Spring is here at Cheyenne Bottoms! Or at least the Spring bird migration is here!  We’ll see if the weather follows suit.  Many spring bird arrivals have seemed to be 2-3 weeks early this year.  Most of the Snow Geese and Sandhill Cranes have ventured north out of the area.  Ducks are the most abundant and diverse bird group here right now and more will be coming.  Shorebirds and wading birds are just starting to arrive.  Songbirds will be moving in soon.  We observed a group of 10 Whooping Cranes at Cheyenne Bottoms on March 14.  We could see more Whoopers any day over the next few weeks.  Other common birds being seen on the marsh are paired up Canada Geese, many ducks of about all species, Great Blue Herons, Killdeer, pelicans, cormorants, and Gulls.

Water in the wetlands is still at a premium and we are hoping for a wet spring to fill more pools at Cheyenne Bottoms.  Much of the sheet water that was here last month is drying up fast.  Pool 1a is again the only pool with significant water.  Water from a couple of the other pools has been pumped into this storage pool to conserve it.  Most pools are mostly dry.  There is basically no water coming into the inlet, but the inlet canal has water sitting in it.  Other low areas and ditches hold some water throughout the area.

Get out and enjoy the early spring birding.

Quivira NWR continues to have 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
• Canada Goose
• Wood Duck
• Blue-winged Teal
• Cinnamon Teal
• Northern Shoveler
• Gadwall
• American Wigeon
• Mallard
• Northern Pintail
• Green-winged Teal
• Canvasback
• Redhead
• Ring-necked Duck
• Lesser Scaup
• Bufflehead
• Comon Goldeneye
• Hooded Merganser
• Common Merganser
• Ruddy Duck
• Northern Bobwhite
• Wild Turkey
• Ring-necked Pheasant
• Pied-billed Grebe
• Horned Grebe
• Eurasian Collared-Dove
• Mourning Dove
• American Coot
• Sandhill Crane
• Whooping Crane
• Killdeer
• Long-billed Dowitcher
• Wilson’s Snipe
• Lesser Yellowlegs
• Greater Yellowlegs
• Baird’s Sandpiper
• Least Sandpiper
• Bonaparte’s Gull
• Franklin’s Gull
• Ring-billed Gull
• Herring Gull
• Lesser Black-backed Gull
• California Gull
• Double-crested Cormorant
• American White Pelican
• Great Blue Heron
• Turkey Vulture
• Northern Harrier
• Cooper’s Hawk
• Bald Eagle
• Red-tailed Hawk
• Rough-legged Hawk
• Great-horned Owl
• Belted Kingfisher
• Red-bellied Woodpecker
• Downy Woodpecker
• Hairy Woodpecker
• Northern Flicker
• American Kestrel
• Eastern Phoebe
• Loggerhead Shrike
• Blue Jay
• American Crow
• Tufted Titmouse
• Horned Lark
• White-breasted Nuthatch
• Marsh Wren
• European Starling
• Eastern Bluebird
• American Robin
• House Sparrow
• House Finch
• American Goldfinch
• Lapland Longspur
• American Tree Sparrow
• Dark-eyed Junco
• White-crowned Sparrow
• Harris’s Sparrow
• Song Sparrow
• Yellow-headed Blackbird
• Western Meadowlark
• Eastern Meadowlark
• Red-winged Blackbird
• Brown-headed Cowbird
• Brewer’s Blackbird
• Common Grackle
• Great-tailed Grackle
• Yellow-rumped Warbler
• Northern Cardinal