This morning a group of 50 of us woke up nice and early to continue the tradition of the Great Boulder Caper, where the leader was of course TED FLOYD.
We all gathered at Cottenwood Marsh to begin the day. Cottenwood hosted an assortment of ducks including most of the "usual" suspects, but we still enjoyed spectacular views of HOODED MERGANSERS, and COMMON GOLDENEYES, along with other dabblers.
We then proceeded to walk around Walden and Sawhill for a few hours where not too far into the walk an eagle eyed birder spotted a GREAT HORNED OWL staying quite low in a cottenwood, allowing for amazing looks. Further exploration lead to us finding a HARRIS's SPARROW mixed in with a large flock of AMERICAN TREE SPARROWS, a NORTHERN SHRIKE, a MARSH WREN, a HARLANS HAWK and a couple of straggling YELLOW RUMPED WARBLERS.
We then moved onto Golden Ponds where the wind wouldn't help with finding passerines, but we still were able to see 2 ROSS's GEESE and an incredible number of CACKLING GEESE which allowed for great study.
McIntosh Reservoir had our first EARED GREBE of the day, which came very close, also our best looks at COMMON MERGANSERS. A first cycle LESSER BLACK BACKED GULL was also on the shore of the reservoir, but quite distant.
At this point there weren't many of us left but we ventured to a few other hotspots such as Jim Hamm Nature Area which had multiple species of diving and dabbling ducks including 60 REDHEADS, Panama Reservoir where we saw a RED BREASTED MERGANSER, a HARLANS HAWK, and a surprising 40 SNOW GEESE flyover!
The final stop for the day was going to be at the WANEKA Lake area, where we enjoyed a flock of 15 BUSHTITS and 2 WOOD DUCKS at Helca Pond.
At the end of the day a total of 69 species were seen!
Hope to see you out there next year!
Good Birding
Luke Pheneger
Longmont
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