Wednesday 26 March 2014

[cobirds] Possible Heron Rookery-Douglas Co-Parker

Lat 39 33 02 N
Long 104 47 00 W
At approx. 3:00PM, this afternoon, March 26, I observed at least ten Great Blue Herons perching in tall cottonwood trees and taking off soaring in circles, then returning to the trees.  I did not see any nest building activity, but there were potential nests (small collections of sticks) all around. Maybe they were simply on a migration rest stop? The trees are in a fenced "Wildlife Conservation Area" along Cherry Creek, just north of a small duck pond which is visible to the north from westbound E-470 between Parker Rd and Jordan Rd, north of the center of Parker CO. I was on the Cherry Creek bike path where I ride frequently, so I plan to check this out again in a couple of days. I had my binoculars because I was scanning for owl and hawk nests which I did not find.  I did see a hawk, likely Red tailed, standing on the edge of a nest high in a cottonwood tree west of Cherry Creek and just south of the greenhouses at Tagawa Gardens.
Other birds seen between Arapahoe Rd and Lincoln Ave:  Belted Kingfisher, Killdeer, Mourning Doves, Robins, Red winged Blackbirds, Northern Flickers, Canada Geese, Crows, Coots, Gadwalls,Lesser Scaups, Mallards
Also the bugs were out hitting me in the face.  Spring is definitely here.

Jean Stevenson
Aurora CO

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