Hi Everyone—
Today 11/3, I visited Union Reservoir. Best viewing was from the east side on WCR 26, near the repurposed ship container of the Longmont Sculling Club. I saw six grebe species: one Red-necked, one good Clark’s, one Pied-billed, a few Eared, and lots of Horned and Western. Buried in a pile of Westerns in the middle of the reservoir were two White-winged Scoters. It helped that they flapped their wings a few times without flying.
I also went to Houts Lake and took lots of photos of the Brant. I have some pretty decent shots of the neck and belly that show where there is intergrade potential. As to what subspecies it actually belongs to, I am no longer 100% certain, and DNA may be needed to sort this out fully. I am not ruling out a paler hrota/nigricans intergrade or a hrota that happens to have a thicker than normal neck collar. I noticed that the big male Canada Goose has volunteered for watch goose duty for the Brant, too. Joggers are mostly being good about running around it.
The adult Lesser Black-backed Gull was still at the south end of Equalizer Lake.
Mark Miller
Longmont, CO
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