[cobirds] Decoys at the Eurasian Wigeon spot in Merino

Hi all,

Yesterday I decided to get out and bird the northeast plains before the state of Colorado asks us all to stay home, as other states have done. I had a good day of birding, though I found nothing unusual. I looked for the Eurasian Wigeon near Merino in Logan County, once in the morning and once in the afternoon. I didn't see it either time, but I think it may well still be there. The complex includes several ponds, but you can only see two of them from Highway 6, and over the course of the day the birds move back and forth between the ponds.

Those of you who haven't been there yet might consider visiting (if you are careful to pull your car completely off the road). It's a birdy little spot. An early Yellow-headed Blackbird was in the flock of Red-wings yesterday, and a Greater Yellowlegs made a brief appearance in the afternoon. Hundreds of gulls were loafing on the near shore in the morning, with two Lesser Black-backeds and a Herring among the Ring-billeds.

Apropos of the recent COBirds discussion on decoys being mistaken for real birds -- be aware that the second pond back from the road has some decoy ducks on it, including some fairly convincing Canvasbacks, a pod of slightly-too-red Redheads, and a motionless male American Wigeon. These "birds" are just beyond the thin berm that separates the near pond from the far one, huddled along the left side, partly blocked from view by weeds. There is also a pair of decoy Canada Geese in front of the duck blind on the right side of that same pond. I mention the decoys because I see some people have recently reported Canvasback and Redhead from this location, and I just wanted to make sure that the decoys were on everybody's radar.

Nathan PIeplow

Boulder

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