Spring bird migration is probably past its peak now at Cheyenne Bottoms.  However, there are plenty of spring migrants to be seen for the next couple of weeks.  Typically, most of the shorebird migrants are through the area by early June.  The shorebird numbers and diversity were quite good, despite the lack of water in the wetlands.  The limited areas with water have provided good shorebird habitat.  Shorebirds are the most abundant bird group to be seen right now at the wetlands.  Ducks have mostly left, except for Blue-winged Teal, Northern Shovelers, and a few Mallards.  Other summer resident wetland birds, such as egrets, should be increasing in number.  Summer resident song birds have shown up over the last several weeks and will continue to persist.  Other common birds to be seen on the marsh are paired up Canada Geese, Great Blue Herons, Coots, Killdeer, Pelicans, Cormorants, and Gulls.

Surface water has not improved much over the last month.  We have missed most Spring rains at Cheyenne Bottoms, so the water that we do have is drying up relatively fast.  Pool 1a is still the only pool with any significant water, but its maximum depth is only 4-6”.  All other pools are dry, except for some water remaining in several of the dugout canals along the interior dike roads.  There is still some water sitting in the inlet canal.

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:

• Cackling Goose
• Canada Goose
• Blue-winged Teal
• Cinnamon Teal
• Northern Shoveler
• Gadwall
• American Wigeon
• Mallard
• Northern Pintail
• Green-winged Teal
• Northern Bobwhite
• Wild Turkey
• Ring-necked Pheasant
• Pied-billed Grebe
• Eurasian Collared-Dove
• Mourning Dove
• Common Nighthawk
• Virginia Rail
• Sora
• American Coot
• Black-necked Stilt
• American Avocet
• Black-bellied Plover
• American Golden Plover
• Killdeer
• Semipalmated Plover
• Snowy Plover
• Upland Sandpiper
• Whimbrel
• Hudsonian Godwit
• Short-billed Dowitcher
• Long-billed Dowitcher
• Wilson’s Snipe
• Wilson’s Phalarope
• Red-necked Phalarope
• Spotted Sandpiper
• Solitary Sandpiper
• Lesser Yellowlegs
• Willet
• Greater Yellowlegs
• Ruddy Turnstone
• Stilt Sandpiper
• Sanderling
• Dunlin
• Baird’s Sandpiper
• White-rumped Sandpiper
• Least Sandpiper
• Pectoral Sandpiper
• Western Sandpiper
• Semipalmated Sandpiper
• Bonaparte’s Gull
• Franklin’s Gull
• Ring-billed Gull
• Herring Gull
• Black Tern
• Forster’s Tern
• Double-crested Cormorant
• American White Pelican
• American Bittern
• Black-crowned Night Heron
• Snowy Egret
• Great Egret
• Great Blue Heron
• White-faced Ibis
• Turkey Vulture
• Mississippi Kite
• Cooper’s Hawk
• Bald Eagle
• Swainson’s Hawk
• Red-tailed Hawk
• Barn Owl
• Great-horned Owl
• Burrowing Owl
• Red-headed Woodpecker
• Red-bellied Woodpecker
• Downy Woodpecker
• Hairy Woodpecker
• Northern Flicker
• American Kestrel
• Peregrine Falcon
• Eastern Phoebe
• Say’s Phoebe
• Great-crested Flycatcher
• Western Kingbird
• Eastern Kingbird
• Scissor-tailed Flycatcher
• Bell’s Vireo
• Warbling Vireo
• Blue Jay
• American Crow
• Black-capped Chickadee
• Horned Lark
• Bank Swallow
• Tree Swallow
• Northern Rough-winged Swallow
• Barn Swallow
• Cliff Swallow
• White-breasted Nuthatch
• House Wren
• European Starling
• Gray Catbird
• Brown Thrasher
• Northern Mockingbird
• American Robin
• House Sparrow
• House Finch
• American Goldfinch
• Grasshopper Sparrow
• Lark Sparrow
• White-crowned Sparrow
• Harris’s Sparrow
• Savannah Sparrow
• Yellow-headed Blackbird
• Bobolink
• Western Meadowlark
• Eastern Meadowlark
• Orchard Oriole
• Baltimore Oriole
• Red-winged Blackbird
• Brown-headed Cowbird
• Common Grackle
• Great-tailed Grackle
• Common Yellowthroat
• Yellow Warbler
• Northern Cardinal
• Dickcissel