While the Cheyenne Bottoms area received some nice rains in early August, the wet weather did not last.  However, the water that was captured in the storage pool during those rains has provided at least some surface water on Cheyenne Bottoms Wildlife Area.  And, with the Fall bird migration in full swing, bird activity has been very good in all the areas that contain surface water.

Pool 1a was the storage pool where the incoming water this summer was placed.  At its peak, it was holding approximately 30” of water.  Starting on August 31, water from Pool 1a was used to start flooding Pool 3a in anticipation of the upcoming teal duck hunting season and the fall migration.  Pools 2 and 5 also still have some isolated shallow surface water areas.  Most of the other pools of Cheyenne Bottoms Wildlife Area are mostly currently dry.

The biggest recent bird news occurred on September 2, when a Limpkin was photographed and reported at Cheyenne Bottoms Wildlife Area.  Limpkins have been showing up in the Great Plains and Midwest United States over the last year, so it seemed to be only a matter of time before one showed up at Cheyenne Bottoms. 

Fall migrant shorebirds have been relatively abundant in the shallow water areas.  Summer resident wetland birds (e.g. herons, egrets, avocets, ibis, stilts, pelicans, gulls, and terns) are also in good supply.  Duck numbers (especially teal) and diversity should increase in the coming weeks.

Quivira NWR continues to have more surface water available in their marsh and bird numbers and diversity has remained very good.  Check out http://fws.gov/refuge/Quivira or call the Quivira NWR Headquarters at 620-410-4011 for updated conditions.

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
• Wood Duck
• Blue-winged Teal
• Northern Shoveler
• Gadwall
• American Wigeon
• Mallard
• Northern Pintail
• Green-winged Teal
• Canvasback
• Lesser Scaup
• Ruddy Duck
• Northern Bobwhite
• Wild Turkey
• Ring-necked Pheasant
• Pied-billed Grebe
• Eurasian Collared-Dove
• Mourning Dove
• Common Nighthawk
• Ruby-throated Hummingbird
• Sora
• American Coot
• Limpkin
• Black-necked Stilt
• American Avocet
• Black-bellied Plover
• Snowy Plover
• Semipalmated Plover
• Killdeer
• Upland Sandpiper
• Stilt Sandpiper
• Sanderling
• Dunlin
• Baird’s Sandpiper
• Least Sandpiper
• Buff-breasted Sandpiper
• Pectoral Sandpiper
• Semipalmated Sandpiper
• Western Sandpiper
• Short-billed Dowitcher
• Long-billed Dowitcher
• Wilson’s Snipe
• Wilson’s Phalarope
• Spotted Sandpiper
• Solitary Sandpiper
• Greater Yellowlegs
• Willet
• Lesser Yellowlegs
• Franklin’s Gull
• Ring-billed Gull
• Black Tern
• 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
• Yellow-crowned Night Heron
• White-faced Ibis
• Turkey Vulture
• Osprey
• Mississippi Kite
• Northern Harrier
• Cooper’s Hawk
• Red-tailed Hawk
• Barn Owl
• Great-horned Owl
• Burrowing Owl
• Red-headed Woodpecker
• Red-bellied Woodpecker
• Northern Flicker
• Peregrine Falcon
• Eastern Wood -Pewee
• Western Kingbird
• Eastern Kingbird
• Bell’s Vireo
• Blue Jay
• Horned Lark
• Northern Rough-winged Swallow
• Tree Swallow
• Bank Swallow
• Barn Swallow
• Cliff Swallow
• European Starling
• Gray Catbird
• Brown Thrasher
• American Robin
• House Sparrow
• House Finch
• American Goldfinch
• Grasshopper Sparrow
• Lark Sparrow
• Vesper Sparrow
• Yellow-headed Blackbird
• Western Meadowlark
• Eastern Meadowlark
• Baltimore Oriole
• Red-winged Blackbird
• Brown-headed Cowbird
• Common Grackle
• Great-tailed Grackle
• Yellow Warbler
• Northern Cardinal
• Dickcissel