[cobirds] Crow Valley CG (Briggsdale, Weld) on 25Oct2012

The gate across the road into Crow Valley Campground off Weld CR77 just n of Briggsdale is still open.  My guess would be it will close at the end of the month.  The host camper is still present.  The campground appears to have gotten about 4 inches of much-needed snow last night.  I was there from about noon to 2:30pm today and most of the action involved falling snow and ice.  Some of the junipers and sapling willows were bent over to the ground. 

Here is the complete list from CVCG and the town of Briggsdale (in the order of discovery):
American Goldfinch (heard flying over)
Hairy Woodpecker (1 eastern race)
Horned Lark (several flying over)
Northern Flicker (2, mostly eating Russian-olives north of the campground)
Downy Woodpecker (1)
Great Horned Owl (1 in southwest corner)
Dark-eyed Junco (only 2, both slate-colored)
White-breasted Nuthatch (1 interior race)
American Robin (at least 25, all eating Russian-olives n of the campground)
Lapland Longspur (heard 2 fly over, FOS for me)
Black-capped Chickadee (1, probably the same one that has been present all fall)
Northern Shrike (1a, FOS for me)
White-crowned Sparrow (1a)
European Starling (3-4, out north eating Russian-olives with the robins)
Western Meadowlark (1)
Mountain Bluebird (2, eating Russian-olives)
Canada Goose (heard or saw 3 flocks flying n to s)
Blue Jay (2)

[Mystery sparrow, probably Song but very secretive, bigger than Lincoln's Sparrow, in brush pile s of cg Main Picnic Shelter, then totally disappeared despite long search.  If it was a Fox Sparrow, one of the goals of my visit, it did not appear to be a Red or Sooty (too brown, too pale).]

Eurasian Collared-Dove (25, all in Briggsdale, some of them quite pale)
House Sparrow (75+, at multiple houses in Briggsdale)
Common Grackle (2, at a feeder in Briggsdale)
[probably missed House Finch in Briggsdale]

TOTAL of 21 species (plus the unknown sparrow)

Pretty good assortment of waterfowl at Crom Lake west of Pierce on Weld CR31 s of CR90, including:
Eared Grebe (1)
Pied-billed Grebe (1)
Wood Duck (9)
Cackling Goose (big influx of at least 25, but could have been many more among the few hundred Canada Geese)
Bufflehead (2)
Ruddy Duck (3)
Redhead (several)
Ring-necked Duck (few)
Common Goldeneye (1, FOS for me)

Dave Leatherman
Fort Collins