I birded most of the day in Morton County in extreme South West Kansas. I found 76 species of birds today in this county. Certainly the most interesting bird was the singing male Hooded Warbler at Middle Spring, I saw four Wilson's, three Orange-crowned, one Audubon's, and one Myrtle Yellow-rumped Warblers, those were my Warbler totals today in the county. A couple of a bit early migrants, were a Western Kingbird (Middle Spring) and an Ash-throated Flycatcher (Cimarron Recreation Area). There was a Broad-winged Hawk at the Elkhart Shelterbelt. There Cemetery and Shelterbelt were pretty quiet, though with the White-crowned Sparrow flock, I did find a Harris's Sparrow. I did pretty well at the Sewer Ponds in Elkhart with water birds, though nothing out of ordinary, I visited it three times, and not surprisingly different things each time. A few other sparrows today, one Field, a few Lark Sparrows and Chipping Sparrows, also one flock of Lark Buntings. There was a Blue-gray Gnatcatcher and a few Ruby-crowned Kinglet, and Eastern and a few Say's Phoebes and a Rock Wren. It was a cooler day, only in the 60s, and wind wasn't an issue today. Sounds like a bit warmer tomorrow, and more wind in the afternoon. Wednesday and Thursday, appears to be hot, with low 90s and some dusty winds. This weather might hamper my birding, though I will try my best. I know mid April is kinda early to be down here, though there's a few special bird species I think, should be looked for right now, so we'll see if I get lucky and find any of them.
