Saturday, 24 February 2018

[cobirds] Winter wren, Morgan County

Heeding warnings of possible high winds along the Front Range, Nina Routh and I decided that Morgan County might be a good choice for a day of birding. Having seen a couple of interesting sightings posted by Chris W and David D from a week or so ago, we decided to have a look at the east unit of Riverside Park. The area was reasonably birdy, with the best find being a winter wren.

We did not have a specific location for the winter wren reported by Chris and David, but I assume ours is the same bird. If you would like to look for the wren, the location is easy to find. If you are not familiar with the site, the east unit can be reached by taking the first exit past Fort Morgan, about a mile east of town. This exit basically serves a couple of motels, but taking the road to the north beyond the motels and then west will bring you to the parking area.  Walk west from the parking area along the South Platte until you reach a creek. Staying on the east side of the creek, walk upstream a couple hundred yards until you come to the ninth tee of the frisbee golf course. The wren was in the bushes against the opposite bank.



At the west end of the park, in Fort Morgan, there were a thousand+ white-cheeked geese, split about evenly between Canada and cackling. There were two snow geese and one white-fronted among the crowd.

After Fort Morgan we took highway 144 west toward Weldona, and then followed county roads north and west, hoping to find some redpolls in the wild sunflowers along the roads. Unfortunately, a stiff breeze had come up which suppressed songbird activity, but we did find a decent assortment of raptors. From there we made a stop at Jackson Lake SP where things were pretty quiet. Nine bald eagles were loafing on the ice, and one of the resident great horned owls flushed from the woods across from the visitor center. There were the usual hoards of robins, a few solitaires and juncos, and not much else.

As so often happens, the "event of the day" occurred after we had quit birding and were headed for the barn. We took 144 from Orchard toward I-76, and were within a mile of the freeway when we spotted a large flock of geese in a cornfield. We had been hoping for a flock of snow geese, but up to this point been disappointed, but this mixed goose flock appeared to have several hundred snows in it. Mission accomplished! We then experienced the clown car version of a goose flock. Apparently the bulk of the flock was hidden behind a low rise, because the field began erupting snow geese, and continued doing so for several minutes. A few hundred lifted off, then a few hundred more, and then a few hundred more. By the time the field had given up all its geese, we estimated (conservatively!) that we had over ten thousand snow geese in the air. There were dense clouds of geese in every direction, joined by thousands more Canada/cacklers. It was quite a spectacle, and a fine end to a good day.

Norm Lewis
Lakewood, CO

--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to cobirds+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.
To post to this group, send email to cobirds@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/cobirds/161cb580796-71b0-1b820%40webjas-vae177.srv.aolmail.net.
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.

[cobirds] NE Quadrant, Denver Area Birds

John Vanderpoel and I headed into the NE quadrant of the Denver area today (north of I-10 and east of I-25) in order to try to escape the high wind forecast.  We had great fortune in our birding adventures with upward of 57 species for the day including several rarities and surprises.

 

We started off at the Firestone Recreation Area (MIlavec Reservoir) at Colorado and Grant in Firestone.  This large reservoir has a few bubblers that keep open water and there were several thousand geese on the ice around open spots when we got there.  Included in these thousands of white-cheeked geese were three Snow Geese and a Greater White-fronted Goose.  We then made our way to the Brighton Water Treatment Facility located at US 85 and 168th (the Weld/Adams County Line).  This spot has a few warmed ponds and a trail along the South Platte that offer good cold-weather birding opportunities.  Best here were four American Pipits along the river. 

 

We continued to Barr Lake where we had usual offerings including a couple of Ring-necked Pheasants.  Setting off down Piccadilly toward DIA, and then turning east on 120th Ave. we were surprised by a black corvid that showed all the right field marks at close range for Chihuahuan Raven.  It was feeding in the road on a dead prairie dog, and we were both struck by its intermediate size, rounded tail and bristle covered bill.  Just down the road from this spot we encountered a small flock of Horned Larks with a couple of slightly smaller Lapland Longspurs easily picked out in the flock.

 

We made the loop around DIA to get to First Creek which was really windy and pretty disappointing, so we started to make our way home with a stop at LUNA Reservoir along the way.  This Thornton water supply reservoir was 85% frozen, but hosted close to 2,000 geese, unfortunately far away and closely packed, for the most part.  We were able to find small numbers of Iceland (Thayer’s) and Lesser Black-backed plus one Great Black-backed that towered over even the large number of Herring Gulls present.

 

Bill Kaempfer

Boulder

 

[cobirds] Nat Geo on bird migration

COBirders--  The March, 2018 issue of National Geographic magazine, as part of its “Year of the Bird” series, has a very informative feature on migration.  For those of us with little formal academic background in ornithology the essay and maps are quite accessible.  If you would like to learn of the latest findings in research on avian migration you will be rewarded by checking out “Epic Journeys.”  [My only association with National Geographic is as a subscriber and field guide owner of editions two through seven.]

Leon Bright, Pueblo

[cobirds] Cassin's Finches and Redpoll, Larimer Co.

6 Cassin's Finches showed up at my place this morning in Horsetooth Lake Estates west of Fort Collins, along with a lone Common Redpoll, after a fresh 6" in light fluffy powder last night. Perhaps if my window was not so dirty this shot would have been in focus...

Inline image

Cheers,

Arvind Panjabi 5700' feet, Larimer County, CO On the north slope of Milner Mtn Mountain mahogany shrubland and grassland

[cobirds] Colorado Rare Bird Alert, 24 February 2018

Compiler:   Joyce Takamine
e-mail:      RBA AT cobirds.org  
Date:        February 24, 2018

This is the Rare Bird Alert for Saturday, February 24  sponsored by Denver Field Ornithologists and the Bird Conservancy of the Rockies.

Highlight species include: (* indicates new information on this species)
NOTE:  The RBA is now using the new AOU checklist and the order of families has changed.
Greater White-fronted Goose (El Paso, Washington, Weld)
BRANT (Arapahoe)
Trumpeter Swan (Fremont, Yuma)
Wood Duck (Prowers)
Greater Scaup (Weld)
White-winged Scoter (Arapahoe, Jefferson)
Long-tailed Duck (Montezuma)
Barrow's Goldeneye (Adams, Arapahoe, El Paso, Montezuma, Weld) 
Red-breasted Merganser (Montezuma)
Clark's Grebe (Fremont)
Greater Roadrunner (El Paso)
Sandhill Crane (Mesa, Pueblo, Rio Grande)
Spotted Sandpiper (Arapahoe, Mesa)
Mew Gull  (Weld)
California Gull (Mesa)
Iceland Gull (El Paso, Pueblo) 
Great Black-backed Gull (Pueblo)
YELLOW-BILLED LOON (Arapahoe, Jefferson)
Double-crested Cormorant (Pueblo)
American White Pelican (Weld)
Osprey (Larimer)
Northern Goshawk (Jefferson)
HARRIS'S HAWK (Larimer)
Swainson's Hawk (Prowers)
Snowy Owl (*Boulder)
Red-bellied Woodpecker (Washington)
Chihuahuan Raven (Fremont)
Pygmy Nuthatch (Broomfield)
Winter Wren (Archuleta, Morgan)
Golden-crowned Kinglet (Denver)
Eastern Bluebird (Washington)
Mountain Bluebird (Weld)
Hermit Thrush (Washington)
Gray Catbird (Arapahoe)
Northern Mockingbird (Adams)
Common Redpoll (Arapahoe, Denver)
Red Crossbill (Arapahoe)
Lapland Longspur (Douglas)
Field Sparrow (Baca)
Sagebrush Sparrow (Mesa)
Fox Sparrow (*Delta, *Larimer)
Lincoln's Sparrow (*La Plata, Mesa)
Swamp Sparrow (*Arapahoe, Boulder)
White-throated Sparrow (Arapahoe)
Harris's Sparrow (Arapahoe, El Paso)
Brown-headed Cowbird (El Paso, Weld)
Rusty Blackbird (Morgan)
Pine Warbler (Larimer)
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Arapahoe, Archuleta, Jefferson, Larimer, Mesa, Prowers, Pueblo)
Northern Cardinal (Prowers)

ADAMS COUNTY:
---On February 18 at Big Dry Creek OS, David Ely reported Northern Mockingbird.
---On February 18 at South Platte River  Sand Creek mouth, Riley Morris reported Black Phoebe.  This would be new county record if accepted.

ARAPAHOE COUNTY:                                                                  
---On February 18 at South Platte Reservoir, Anna Lenshek reported YELLOW-BILLED LOON.  On February 19 at South Plate Reservoir, Alan and MaryLynne Ketcham reported YELLOW-BILLED LOON and Derek Lecy reported White-winged Scoter and YELLOW-BILLED LOON.  On February 20 at South Platte Reservoir, David Suddjian reported White-winged Scoter and YELLOW-BILLED LOON.  Suddjian reported that the SW Bay was frozen.   On February 22 at South Platte Reservoir, David Suddjian, Cheri Phillips, Norm Lewis, and Ted Uhlemann reported White-winged Scoter.
---On February 20 at South Platte Park, Ben Sampson reported Yellow-rumped Warbler near Nature Center.  On February 22 at South Platte Park Carson Nature Center, Bill Schreitz reported 2 f Barrow's Goldeneyes and 5 Yellow-rumped (Audubon's) Warblers in trees NE side of bicycle bridge.
---On February 18 at Ketring Park, Cheryl Teuton and several other birders reported BLACK BRANT.  The BRANT was also seen at neighboring Gallup Park.   On February 19 at Ketring Park, Alan and MaryLynne Ketcham reported BRANT.  On Februaory 22 at Ketring Park, Diane Roberts reported Swamp Sparrow.
---On February 18 at Chapel Hill Memorial gardens, Jared Del Rosso reported Harris's Sparrow.
---On February 18 at Gallup Park in Littleton, Jared Del Rosso and Christian Hagenlocher reported BLACK BRANT.
---On February 18 at St Mary's Catholic Church lower area, David Suddjian reported Say's Phoebe
---On February 21 at Centennial Park, Edward Donnan reported Spotted Sandpiper.
---On February 21 at Hawley Road, Doug Kibbe reported 18 Common Redpoll.
---On February 22 at Inverness Golf Course, Mary O'Connor reported 33 Red Crossbills.

ARCHULETA COUNTY:
---On February 18 on San Juan River Walk in Pagosa Springs, Ryan Votta reported Yellow-rumped Warbler and Jim Beatty reported Winter Wren.

BOULDER COUNTY:
---On February 20 and 21 at Pleasant View Soccer Field, Ernest Crvich reported Swamp Sparrow.
---On February 23 on Nelson Road, Sue Riffe reported a juv Snowy Owl flew over the road flying NW.  She was about a mile east of US 36.  

DELTA COUNTY:
----On February 23 at Paonia Forest Service Office feeder, Dennis Garrison reported that the Fox Sparrow continues.

DENVER COUNTY:
---On February 21 near DIA on Hudson Road, Doug Kibbe reported 2 Common Redpoll.
---On February 22 at Denver Botanic Gardens and Cheesman Park, Rebecca Laroche reported 2 Golden-crowned Kinglets.

DOUGLAS COUNTY:
---On February 19 at Chatfield SP Model Airplane Field, Doug Kibbe reported Lapland Longspurs.  Doug warned that there is no access to Chatfield from Wadsworth because of construction.  On February 22 Tom Wilbering and Diane Roberts reported Lapland Longspur at Chatfield SP Model Airplane Field. 

EL PASO COUNTY:
---On February 21 at Monument Wastewater Treatment Plant, Alan Versaw reported f Barrow's Goldeneye.
---On February 18 on Chapel Hills Drive, Susan Stover reported Greater White-fronted Goose.
---On February 18 at Reflection Pond, Richard Bunn reported Greater White-fronted Goose.
---On February 21 at Birdsall Road Jim Merritt reported 3 Brown-headed Cowbirds.
---On February 21 at Hanover Rd, Jim Merritt reported 2 Greater Roadrunners near Hanover and Meridian.

FREMONT COUNTY:
---On February 18 at Brush Hollow Reservoir, Ginny Bergstrom reported 2 Trumpeter Swans and Clark's Grebe; Gwen Moore reported 2 Trumpeter Swans.  On February 19 at Brush Hollow Reservoir, Joy and Leonard Lake and SeEtta Moss reported 2 Trumpeter Swans.

JEFFERSON COUNTY:
---On February 19 at Bear Creek Green Belt S Kipling Pkwy to S Wadsworth  Blvd, Chris Wood reported Yellow-rumped (Audubon's) Warbler foraging near Wadsworth near the creek.  On February 22 at Bear Creek trail, Tom WIlberding reported Yellow-rumped (Audubon's) Warbler.  
---On Februrary 19 at Ralston Creek at Croke, Steven Snyder reported Northern Goshawk.
---On February 22 at Bennett Place in Lakewood, Chris Wood reported Yellow-rumped (Audubon's ) Warbler.

LA PLATA COUNTY:
---On February 23 at Animas River Trail Huck Finn Pond and Hatchery Area, Ryan Votta reported Lincoln's Sparrow.

LARIMER COUNTY:
---On February 16 on I-25 near Loveland, Gene Rutherford reported HARRIS'S HAWK near Exit sign.   On February 18 near I-25 Loveland exit, Susan Broderick reported the HARRIS'S HAWK flying over trees near Wyngate Hotel on Ronald Reagan Blvd.
---On February 18 from Dixon Reservoir to Horsetooth Reservoir, Elaine Leslie reported Osprey flying north to south.
---On February 18  - 22 at Wild Horse Birdfeeder in Loveland, John Reichhardt reported Pine Warbler.
---On February 18 at Hillsdale Park in Berthoud, Christine and Richard Sparks reported Lincoln's Sparrow.
---On February 20 at CSU Environmental Learning Center, Derek Lecy reported Red Fox Sparrow.   On February 22 at CSU Environmental Learning Center, Walter Wehtje reported Red Fox Sparrow.  On February 23 at CSU Environmental Learning Center, Neil Matheson reported Red Fox Sparrow.
---On February 22 at Kngfisher Point, Nix Farms and Williams NA, Lori Zabel reported Yellow-rumped (Myrtle) Warbler.

MESA COUNTY:
---On February 16 at Grand Junction Wildlife Area, Kathleen McGinley and Mike Henwood reported 2 Lincoln's Sparrows.  On February 20 at Grand Junction WA, Ryan Claar reported Lincoln's Sparrow along Gunnison Trail near the end.
---On February 18 at State Line, Denise and Mark Vollmar reported 12 Sandhill Cranes and 3 Sagebrush Sparrows.
---On February 18 at Horsethief Canyon SWA, David Price and Eileen Cunningham reported Spotted Sandpiper and Yellow-rumped (Audubon's) Warbler.
---On February 21 at Highline Lake SP, Mike Henwood reported 3 California Gulls.

MONTEZUMA COUNTY:
---On February 14 at McPhee Reservoir Dolores End, Kathy Mihm Dunning reported Long-tailed Duck.  On February 15 at Dolores Ponds (wastewater plant) Jim Beatty reported f Long-tailed Duck in second pond past Dolores wastewater treatment ponds.  On February 14 at West End, Jim Beatty reported 2 f Red-breasted Mergansers.  On February 16 at Dolores Ponds (Watewater Treatment Plant), Jason St Pierre and Eric Hynes reported Long-tailed Duck and Barrow's Goldeneye.  On February 19 at South arm of McPhee Reservoir, Erik Hendrickson reported Long-tailed Duck and Barrow's Goldeneye.

MORGAN COUNTY:
---On February 18 at Riverside Park (east section) in Fort Morgan, Chris Wood and David Dowell reported Winter Wren and Rusty Blackbird.

PROWERS COUNTY:
---On February 18 at Lamar Community College, Jon Horn reported f Wood Duck, 4 Yellow-rumped Warblers, and Northern Cardinal.
---On February 18 on Hwy 196 from Kornman to county line, Jon Horn reported 1st year light phase Swainson's Hawk.

PUEBLO COUNTY:
---On February 18 at Pueblo Reservoir, Robb Hinds reported Great Black-backed Gull.  On February 19 at Pueblo Reservoir, Joy and Leonard Lake reported Great Black-backed Gull and 8 Yellow-rumped Warblers.
---On February 19 at Whitewater Park in Pueblo, Lorna Megenity reported Double-crested Cormorant and 6 Sandhill Cranes.

RIO GRANDE COUNTY:
---On February 19 at Monte Vista NWR, Bill Schreitz reported 475 Sandhill Cranes.  On February 20 at Monte Vista NWR, Jon Horn reported hundreds of Sandhill Cranes.

WASHINGTON COUNTY:
---On February 18 at Prewitt Reservoir, Chris Wood reported 7 Greater White-fronted Geese, Red-bellied Woodpecker, 9 Eastern Bluebirds, and Hermit Thrush.

WELD COUNTY:
---On February 18 at LUNA Reservoir, Gene Rutherford reported 3 Greater Scaup (2m, 1f) and Brown-headed Cowbird.
---On February 18 at St Vrain SP Great Egret Pond, Gene Rutherford reported American White Pelican.
---On February 18 at Firestone Gravel Pits (view from road), Steve Mlodinow, Gene Rutherford, and Luke Pheneger reported m Barrow's Goldeneye and American White Pelican; Mlodinow also reported 1st cyc Mew Gull.
---On February 18 at Barefoot Lakes, Gene Rutherford reported Mew Gull.
---On February 21 at Shelterbelt at CR 90 and CR 57, Danny Montalvo reported 30 Mountain Bluebirds.

YUMA COUNTY:
---On February 18 at Stalker Lake, David Dowell reported Trumpeter Swan.

DFO Field Trips:
The DFO Field Trip for Saturday, February 24 will be to Sloan's Lake led by Jackie King (jackie.king At ccd.edu; 720-381-3314)  Directions:  Meet on the north side of Solan's Lake near the boat house just south of W 25th Ave at Wolff.  Lunch is optional.  Register online or contact leader.

The DFO Field Trip for Saturday, February 24 will be Front Range Owling led by David Suddjian (dsuddjian AT gmail.com; 831-713-8659).  This trip is full.

The DFO Field Trip for Sunday, February 25 will be to Fort Collins Grandview Cemetery led by Gregg Goodrich (GreggGoodrich AT gmail.com; 303-665-9135).  This trip is full

The DFO Field Trip for Sunday, February 25 will be Boulder County:  From the Mountains to the Plains led by Paula Hansley (plhansley AT gmail.com; 720-890-2628).  Directions:  Meet at 0800 at Cinnebarre Theaters parking lot off Dillon Rd in Louisville.  Take McCaslin Blvd exit from Hwy 36 (Boulder Turnpike) to the north; go left at first traffic light at Dillon Rd, take first left and follow little road into a large parking lot for Cinebarre Theaters.  Meet on west side.    Carpool.  Check out feeders including Mtn Research Station and Allenspark.  Will work way back to plains.  Bring lunch, water (and/or warm Beverage), warm clothes, including gloves and hat.  Register online or contact leader.

Good Birding,
Joyce Takamine
Boulder

--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to cobirds+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.
To post to this group, send email to cobirds@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/cobirds/CAHtstTeJRc8rMzjbzmzUbFbf4GXP9R487p2mLYNAgNOt7%3DROdg%40mail.gmail.com.
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.

Friday, 23 February 2018

[cobirds] Re: West Centennial Gull Movement (Arapahoe)

I also saw hundreds of gulls (150+) around 5:10 PM this evening flying over near Belleview and Dayton (near NE Cherry Creek SP). Same flock?

Ben Sampson
Centennial, Co

--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to cobirds+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.
To post to this group, send email to cobirds@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/cobirds/50efd9ff-8aa1-4887-8185-91d35a9977bf%40googlegroups.com.
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.

[cobirds] Re: West Centennial Gull Movement (Arapahoe)

I also saw hundreds of gulls (150+) around 5:10 PM flying over near Belleview and Dayton (near NE Cherry Creek SP). Same flock?

--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to cobirds+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.
To post to this group, send email to cobirds@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/cobirds/41b0a467-0824-4711-a008-9ce02a494247%40googlegroups.com.
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.