[cobirds] South Platte River Trail

 
Spent a wonderful January 1st with my baby sis (Connie Kogler) birding along this trail this morning.  Started off on the wrong one-that little pull off just past York.  Did see a couple things there...but.  Decided to continue east on 70th and found where we really meant to go!  Highlights of the morning were an American Pipit.  Found as we walked north of the trail head, foraging along the riverbank across from the trail.  Got much better looks later as we went south and over the second bridge.  It flew into a small sandbar just north of the bridge and almost directly under us.  May not have been the same one-but we assumed it was.
 
Other highlight was a Say's Phoebe!  It was on the rocks under the overpass just north of the trailhead at the parking lot.  Surprised both of us to see it!  We also had two Yellow-rumped Warblers while on the bridge.  I've seen them many times, but this time they were below us, foraging along the river edge and along the rocks.  Cool views of the tops of their heads!
 
There is also a very interesting plumaged Northern Shoveler.  His beak (bill?) is orange and he had very mottled/leucistic feathers.  Really cool looking bird.  He was also spotted while looking north from the bridge.  We walked north after crossing said bridge (hard to leave it-it was a wonderful vantage point) and got closer looks at him on that side.  Connie took pictures, I don't know if she posts publicly-but if you'd like to see let me know and I'll ask.
 
Total list is as follows:
 
Mallard
Canada Goose
Cackling Goose
American Kestrel
Belted Kingfisher
American Pipit
Say's Phoebe
Black-capped Chickadee
Hooded Merganser
Northern Shoveler
Northern Pintail
Gadwall
Green-winged Teal
Common Goldeneye
Lesser Scaup
Bufflehead
American Wigeon
Great Blue Heron
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Brown Creeper
Ring-billed Gull
Pie-billed Grebe
American Coot
Song Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco
Ring-necked Duck
Killdeer
Red-tailed Hawk (dark morph)
Black-billed Magpie
Starling
Downy Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
 
Happy New Year!
 
Lauren
 
Lauren Burke
NOCO Wrenegade Charter Member
"It's a bird thing. It just is."
Broomfield, Colorado