[cobirds] East-central Boulder County, July 4th

Hello, Birders.

I spent a few hours early this Thursday morning, July 4th, looking for birds along the US-287 corridor of east-central Boulder County, with the following results:

1. Little Gaynor Lake was the best I've seen it since those obnoxious bubblers were installed years ago. As soon as I pulled in, I saw a Black-necked Stilt, uncommon in Boulder County. Then I saw another, sitting on a nest. That bird got up once or twice to stretch or tend the nest, but otherwise hung tight the half hour I was there. I'm not sure if the species has nested previously in the county. Other semi-notable birds for early July in Boulder County were 2 Lesser Scaups, 2 Ruddy Ducks, and 2 Redheads. Also present were lots of Mallard families, a Gadwall family (hen with 7 young), and numerous adult Blue-winged and Cinnamon teals. More: a calling Virginia Rail; a calling Ring-necked Pheasant; lots of American Avocets and Killdeer and a few Spotted Sandpipers; and, finally, an intriguing adult cormorant. The bird looked good in all but two annoying respects for Neotropic Cormorant; it seemed the same size as a Double-crested (although I had none for direct comparison), and its narrow, limited, pinched-back, yellow gular patch showed no white border that I could discern. Otherwise, though, the bird was good for Neotropic: impressively long-tailed (seen in flight and perched); relatively slight bill; details, as previously noted, of the gular patch; and loral area good for Neotropic. Call it a spuh. I see lots of those. The bird flew away after I'd studied it extensively, but I wouldn't be surprised if it comes back. Maybe someone else will find it, and get a more definitive (alternate, actually) study of the bird. Anyhow, conditions seem great at Little Gaynor, and I suspect the site will produce an interesting shorebird or other water bird or three over the next couple of months.

2. Panama Reservoir has very high water, so I'm not expecting a lot of shorebirds there anytime soon. But it did have a few birds of interest, among them: 3 Orchard Orioles, including a begging youngster; 2 Wood Ducks; and a pretty-as-can-be adult Franklin's Gull just floating out in the middle of the Rez. I heard another Ring-necked Pheasant here.

3. Prince Lake No. 2 had very high water, so forget about shorebirds. But it did have--wait for it--a Ring-necked Pheasant. Any time you find 3 Ring-necked Pheasants in one morning in eastern Boulder County, it can mean only one thing: Someone recently released a bunch.

4. The Boulder Creek crossing at Hwy 52 had 2 Wood Ducks, 1 Orchard Oriole, and, shockingly, no pheasants.

5. The Boulder Creek crossing at Kenosha Road had a ginormous swarm of Cliff Swallows, one of which didn't fit in a box. I'm not saying, or even intimating, that the bird of interest was a Cave Swallow. I'm just saying it was a Petrochelidon with characters that didn't match well for either Cliff or Cave.

Ubiquitous were Blue Grosbeaks, Vesper Sparrows, Swainson's Hawks, and especially Cliff Swallows.

Nothing else of note for me this morning, but I figured I'd give the low-down on conditions out there, you know, for BoCo Big Year birders who might be contemplating a run out east in the weeks to come. Here goes:

6. Prince Lake No. 1 is low, and nicely ringed with mysterious green slime. There were at least 6 Spotted Sandpipers out there, and some Killdeer, and nothing else. I think this site could have an interesting shorebird or two in the days ahead.

7. The City of Lafayette People's Water Purification Facility off US-287 has high water, cormorants, and nothing else. Just to the north, though, on the west side of the highway is a flooded field that bears watching.

8. Erie Rez is much the same. High water, corms, a Western Grebe, and no reason to go back.

9. Kenosha Pond, off 115th Street, not Kenosha Road (how confusing is that?) had deep water and a llama.

10. A complex of ponds to the east of Kenosha Pond looked great--but from quite a distance. Lots of corms and American White Pelicans out there, plus smaller things swimming around. Anybody know how to access those ponds?

11. On the matter of access, or lack thereof, Big Gaynor Lake has deep water, nice cattails, and pelicans that can be viewed without trespassing.

Ted Floyd

tedfloyd57@hotmail.com

Lafayette, Boulder County, Colorado