On Tuesday, August 29, 2017 at 10:12:45 AM UTC-6, Jared Del Rosso wrote:
Steve Altman, a friend of mine & birder from New York, and I did what I call a "Big Enough Day" on Monday (8/28) in west Arapahoe County. We woke early, birding several local hotspots within my three mile home circle. We stopped when the midday heat put songbirds away. And we swung by deKoevend park around sunset. In total, we finished with about 55 species, a nice haul for the area. Had we not missed a few common enough birds – White-breasted Nuthatch, Bushtit, Common Grackle, Great Blue Heron, pelicans, Ring-billed Gull, HOUSE SPARROW(!?!?!) – we might have cleared 60.
We started at Marjorie Perry Nature Preserve at sunrise, where we didn't hear any Great Horns, though they've been calling in the area over the past few weeks. But a Lark Sparrow, walking on a gravel trail, was a good first bird. Steve picked out four Blue-winged Teals on the southeastern pond. A Spotted Sandpiper flew around that pond as well, favoring a downed log on the edge of that pond that every migrant Spotted seems to favor. Around the ponds were Common Yellowthroats, Wilson's Warblers, Yellow Warblers, Catbirds, and Western Kingbirds.
The eastern side of the preserve was particularly birdy. Along a short stretch of the High Line, we had Song Sparrows, Spotted Towhees, Black-capped Chickadees, and House Finches foraging with a few migrants: Wilson's Warblers, a Western Tanager, and a Townsend's Warbler. That last bird was a lifer for Steve and my first in Arapahoe County. Soon after watching those birds, Steve spotted three Yellow-headed Blackbirds flying over. On the eastern edge, in a large, leafless tree, was a Broad-winged Hawk. I've seen the bird flyover a few times in the Denver metro area; this was my first actually hanging around. We didn't see the bird do much, though. At one point, looking back, we noticed its tree full of magpies. When we worked our way back around to the tree, the bird appeared gone.
Also at the preserve were at least three very active & very vocal Belted Kingfishers. There were at least 6, possibly 8 hummers, only two of which we identified (Broad-tails). We heard Red-breasted Nuthatches in a few areas.
Our next stop was Willow Spring Open Space, where a field of grasses and rabbitbrush had a Sage Thrasher, Eastern Kingbird, and a Lark Bunting. It turned out to be a good day for the kingbirds and buntings around west Centennial. There was another Eastern Kingbird across the open space. At our next stop – Holly Park – there was yet a third Eastern competing with with two Western Kingbirds. Also at Holly Park was a flock of about seven Lark Buntings. Four Clay-colored Sparrows were foraging with them.
The day slowed from there. We went looking for ducks at Ketring Lake, Blackmer Lake, and Cherry Knolls pond but found only four Wood Ducks at Cherry Knolls. Two Olive-sided Flycatchers at Ketring were a nice consolation.
We called it quits around 2:00, returning only to deKoevend Park around 7:00. deKoevend was filled with the most common fall visitors – athletes and their fans. Around the South Suburban Ice Arena footbridge was a crowd of parents half-watching lines of children doing fake pushups. A softball league filled one of the baseball fields. Soccer and frisbee players filled yet another field, near the Dry Creek, that is usually good for migrants. Last night, it wasn't. But a Common Nighthawk, my favorite bird and our last new bird for the day, appeared from behind the trees lining the creek, offering a few good views before it disappeared over the park.
- Jared Del Rosso
Centennial, CO
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