We spent the day birding the Arkansas River valley, starting with a pre-breakfast return to Holbrook Reservoir, where we added Forster’s Tern and Marbled Godwit to the trip list. After breakfast it was a short hop north west to Pueblo and the Lake Pueblo State Park – beginning with Valco Ponds where we added Hooded Merganser, Great Egret and Greater Scaup. Then on to the Visitors Centre for Bushtit and Rock Canyon for Ash-throated Flycatcher. In the afternoon at Swallow SWA we had another Great Egret and a Snowy for good measure. Final new bird for the day and my USA list was Cackling Goose at the City Park in Pueblo. Not a bad day but the prospect of adding new ticks is becoming more remote as the days go by – surely we’re due a ‘dot day’!