Birding Colorado

Rancho Largo - Las Animas County
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Ownership: None Listed
Description: This private working ranch, operated by Grady Grissom, has many attractions for the visiting birder that make it well worth the $10 entrance fee. There is a seasonal playa, which holds water approximately every other spring, that can be excellent for migratory waterbirds. There's high-quality grassland with breeding Long-billed Curlews. There's a fascinating and scenic canyon with eroded sandstone geology, some permanent waterholes with associated deciduous growth (good for migrants), and enough scattered Ponderosa to make Hepatic Tanager a definite possibility. There's excellent cholla with Curve-billed Thrasher and plenty of PJ. We saw two roadrunners here in half a day of birding--quite a feat in Colorado! The Grissoms also maintain an extremely nice two-bedroom, two-bathroom guest house that can be rented for $125 per night--$25 of which is a cleaning deposit recoverable if you leave the place in good shape. In addition, Grady offers half-day ranch tours for an additional fee, on which he shares his vast knowledge of agriculture and geology.

Habitat: Pinyon-Juniper Forest, Rimrock/Mesa, Cholla, Grassland/Prairie, Pond, Lowland Riparian
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Directions: To inquire about access to this ranch and to get directions, please call Grady Grissom at 719-738-1699 a minimum of 48 hours in advance of your potential visit. The fee for access is $10 per person per day. 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.
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