I visited a few spots in Northeastern Colorado yesterday and today. Much of the water at Logan County hotspots was frozen.
At Little Jumbo, the highlight was two Trumpeter Swans, previously reported by Steve Larson, swimming in a narrow strip of open water. When I stopped a second time in hopes of better photos, I was pleasantly surprised by a Prairie Merlin flying in to perch atop a cottonwood.
At Jumbo, the water was near 100% frozen. Nonetheless, thousands of white geese were standing or walking on the ice. Gulls, however, were scarce (2-3 Herring and an Iceland). Wind made observation miserable. During my second stop at Little Jumbo, I was awed by the spectacular fly out the the thousands of Snow Geese from Jumbo.
At Fort Morgan Riverside Park this morning, the large pond was frozen over (a change from the weekend). A few geese were on the ice but most were grazing in scattered groups on the lawns. An adult snow goose and two adult Greater White-fronted Geese were obligingly close to the road. An immature Snow Goose (seen last weekend by the Denver Audubon Master Birder class) was swimming on the second pond which still had open water. There appear to be three or more of the white-fronted geese in the park vicinity since one of two seen by the Master Birder class last weekend was an immature. Had hoped to get a photo of the immature today, but could not find it among the hundreds of white-cheeked (mostly Cackling) geese. In addition to the geese in the park there were several hundred more on the South Platte.
A largely bird-free walk on the Riverside Park trails produced a Northern Shrike.
Chuck Hundertmark
Lafayette, CO
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