Greetings All:
On 27 June 2016 I completed the Plains I BBS. This route straddles Yoakum
and Cochran Counties, with 80% of the stops in Cochran County. It starts
at a point north of Plains, runs generally north, and terminates at a point
west of Lehman. There were no problems with the route.
This is much more varied than the other Plains area route, with very little
agriculture. Instead, it is a mix of oilfield land, ranchland, and
mesquite- and yucca-dotted plains. Rebound numbers of Scaled Quail,
Northern Bobwhite, Burrowing Owl, Western Kingbird, Cassin's Sparrow, Lark
Sparrow, and Bullock's Oriole were evident - with Scaled Quails and
Burrowing Owls putting on a particularly spectacular show. For the third
year running, no Lesser Prairie Chickens were seen along the route; a route
which used to sport at leas a few post-breeding season wanderers every
survey
Critters seen were:
2 Common Checkered Skippers
3 Common Sootywings
2 Nysa Roadside Skippers
1 Dotted Roadside Skipper
1 Strecker's Giant Skipper
1 Black Swallowtail
7 Checkered Whites
5 Orange Sulphurs
8 Sleepy Oranges
2 Dainty Sulphurs
6 Soapberry Hairstreaks
1 Gray Hairstreak
1 Marine Blue
2 Reakirt's Blues
2 American Snouts
1 Ornate Box Turtle
1 Side-blotched Lizard
1 Texas Horned Lizard
1 Six-line Racerunner
1 Coachwhip
1 Western Hog-nosed Snake
2 Gopher Snakes
2 Prairie Rattlesnakes
64 Scaled Quails
61 Northern Bobwhites
7 Swainson's Hawks
4 Killdeers
16 Rock Pigeons
9 Eurasian Collared Doves
188 Mourning Doves
1 Yellow-billed Cuckoo
4 Greater Roadrunners
1 Great Horned Owl
40 Burrowing Owls
8 Common Nighthawks
2 Ladder-backed Woodpeckers
6 American Kestrels
10 Ash-throated Flycatchers
92 Western Kingbirds
7 Scissor-tailed Flycatchers
5 Loggerhead Shrikes
4 Chihuahuan Ravens
12 Horned Larks
1 Cave Swallow
15 Barn Swallows
3 Verdins
1 Bewick's Wren
2 Curve-billed Thrashers
28 Northern Mockingbirds
2 European Starlings
1 Canyon Towhee
34 Cassin's Sparrows
25 Lark Sparrows
5 Grasshopper Sparrows
10 Blue Grosbeaks
4 Red-winged Blackbirds
2 Eastern Meadowlarks
39 Western Meadowlarks
5 Great-tailed Grackles
3 Brown-headed Cowbirds
26 Bullock's Orioles
4 House Sparrows
36 Black-tailed Jackrabbits
32 Desert Cottontails
90 Black-tailed Prairie Dogs
2 Mexican Ground Squirrels
6 Coyotes
3 Mule Deers
9 Pronghorns
Anthony 'Fat Tony' Hewetson; Lubbock
