[cobirds] CFO trip to Denver, Denver Co., Jan. 31: Recap

Hello, Birders.

Here's a recap of a Colorado Field Ornithologists outing yesterday, Sat., Jan. 31, to downtown Denver, Denver County. We got under way with a flyover Bald Eagle at Ferril Lake in City Park, and then we pondered the various ducks and geese out on the lake. A highlight was hearing and seeing the courtship displays of drake Common Goldeneyes; and we got to witness the strange spectacle of drake Hooded Mergansers raising and lowering their mohawks. Several folks saw the park's resident Graylag Geese, but those birds eluded me. We were fortunate to have goose aficionado Cathy Sheeter with us, and she gave the group an enlightening tutorial on separating Cackling Geese from Canada Geese--both of which were present in goodly numbers.

We left the water birds eventually, and found a cool flock of land birds. Denver is a great meeting place of eastern and western bird populations, and the flock provided a splendid opportunity for thinking and learning about population variation. Here's what we came up with in the flock:

2 White-breasted Nuthatches. Both were Rocky Mountain (western) individuals, by their distinctive calls.

2 Brown Creepers of unknown geographic origin. Both eastern and Rocky Mountain (western) groups presumably occur here in winter.

4 Northern Flickers. One Red-shafted (western) and three undetermined.

1 Downy Woodpecker. Rocky Mountain (western).

3 Dark-eyed Juncos. One Oregon (western), one Slate-colored (eastern/northern), and one undetermined (perhaps a Cassiar Junco, intermediate between Oregon and Slate-colored).

Check back in 10-20 years. The way things are going, DNA-wise, those might all be "new" species!

Next we entered the grounds of the Denver Zoo, another fascinating meeting place--not so much of eastern and western bird populations (although there is some of that admixture there), but, rather, of birds that we put in the human-constructed boxes which we call "natural" and "non-natural." Tell that to the zoo's confiding Canada Geese and wary, tree-roosting, nesting-wherever-they-want-to, fully-volant Indian Peafowl; or tell that to a hypothetical visitor from another planet tasked with making sense of it all.

Anyhow, we birded the zoo's western--and generally birdier--stretches, where we found the flock of Common Grackles that has been wintering here for years. We counted 13 today. Here's some audio from the flock:

https://soundcloud.com/ted-floyd/1135-cogr

You might have noticed in that cut some mutterings by a Swan Goose. You want a Swan Goose? Here ya go:

https://soundcloud.com/ted-floyd/1135-cogr

Note that a grackle gets the last laugh. Grackles and Swan Geese in the same cage. The grackles "count," the Swan Geese don't; our alien overlords are shaking their heads...

We also saw and heard Black-capped Chickadees and Dark-eyed Juncos, Barrow's Goldeneyes and Black Brants, European Starlings and English Sparrows, Red-crowned Cranes and Cinereous Vultures, wonderfully emblematic of the homogenized, post-wilderness, Anthropocene Epoch in which we find ourselves. 

Next, we entered Bird World, where saw an ugly Hamerkop with an excellent song:

https://soundcloud.com/ted-floyd/1231-hamerkop

Meanwhile, an outlandishly garish Paradise Tanager sang its simple Simon song:

https://soundcloud.com/ted-floyd/1217-pata

And here's the tanager with a descant from a Red-faced Liocichla:

https://soundcloud.com/ted-floyd/1219-rfli-pata

After lunch, we reconvened at the Eugene Field Branch Library of the Denver Public Library, where we had a lively conversation about the birds and birders of Colorado.

Thanks to Colorado Field Ornithologists and the Denver Public Library for sponsoring the fun day, thanks to Carol McCasland (Denver Zoo) and Kristen Monroe (Denver Public Library) for hosting us for part of the day, and thanks especially to the many spirited participants in the day's activities.

Ted Floyd

Lafayette, Boulder County, Colorado

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