[cobirds] Barrow's Goldeneye ID and Urban/Rural (manmade) forests

Greetings All

I did another round thru various parts of w. Weld again yesterday.

This time I visited Windsor Lake closer to mid-day, after many of the gulls had left, so missed out on LBB and Glaucous, which are undoubtedly somewhere in the area - at least for the time being (i.e., until water freezes)

There was, again, several Common Goldeneye with dusty yellow to orange bills. This is a normal variant. I am unsure of the timing and age class when this is most prevalent. There was one Common Goldeneye with a rather orange bill. The point of this: Female/first-year goldeneye can not be identified by bill color alone. Indeed, youngish Barrow's (into mid-winter at least) can have dark or mostly dark bills. I've been to Windsor 5 times in the last 2 weeks and have yet to find a Barrow's despite averaging about 90 minutes per visit. 

So.. onto more pleasant topics.

I've also spent time hitting manmade forests in Weld. The grandest of these is the area around Glenmere Park, which is a square mile or so of nicely wooded yards (and the park) containing many conifers. The boundaries of this area aren't hard and fast, as it fades into the surrounding areas where there are tasty smaller islands. Glenmere has been a treasure-trove of montane birds this winter (and in past), with dozens of RB Nuthatches, many Mountain Chickadees, roving flocks of Red Crossbills, a resident flock (or two or three) of Bushtit, many Brown Creepers, a few GC Kinglets and a small scattering of Pygmy Nuthatches and montane WB Nuthatches. Who knows what is hiding there. During migration in just the last couple years, despite relative modest coverage, this location has turned up Philly Vireo, Alder Flycatcher, Blackburnian Warbler... and heck, RB Nuthatches actually breed here. 

Of course, the same thing has been going on in Denver on a grander scale. 

Other islands exist. The Weld side of Erie has had a Western Scrub-Jay. The town of Windsor has had Red Crossbill and Common Redpoll (+ a number of Mountain Chickadees, RB Nuthatches, Brown Creepers, a GC Kinglet or two). For fun this winter, when things are really boring, pick a town or development on the plains that seems to have conifers on Google Earth, and see what you can add to that county's list. I am certain that Fort Morgan is ripe, as is Sterling and Julesburg and Holyoke. 

Good Luck and Good Birding

Steven Mlodinow

Longmont CO

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