Happy New Year!  We started off 2024 with some extremely cold and wintery weather.  The good part is that we received some much needed moisture in both rain and snow.  The bad part is that we went through several weeks of extreme cold, which froze up the wetlands and pushed most of the wetland birds south.  However, warm weather this week is bringing geese and other waterfowl back to the area.  With warm weather in the forecast over the next couple of weeks, we should see additional birds moving back north.

The moisture that we received has not filled Cheyenne Bottoms, but it has created some additional surface water in several places.  Pools 1a and 3a are still the pools holding the most significant water with 10” and 9” respectively.  Pools 1b, 1c, 2, and 5 also now have some sheet water in them after the rain and snow.  The inlet canal and other low pockets have also accumulated some water currently, but it might not last long.

We are still in winter birding at Cheyenne Bottoms.  Depending on the availability of open water, waterfowl will probably be the most abundant species to be seen.  Snow Geese will be most common, but the other species of geese are also being seen.  We also received reports of a Brant observed at Cheyenne Bottoms on 1/28/24.  With the large numbers of waterfowl accumulating, this is also a great time to see Bald Eagles and other raptors.  Other winter songbirds can also be observed in the marsh and in surrounding wooded areas.

Duck season is now closed in Kansas.  Goose hunting season remains open in Kansas through February 11.

Quivira NWR continues to have some surface water available as well, and is worth a view. 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:

• Snow Goose
• Ross’s Goose
• Greater white-fronted Goose
• Brant
• Cackling Goose
• Canada Goose
• Northern Shoveler
• Gadwall
• Mallard
• Northern Pintail
• Green-winged Teal
• Common Merganser
• Northern Bobwhite
• Wild Turkey
• Ring-necked Pheasant
• Eurasian Collared-Dove
• Sandhill Crane
• Ring-billed Gull
• Herring Gull
• Great Blue Heron
• Northern Harrier
• Bald Eagle
• Red-tailed Hawk
• Rough-legged Hawk
• Barn Owl
• Great-horned Owl
• Short-eared Owl
• Downy Woodpecker
• Hairy Woodpecker
• Northern Flicker
• American Kestrel
• Merlin
• Prairie Falcon
• Loggerhead Shrike
• Horned Lark
• European Starling
• American Robin
• House Sparrow
• American Goldfinch
• American Tree Sparrow
• Dark-eyed Junco
• White-crowned Sparrow
• Harris’s Sparrow
• Song Sparrow
• Meadowlark Sp.
• Red-winged Blackbird
• Northern Cardinal