Folks,
I spent the better part of today gulling around Arapahoe County. I started at Cherry Creek hoping to continue sifting thru the hundreds of gulls I saw there yesterday. Unfortunately, the lake went from 70% frozen to 99% frozen overnight. A small water hole kept open by a hundred or so Common Mergansers exists in the middle of the lake. Otherwise it is all ice. The number of gulls was greatly reduced compared to yesterday. I did see the adult Great Black-backed Gull as well as 2, 1st or 2nd cycle Glaucous Gulls. As I was leaving the park, I ran into Gene Rutherford. We went back to look for the gulls and the Great Black-backed was nowhere in sight. So I headed toward Aurora Reservoir. On my way I noticed open water and lots of birds at Quincy Reservoir, so I stopped to look. There were only about 2 dozen gulls, but one of them was the Great Black-backed. There were a few diving ducks and loads of white-cheeked geese. I then proceeded to Aurora Reservoir where I eventually met up with Steve Stachowiak and David Dowell. We were able to find a couple of Lesser black-backed Gulls (adult and 1st cycle), a 2nd cycle Glaucous-winged X Herring Gull (at least it was phenotypically) and a Long-tailed Duck in the waters along the dam. In the frozen ponds to the north in the water treatment plant, a group of a hundred or so gulls slept. One was an adult Great Black-backed Gull, probably the same bird. Steve had seen it earlier at Quincy, but Gene could not find it there later when we saw it at Aurora. Finally, back in the marina we found a nice adult Iceland Gull. The bird had nearly pure white primaries, a small head and bill and was slightly smaller than the Herring Gulls. Aurora Reservoir is still mostly open and contains lots of birds that come and go. Give your self time to scan thru the many flocks of gulls. Today, the large groups of gulls were at the marina and in the NW corner of the lake along the dam. A couple digi-scoped pics of Iceland Gull and Great Black-backed Gull can be seen from the link below.
Glenn Walbek
Castle Rock, CO
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