellow-headed Blackbird
• Common Grackle
• Great-tailed Grackle
• Brown-headed Cowbird
• House Sparrow