We are into Summer Birding at Cheyenne Bottoms.  At this point of the year, basically all the migrant birds are already through the area.  We are left with summer resident birds.  However, with all the rain this spring and early summer, birding is a little atypical at this point.  Cheyenne Bottoms pools are all very full, and several roads have been closed down occasionally over the last few weeks due to high water.  At this point, 3 of the 4 entrances to the interior dike roads of the Wildlife Area remain closed due to water over the low water crossings.  The only accessible entrance is from the West off of US-281 Highway.   Several roads around and through TNC’s Cheyenne Bottoms Preserve are currently closed.  Various other county roads around Cheyenne Bottoms are closed and impassable.

Typical summer resident birds we are seeing include wading birds, such as herons, egrets, ibis; gulls, coots, killdeer, and cormorants.  There are also a lot of songbirds in the area, especially in the wooded areas on the periphery of Cheyenne Bottoms.  Other birds being seen right now include more than normal duck numbers, Virginia rails, bitterns, black terns, and a few black-necked stilts.

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:

• Canada Goose
• Gadwall
• Mallard
• Blue-winged Teal
• Northern Shoveler
• Redhead
• Ring-necked Pheasant
• Wild Turkey
• Double-crested Cormorant
• American White Pelican
• American Bittern
• Great Blue Heron
• Great Egret
• Snowy Egret
• Cattle Egret
• Black-crowned Night Heron
• White-faced Ibis
• Turkey Vulture
• Northern Harrier
• Red-tailed Hawk
• American Kestrel
• Virginia Rail
• American Coot
• Killdeer
• Black-necked Stilt
• Ring-billed Gull
• Black Tern
• Mourning Dove
• Great Horned Owl
• Red-headed Woodpecker
• Northern Flicker
• Western Kingbird
• Eastern Kingbird
• Scissor-tailed Flycatcher
• Warbling Vireo
• Bell’s Vireo
• Horned Lark
• Tree Swallow
• Bank Swallow
• Cliff Swallow
• Barn Swallow
• House Wren
• American Robin
• Northern Mockingbird
• Brown Thrasher
• European Starling
• Common Yellowthroat
• Yellow Warbler
• Lark Sparrow
• Grasshopper Sparrow
• Northern Cardinal
• Blue Grosbeak
• Dickcissel
• Red-winged Blackbird
• Eastern Meadowlark
• Western Meadowlark
• Yellow-headed Blackbird
• Common Grackle
• Great-tailed Grackle
• Brown-headed Cowbird
• Orchard Oriole
• Baltimore Oriole
• House Sparrow