Tuesday, 30 April 2013

[cobirds] Before the storm, Walden - Sawhills, Boulder

Cobirds:
             A brief just before we get plastered again by more snow.  Stopped at Walden Ponds in Boulder.  Everything is feeding close to or on the ground.  There is a sense of desperation for the insectivores as they try to get every scrap of fat and protein, before dark.  Most of this seen at Cottonwood Marsh and Duck Pond.
 
Glossy ibis - has returned with a white faced ibis.  Great study of both birds 20 feet from the boardwalk.
White faced ibis - a flock of 15 more came in, feed, and then left
American white pelican - 12 huddled out on a rocky spit, bills all tucked in for the night
Double crested cormorant - 2 hanging out with the pelicans
Great yellowlegs - 4
Lesser yellowlegs - 2
Long billed dowitcher - a group of 8 foraging over on Duck Pond
Solitary sandpiper - 1 - still hanging out at Duck Pond
Wilson's snipe - 4
Killdeer - 3 - numbers have dropped off
All three species of teal are still here
Audubon's warbler - swarms coming through - feeding like crazy
Myrtle warbler - more swarms 
Female yellow rumps have arrived
Yellow warbler - 2 breeding plumage males, frantically searching for insects on dried willow branches
House wren - present
Eastern kingbird - 1 at the parking lot
Swarms of swallows over cottonwood marsh including: barn, violet-green, tree, and northern rough winged
Bald eagle - flying over and terrifying the ducks
 
From this last weekend: 
Broad tailed hummingbirds have returned to Estes and Lyons
Golden eagle nest is active at Lyons Meadow Park in the cliff face
Great horned owl chicks are coming off the nests in droves, while others in higher mountain regions are still on nests
Melanistic fox squirrel present in Lyons
Tracks of black bear, mountain lion, elk, mule deer, coyote, fox ssp, in lower foothills (Boulder County)
Wild turkey and barn owl seen at Sandstone Ranch - Weld County
Chorus frogs singing for over a month now
Western painted turtles are out, but now back in with the cold front moving in.
Reports of snakes from other hikers.
 
Wildflowers are scant - two weeks late from last year.  It'll be better in two weeks.
 
Get your snow gear back out.   John T (Tumasonis) of Louisville CO
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

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