[cobirds] West Arapahoe Co. Birding

Battling a cold, I spent most of the rainy morning and early afternoon birding a few spots in Centennial & Greenwood Village in west Arapahoe Co. I started at Marjorie Perry Nature Preserve, where I birded the western side of the preserve. Near its entrance, I heard then spotted a few singing White-crowned Sparrows. A short time later, I watched what I think was a late-Northern Shrike (first winter?) pursue and miss a Say's Phoebe near the duckiest of the preserve's three ponds. It then watched the brush for a time, before dropping in, disappearing, and popping back up seemingly empty-handed.

 

Also of note were two Mourning Doves, my first at the preserve since October.

From Marjorie Perry, I headed home and picked up my dog. We then headed to Blackmer Lake by Kent Denver School, where we had our first Tree Swallows of the year. Flagged by eBird was a Ruby-crowned Kinglet, foraging with a pair of Bushtits. A return trip to bird the eastern half of Marjorie Perry yielded our first Lincoln's Sparrow of the year and what I presume is a newly arrived, third Say's Phoebe. (Two have been by the duck pond for about a week and a half. This one was on the opposite end of the preserve.)

We rounded up the morning at Willow Spring Open Space, where we walked the northern and eastern edges. A singing Western Meadowlark was a pleasant surprise. So too was a Sage Thrasher running through the grass and sagebrush with robins, one of which had striking white feathers near the middle of both wings. An early Vesper Sparrow, another Say's Phoebe, and a few more Mourning Doves were more welcome signs of spring.

- Jared Del Rosso

Centennial, CO

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