Christmas Bird Count Monte Vista National Wildlife Refuge. We started out at 8 a.m. from the refuge office. We were teamed with Mike and Peggy on their 14th MVNWR Christmas Count. We were on our first Monte Vista count. Our count area was the northwest quadrant with the Refuge office being the center of a circle. With the aid of Peggy and Mike’s sharp eyes we saw western meadowlarks, rock pigeon and an American goldfinch at a feeder. We drove down county roads where there were plenty of horned larks. We drove to the Monte Vista lagoon to see many, many mallards, green-winged teals and Canada geese. At a small irrigation ditch with open water we saw a killdeer and two Wilson’s snipes. Song sparrows, ravens, crows and magpies were frequently sighted along with a number of American tree sparrows. The surprise of our country tour were two emus in a farm yard.
Within Monte Vista city limits we saw a multitude of house sparrows. A red-tailed hawk eyed us from the top of a high spruce tree.
Our total species count was 28.
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