Note: Due to the COVID-19 outbreak, the Kansas Wetlands Education Center will be closed to the public indefinitely.  Cheyenne Bottoms Wildlife Area and Preserve are still open to the public as normal.

Spring migration continues and will be hitting its peak over the next couple weeks.  Several “First of Season” (FOS) birds continue to show up frequently.  Waterfowl numbers and diversity are still great; however, there is a shift toward more wading and shorebirds.

Many of Cheyenne Bottoms Wildlife Area’s pools have been drained for work later this Spring and Summer.  All storage pools (Pool 1 complex) are full.  Pool 3a will remain very low/dry into the Spring for continued vegetation/silt management.  Pool 4a is about dry at this time.  Pool 4b contains isolated pools of trapped water.   Pool 5 is about dry.  All roads are currently open and driveable, but may be a little rough.  Water levels and waterfowl counts are updated approximately weekly here:  https://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:

• Snow Goose–a small group can usually be seen in Pool 4b most days
• Canada Goose–a few breeding pairs will remain through the summer
• Greater White-fronted Goose–1 bird usually with group of Snow Geese in Pool 4b
• Gadwall
• American Wigeon
• Mallard
• Blue-winged Teal
• Cinnamon Teal
• Northern Shoveler
• Northern Pintail
• Green-winged Teal
• Redhead
• Bufflehead
• Hooded Merganser
• Red-breasted Merganser
• Ruddy Duck
• Ring-necked Pheasant
• Pied-billed Grebe
• Eared Grebe
• Horned Grebe
• Western Grebe
• Neotropic Cormorant
• Double-crested Cormorant
• American White Pelican
• Great Blue Heron
• American Bittern
• Great Egret
• Snowy Egret
• Cattle Egret
• Black-crowned Night Heron
• Turkey Vulture
• Bald Eagle
• Northern Harrier
• Red-tailed Hawk
• Swainson’s Hawk
• American Kestrel
• Peregrine Falcon
• American Coot
• Black-necked Stilt
• American Avocet
• White-faced Ibis
• Killdeer
• American Golden Plover
• Snowy Plover
• Hudsonina Godwit
• Marbled Godwit
• Greater Yellowlegs
• Lesser Yellowlegs
• Baird’s Sandpiper
• Least Sandpiper
• Pectoral Sandpiper
• Semipalmated Sandpiper
• Long-billed Dowitcher
• Wilson’s Snipe
• Wilson’s Phalarope
• Willet
• Franklin’s Gull
• Ring-billed Gull
• Herring Gull
• Forster’s Tern
• Eurasian Collared Dove
• Mourning Dove
• Great Horned Owl
• Northern Flicker
• Eastern Phoebe
• Loggerhead Shrike
• Horned Lark
• Northern Rough-winged Swallow
• Tree Swallow
• Barn Swallow
• Bank Swallow
• Cliff Swallow
• Marsh Wren
• Northern Mockingbird
• American Robin
• European Starling
• Grasshopper Sparrow
• Chipping Sparrow
• Clay-colored Sparrow
• Lark Sparrow
• Vesper Sparrow
• LeConte’s Sparrow
• Savannah Sparrow
• Harris’s Sparrow
• Northern Cardinal
• Yellow-headed Blackbird
• Red-winged Blackbird
• Eastern Meadowlark
• Western Meadowlark
• Great-tailed Grackle
• Common Grackle
• Brown-headed Cowbird
• House Sparrow