Fall migration continues on. Some of the summer resident birds have headed on south, including many of the songbirds like orioles, kingbirds, dickcissels, and upland sandpipers.  Fall migrant species have increased over the last few weeks.  Thousands of pelicans can be seen most days at Cheyenne Bottoms.  Duck numbers and diversity are on the increase.  Shorebird migration can be good at times; however, finding accessible mudflat habitats to view them can be difficult.  We will continue to see summer resident birds throughout the marsh for a few weeks, including herons, egrets, avocets, ibis, and stilts.  Other common birds being reported include cormorants, coots, pelicans, gulls, terns, sandpipers, grebes, killdeer, and ducks.

All roads are currently open through Cheyenne Bottoms.

Water availability is probably the key for finding many of the bird species this time of year.  Several pools of Cheyenne Bottoms Wildlife Area are being kept dry due to water availability (Pools 3b and 4a are dry). Other pools have water in them, but water depths in these pools are lower than most years.  Several construction projects on the Wildlife Area continue, including work on the inlet canal, which is preventing any water to be diverted in from the Ark River and Walnut Creek.  The permanent marshes on the Nature Conservancy property have been holding many birds as well and is worth a drive through Crooked Rd (NE 100 Rd and NE 90 Rd).

The Early Teal hunting season is now over.  The regular Duck Season begins in the Low Plains Early Zone, which includes Cheyenne Bottoms, but not Quivira NWR, on October 9.

There have been good birding reports from Quivira NWR over the last couple weeks.  The most activity has been on the north end of the refuge around NE 170^th St and the Wildlife Driving Loop.  Check out http://fws.gov/refuge/Quivira.

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
• Canada Goose
• Wood Duck
• Blue-winged Teal
• Northern Shoveler
• Gadwall
• American Wigeon
• Mallard
• Northern Pintail
• Green-winged Teal
• Redhead
• Ruddy Duck
• Northern Bobwhite
• Ring-necked Pheasant
• Pied-billed Grebe
• Eared Grebe
• Eurasian Collared Dove
• Mourning Dove
• Ruby-throated Hummingbird
• Sora
• American Coot
• Black-necked Stilt
• American Avocet
• Black-bellied Plover
• American Golden Plover
• Semipalmated Plover
• Killdeer
• Stilt Sandpiper
• Sanderling
• Baird’s Sandpiper
• Least Sandpiper
• Semipalmated Sandpiper
• Long-billed Dowitcher
• Wilson’s Snipe
• Spotted Sandpiper
• Solitary Sandpiper
• Greater Yellowlegs
• Lesser Yellowlegs
• Franklin’s Gull
• Ring-billed Gull
• Lesser Black-backed Gull
• Forster’s Tern
• Double-crested Cormorant
• American White Pelican
• American Bittern
• Great Blue Heron
• Great Egret
• Snowy Egret
• Cattle Egret
• Green Heron
• Black-crowned Night-Heron
• White-faced Ibis
• Turkey Vulture
• Northern Harrier
• Cooper’s Hawk
• Red-tailed Hawk
• Great Horned Owl
• Belted Kingfisher
• Northern Flicker
• American Kestrel
• Blue Jay
• American Crow
• Northern Rough-winged Swallow
• Bank Swallow
• Barn Swallow
• House Wren
• European Starling
• American Robin
• House Sparrow
• American Goldfinch
• Savannah Sparrow
• Yellow-headed Blackbird
• Western Meadowlark
• Red-winged Blackbird
• Brown-headed Cowbird
• Common Grackle
• Great-tailed Grackle
• Common Yellowthroat
• Northern Cardinal