Kit Carson County
Author(s): Andrew Spencer
County Seat: Burlington
County Size: 2,160 square miles
Low Elevation: 3,657 ft. - Beaver Creek on the Yuma border
High Elevation : 5,290 ft. - Ranch Road
Best Birds : Hermit Warbler (1991), Kentucky Warbler (1996)
Checklist : Download pdf | View HTML
Introduction: Like most of Colorado's central plains counties, Kit Carson is large, rectangular, and woefully underbirded. But in recent years birders have discovered the potential of the migrant traps at Flagler and Burlington, which make for a great spring or fall birding loop from Denver when included with Bonny Reservoir and Last Chance. Kit Carson has many other things to offer, from sought-after prairie species to seasonal pools with migrating shorebirds and waterbirds. This is a county sorely in need of increased birding coverage.
Birding Locations
Grimes Ranch
Description - This is a large ranch with shortgrass prairie, miles of frontage on Sand Creek, and unique bluffs that rise more than 50 feet above the creek bed. As this is some of the only topography in the area, birders might want to check the high areas for Sprague's Pipit in spring and fall migration.
Habitat - Grassland/Prairie
Directions - To inquire about access to this ranch and to get directions, please contact Linda at the Flagler Conservation District (719-765-4676) a minimum of 48 hours in advance of your potential visit. Please remember that this is a working ranch as well as a private residence, and there may be times when the landowner cannot accommodate visits. While you are on the ranch, remember to stay on roads, leave gates as you find them (whether open or closed), and refrain from taking anything off the ranch or leaving trash behind.
Delorme - 97 C5
Roads of Colorado -
Grant Ranch
Description - This ranch boasts extensive shortgrass prairie, with nesting Burrowing Owls and other grassland specialties in spring, summer and fall.
Habitat - Grassland/Prairie
Directions - To inquire about access to this ranch and to get directions, please contact Linda at the Flagler Conservation District (719-765-4676) a minimum of 48 hours in advance of your potential visit. Please remember that this is a working ranch as well as a private residence, and there may be times when the landowner cannot accommodate visits. While you are on the ranch, remember to stay on roads, leave gates as you find them (whether open or closed), and refrain from taking anything off the ranch or leaving trash behind.
Delorme - 97 C5
Roads of Colorado -
Loutzenhiser Farms
Description - This is a chance to view a working farm with several playas that offer migratory shorebird viewing. In Kit Carson County, where water is often rare, this is a must-hit spot when the playa is full, as the concentrations of shorebirds can be impressively dense.
Habitat - Grassland/Prairie
Directions - To inquire about access to this ranch and to get directions, please contact Linda at the Flagler Conservation District (719-765-4676) a minimum of 48 hours in advance of your potential visit. Please remember that this is a working ranch as well as a private residence, and there may be times when the landowner cannot accommodate visits. While you are on the ranch, remember to stay on roads, leave gates as you find them (whether open or closed), and refrain from taking anything off the ranch or leaving trash behind.
Delorme -
Roads of Colorado -
Crystal Springs Ranch
Description - This working ranch borders Flagler State Wildlife Area to the north. With a flowing natural spring and two ponds, it is a lovely spot for viewing all kinds of wildlife. Rails can be found in some of the wetter areas, and the trees on the property are worth birding at any season. In addition, your opportunities for finding prairie birds are much better on this property than at the State Wildlife Area to the south. This is a destination along I-70 that no birder should miss!
Habitat - Grassland/Prairie, Pond, Lowland Riparian
Directions - To inquire about access to this ranch and to get directions, please contact Linda at the Flagler Conservation District (719-765-4676) a minimum of 48 hours in advance of your potential visit. Please remember that this is a working ranch as well as a private residence, and there may be times when the landowner cannot accommodate visits. While you are on the ranch, remember to stay on roads, leave gates as you find them (whether open or closed), and refrain from taking anything off the ranch or leaving trash behind.
Delorme - 97 C5
Roads of Colorado -
Santala Farms
Description - This site offers a heavily treed riparian corridor along the Republican River, with potential for excellent migrant viewing.
Habitat - Lowland Riparian
Directions - To inquire about access to this ranch and to get directions, please contact Linda at the Flagler Conservation District (719-765-4676) a minimum of 48 hours in advance of your potential visit. Please remember that this is a working ranch as well as a private residence, and there may be times when the landowner cannot accommodate visits. While you are on the ranch, remember to stay on roads, leave gates as you find them (whether open or closed), and refrain from taking anything off the ranch or leaving trash behind.
Delorme -
Roads of Colorado -
Klassen Farms
Description - This working ranch offers extensive sand-sage prairie with a good chance of viewing Greater Prairie-Chickens.
Habitat - Grassland/Prairie
Directions - To inquire about access to this ranch and to get directions, please contact Linda at the Flagler Conservation District (719-765-4676) a minimum of 48 hours in advance of your potential visit. Please remember that this is a working ranch as well as a private residence, and there may be times when the landowner cannot accommodate visits. While you are on the ranch, remember to stay on roads, leave gates as you find them (whether open or closed), and refrain from taking anything off the ranch or leaving trash behind.
Delorme - 97 C6
Roads of Colorado -
Mills North
Description - This site contains an unusual mixture of shortgrass prairie in varied successional stages side-by-side with sand-sage prairie.
Habitat - Grassland/Prairie
Directions - To inquire about access to this ranch and to get directions, please contact Linda at the Flagler Conservation District (719-765-4676) a minimum of 48 hours in advance of your potential visit. Please remember that this is a working ranch as well as a private residence, and there may be times when the landowner cannot accommodate visits. While you are on the ranch, remember to stay on roads, leave gates as you find them (whether open or closed), and refrain from taking anything off the ranch or leaving trash behind.
Delorme -
Roads of Colorado -
Mills South
Description - This working farm contains several areas that offer excellent hiking and prairie wildlife-viewing.
Habitat - Grassland/Prairie
Directions - To inquire about access to this ranch and to get directions, please contact Linda at the Flagler Conservation District (719-765-4676) a minimum of 48 hours in advance of your potential visit. Please remember that this is a working ranch as well as a private residence, and there may be times when the landowner cannot accommodate visits. While you are on the ranch, remember to stay on roads, leave gates as you find them (whether open or closed), and refrain from taking anything off the ranch or leaving trash behind.
Delorme -
Roads of Colorado -
Hickman Farm
Description - This property consists of mixed grass prairie and cultivated land with scattered tree plantings and draws. Watch red and swift fox in the open prairie as well as mule and white-tailed deer. Pheasants can also be observed in the area, along with Colorado's state bird, the Lark Bunting. Sunflowers paint the roadsides with color in the summer. You can also see Northern Harrier, Grasshopper Sparrow, Cassin's Sparrow and possibly Short-eared Owl. Playas are also present throughout the area and when wet harbor Long-billed Curlew and other shorebird species. Pronghorn are also common. Take the time to hike through the mixed grass prairie and explore this beautiful country. Cultural artifacts have also been observed on site including arrowheads and Native American beads.
Habitat - Grassland/Prairie, Hedgerow/Shelterbelt
Directions - To inquire about access to this ranch and to get directions, please contact Linda at the Flagler Conservation District (719-765-4676) a minimum of 48 hours in advance of your potential visit. Please remember that this is a working ranch as well as a private residence, and there may be times when the landowner cannot accommodate visits. While you are on the ranch, remember to stay on roads, leave gates as you find them (whether open or closed), and refrain from taking anything off the ranch or leaving trash behind.
Delorme - 97 C6
Roads of Colorado -
Flagler Reservoir State Wildlife Area
Description - This is an essential stop for birders driving I-70. If you bird Kit Carson County for long, chances are 75% of your county list will come from this location. Water levels in the lake can be low in both spring and fall, making this a good location for shorebirds. Normally a few small rafts of ducks containing mostly dabblers can be found on the lake in season, but often the species that make up these rafts change with each visit.
The extensive riparian groves around the reservoir are the real reason to visit this SWA. Be sure not to neglect the trees along the creek south of the reservoir. Spring and fall can produce large migrant flocks, including eastern vagrants. Winter is a good time check for sparrows, finches, and waxwings (especially in the small juniper hedgerow in the NE corner), and flicker numbers can be truly phenomenal. Wild Turkeys occasionally cross the road near the trees.
There is also a juniper hedgerow below the dam, as well as a great riparian corridor, probably the best in the area. This area is made up of large mature cottonwoods and willows, but unfortunately cows have removed most of the underbrush. The grove has breeding Red-headed Woodpecker, Eastern Kingbird, and Eastern Bluebird, and this is where most of the best migrants have been found in the past. A barbed-wire fence on the east side of this area makes it looks uninviting, but the fence is not complete; you can just walk around it.
There are a couple of auxiliary locations to check while you are in the area. The first is the two small ponds just NW of the dam, accessed by a fairly passable two-track. These ponds are behind a fence and some distance from the two-track, but they can be scanned with difficulty from the edge of the public property. The ponds usually have more ducks than the actual reservoir. Cassin's and Brewer's Sparrows breed in the grasslands here as well. Another location to check is the large but privately-owned row of mature conifers on the south side of the road just west of the lake. You can't walk in them, but you can bird them from the county road.
Habitat - Lowland Riparian, Hedgerow/Shelterbelt, Pond/Lake/Reservoir, Grassland/Prairie
Directions - Flagler Reservoir can be reached from both the east and the west. To get here from the west, take I-70 to exit 395 (the Flagler exit), and go north from the exit towards Flagler. Take your first right after the railroad tracks onto CR U and follow this road east for 4 miles to the property. From the east, take exit 405 (the Seibert exit) off of I-70, and go north from the exit into Seibert. Take a left onto the paved road across from the intersection with US-24 (called the Frontage Road on some maps), and follow this road west for 3 miles to a "T" with CR 12. Take a right (north) onto CR 12, and then an almost immediate left (west) onto CR U. Follow CR U for 3 miles to the property.
Delorme - 97 C6
Roads of Colorado - 93 E1
Flagler
Description - The town of Flagler itself can be as birdy as the nearby SWA. The best strategy for birding the town is to walk or drive as many roads as possible, keeping an eye out for feeders or flocks. You are sure to see Eurasian Collared-Doves and Chimney Swifts in the summer, and you never know what else you may find. Don't neglect the large town park in the SE quadrant of the town.
Just south of town, across I-70, is the Flagler Golf Course. The ponds here often have a few ducks on them, and maybe a Yellow-headed Blackbird in the surrounding cattails. You can scan the ponds from a parking lot outside the entrance to the golf course, along the county road. The small area of junipers around the parking lot could contain a few birds as well. Look for swallows above the water.
East of Flagler and north of I-70, on the road to the SWA, is Flagler Cemetery. The habitat here is marginal, but if you are desperate for migrants it may be worth a check.
Out to the north and east of Flagler, on CR V (the next mile road north of the road to the SWA), there is a small farmer's pond on the south side of the road. It is ringed by thin cattails and may have some ducks. While it is no better than the golf course ponds, it is certainly no worse. Note that contrary to many maps, there is no through road from CR V to the SWA. Also note that the pond marked in Roads of Colorado north of CR V in this area is essentially invisible from the road.
Habitat - Urban/Suburban, Hedgerow/Shelterbelt, Park/Cemetery, Pond/Lake/Reservoir
Directions - Flagler is along I-70, 34 miles east of Limon, and 43 miles west of Burlington. To reach the farmer's pond, go north from Flagler for a little less than a mile and take a right onto CR V. The pond will be on your right in 3.5 miles.
Delorme - 97 C5
Roads of Colorado - 93 D1
Seibert
Description - Most people only pass through this town as a back route to Flagler. However, the trees in town are worth a look. There is also a tiny sewage pond just west of town on the way to Flagler that sometimes has a few dabblers on it, or some sparrows in nearby brush. The prairie on the way to Flagler can produce Cassin's Sparrows amid the more expected species. There is also a cemetery just outside of Seibert, and while the graves are bare, the cemetery is ringed on three sides by junipers.
Habitat - Urban/Suburban, Pond, Grassland/Prairie
Directions - Seibert is along I-70, 10 miles east of Flagler, and 33 miles east of Burlington. The town is just north of the interstate.
Delorme - 97 C6
Roads of Colorado - 93 E1
Burlington
Description - The largest town and county seat of Kit Carson County generally receives less birding attention than Flagler, but can serve up equally good birds. In the town itself, Eurasian Collared-Doves and Great-tailed Grackles abound, and seeing a Chimney Swift during the summer is not unusual. Keep an eye out for Mississippi Kites, which are colonizing NE Colorado and will surely appear here in the near future.
As in all towns of size on the eastern plains, the abundant trees around town can be worth a look for migrants in season. When looking for migrants, be sure to check the amazingly thick but young grove of trees on the southeast corner of Rose and 8th, just west of exit 438. While nothing of consequence has been found here yet, that is almost certainly due to lack of coverage.
Unlike the previous location, things of consequence have been found at the Burlington Cemetery, just north of town along US-385. The cemetery is mostly made up of large conifers with no undergrowth, and thus is mostly good for treetop migrants and not as good for skulkers. This location can also be good for sparrows during migration. Look for warbler flocks in season, and sapsuckers during the winter. During certain years this can be a spot to check for mountain invaders such as Red Crossbill and Mountain Chickadee. A Cape May Warbler that was found here one spring demonstrates this spot's potential.
The Burlington Sewage Ponds, just south of town, are often the best spot in the county for waterbirds. These ponds can be teeming with ducks, a few grebes, swallows, etcetera. Generally, these ponds do not have good mud-flats, but Wilson's Phalaropes can abound, and Red-necked should be looked for. Unlike many sewage ponds on the eastern plains, these are easily scanned from the road. Red-headed Woodpecker can be common in season in the dead trees along the road between the town and the ponds.
Habitat - Urban/Suburban, Park/Cemetery, Pond
Directions - Burlington is at the junction of US-385 and I-70, 77 miles east of Limon. The cemetery is on the left side of US-385 about 2 miles north of town. To reach the sewage ponds, take exit 438 and head east from the exit on CR V. Take an almost immediate right onto a road that parallels the interstate for a short distance, and then bends to the south to become CR 49. The ponds will be on your left in about a mile.
Delorme - 102 C4
Roads of Colorado - 94 C1