[cobirds] Notes on birds observed near Fort Collins from Saturday 13 June 2015

On Saturday afternoon, Phil Cafaro and I checked out a few spots on the south side of Fort Collins. The Larimer landfill official stationed at the entrance granted us access to the property and we studied a flock of 65 loafing California and Ring-billed Gulls of various plumages. Photos and discussion can be viewed at http://www.pbase.com/quetzal/gulls06132015. 

Then we visited the adjacent Coyote Ridge Open Space, where we heard a Grasshopper Sparrow singing constantly just west of the parking lot, as well as a Savannah Sparrow and a handful of Vesper Sparrows. One of the Vesper Sparrows posed for a photo (http://www.pbase.com/quetzal/image/160436286). A short distance down the trail towards the foothills, a large prairie dog town is on the left (south side). Here, an active Burrowing Owl nest is far enough from the trail that they are not disturbed by the large number of hikers and bikers that pass by. As long as birders stay on the trail, great views can be had of the family, especially through a telescope. We counted 7 owlets huddled at the entrance to the burrow and two actively foraging adults. Video of the scene can be viewed here: https://youtu.be/aQEToqIfYHw.

We ended the outing at Fossil Creek Reservoir where there was ample nesting activity, including a Mourning Dove on a nest at the visitor's center, and a flock of fledged Common Grackles near some used nests under the roof of the outdoor auditorium. From the observation platform, we scoped the rookery at the east end which hosted about 10 active Great Blue Heron nests including some large nestlings. These were scattered among a much larger number of active Double-crested Cormorant nests, some of which were crowded with black-feathered, almost fully-grown cormorant nestlings. Finally, the visible Bald Eagle nest at the west end had one (maybe two) large nestlings visible through the telescope. At the observation platform, a singing adult male Orchard Oriole hopefully has a mate nearby and will nest here. My ebird checklist for Fossil Creek Reservoir is here: http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S23895283.

Nick Komar

Fort Collins CO