Greetings All:
The Muleshoe National Wildlife Refuge CBC was held on Sunday, 18
December 2022, and we fielded twelve observers for a pleasantly cool
day of birding, tallying 53 species of bird. This is at the low end
of normal for the count in terms of species (the worst count ever had
30 species; the best count ever had 90 species).
Team One (Sheri Anderson, Anthony Hewetson) had the portion of the
refuge (this is an area restricted count - covering only the refuge)
east of Highway 214, including Upper Paul's Lake (which has marshland)
and Lower Paul's Lake. The highlights:
1 Common Merganser
1 Sora
1 Short-eared Owl
1 Grasshopper Sparrow
4 Swamp Sparrows
5 Common Yellowthroats
Team Two (Manuel De Leon, Barry Keith) had the Northern Uplands (the
slowest route on the count). The highlights:
2 American Tree Sparrows
Team Three (Phillip Kite, Tucker Dangremond) had the Canyonlands as
well as Upper and Lower Goose Lake. The highlights:
2 Long-eared Owls
1 Rock Wren
1 House Wren
1 American Tree Sparrow
1 Rufous-crowned Sparrow.
Team Four (Lucie Brennan), Grant Ellis, Glenda Kelly, Rob Lee, Matt
Smith, Lena Zappia) had the Headquarters/Campground area as well as
Upper and Lower White Lakes. The highlights:
1 Common Raven
For what it is worth, species requiring write-ups were Common
Mergansers, Grasshopper Sparrow, American Tree Sparrow, and
Rufous-crowned Sparrow. A species that wouldn't make the highlights
reel based on normal occurrence but will require a write-up due to CBC
requirement - Sharp-shinned Hawk spotted by Manuel De Leon.
Regards; Anthony Hewetson
CBC Compiler,
Llano Estacado Audubon Soceity