September 25, 2007
I had to get to DIA by 6:00am in order for Joe Sizemore to make his flight home. My plan was to then get a couple of hours of sleep (stayed up the whole night before). However, I got a call that 2 swans were spotted at the Pena Park and Ride at 40th avenue and Pena Blvd.
I arrived there a little before sunrise and found two white birds with their heads in their backs. When I exited my car, they looked up and I saw 2 American White Pelicans. Just to be careful, I drove over to nearby Emerald-Strand Park and Lake Crest ponds. No swans were found at either location.
Since I was up, I decided to make a day of it and hit as many local birding spots as possible. The thought being that yesterday's cold front would have brought some interesting birds to Denver. As it turned out, this was not the case. Birding was slow all day.
I drove the DIA Owl loop on my way over to Barr Lake (Adams). Burrowing Owls were found at 0.2 miles north of Tower Road and 56th avenue and at 3.4 miles east of Tower Road and 96th avenue. No hawks were along the route today.
At Barr Lake, I walked around for over 3 hours. Birds were scarce. If European Starlings, Northern Flickers, and waterfowl are discounted, my whole list included 9 Orange-crowned Warblers (banding area), 5 Wilson's Warblers, 2 male Downy Woodpeckers, a Spotted Towhee, 2 House Wrens (one with no tail feathers), a wet Sage Thrasher (banding area) and a MacGillivray's Warbler.
The adult male MacGillivray's Warbler was near mile marker 8.3. He only came out of the trees for brief looks. It took me over 45 minutes to make sure it was not a Mourning Warbler or other rare bird.
There were no birds along the Niedrach Boardwalk trail loop today. The only shorebirds I could find were Killdeer. I did count 5 Snowy Egrets near mile marker 7.8. An adult Herring Gull stood near the boat ramp at mm 7.5.
From Barr Lake, I took I76 west to I70 and Wheat Ridge Greenbelt (Jefferson). Again birding was slow. A Townsend's Warbler was fluttering about along the Tree Bridge trail. Few other birds were about during my hour trek.
Chatfield Reservoir (Jefferson/Douglas) was no busier. I did see a Sabine's Gull flying off to the north of the handicapped fisherperson's dock. Two Common Terns were east of the marina. A walk at Plum Creek Delta only added 1 Townsend's Warbler to my day list. I could not find the Lesser Black-backed Gull reported yesterday by Walbek.
My final stop of the day was Cherry Creek Reservoir (Arapahoe). I figured that if the Long-tailed Jaeger reported yesterday by Petrosky was still there, it would remain all day. As it turned out, I did not find it. I scoped the lake from 6:00pm to 7:15pm (dark) and only found 1 Sabine's Gull (juvenile at eastern end), 1 or 2 Bonaparte's Gulls (middle of lake), and one small "Sterna" tern that was too far away to Identify.
Great Blue Herons were plentiful (21). They out numbered the 17 Snowy Egrets and 2 Great Egrets. Two Blue-winged Teal swam near the jet ski rental area. The only shorebirds were again Killdeer. There were dozens of American White Pelicans and only a few Double-crested Cormorants. Where did the Double-crested Cormorants go this fall? They usually out number pelicans.
There were hundreds of American Coots, about 60 Western Grebes (no Clark's Grebes that I could see), 2 Horned Grebes and 2 Eared Grebes (no Red-necked). Gulls were mostly Ring-billed with a dozen or so California Gulls. No black backed gulls and only 1 Herring Gull that I could find.
I had to get to DIA by 6:00am in order for Joe Sizemore to make his flight home. My plan was to then get a couple of hours of sleep (stayed up the whole night before). However, I got a call that 2 swans were spotted at the Pena Park and Ride at 40th avenue and Pena Blvd.
I arrived there a little before sunrise and found two white birds with their heads in their backs. When I exited my car, they looked up and I saw 2 American White Pelicans. Just to be careful, I drove over to nearby Emerald-Strand Park and Lake Crest ponds. No swans were found at either location.
Since I was up, I decided to make a day of it and hit as many local birding spots as possible. The thought being that yesterday's cold front would have brought some interesting birds to Denver. As it turned out, this was not the case. Birding was slow all day.
I drove the DIA Owl loop on my way over to Barr Lake (Adams). Burrowing Owls were found at 0.2 miles north of Tower Road and 56th avenue and at 3.4 miles east of Tower Road and 96th avenue. No hawks were along the route today.
At Barr Lake, I walked around for over 3 hours. Birds were scarce. If European Starlings, Northern Flickers, and waterfowl are discounted, my whole list included 9 Orange-crowned Warblers (banding area), 5 Wilson's Warblers, 2 male Downy Woodpeckers, a Spotted Towhee, 2 House Wrens (one with no tail feathers), a wet Sage Thrasher (banding area) and a MacGillivray's Warbler.
The adult male MacGillivray's Warbler was near mile marker 8.3. He only came out of the trees for brief looks. It took me over 45 minutes to make sure it was not a Mourning Warbler or other rare bird.
There were no birds along the Niedrach Boardwalk trail loop today. The only shorebirds I could find were Killdeer. I did count 5 Snowy Egrets near mile marker 7.8. An adult Herring Gull stood near the boat ramp at mm 7.5.
From Barr Lake, I took I76 west to I70 and Wheat Ridge Greenbelt (Jefferson). Again birding was slow. A Townsend's Warbler was fluttering about along the Tree Bridge trail. Few other birds were about during my hour trek.
Chatfield Reservoir (Jefferson/Douglas) was no busier. I did see a Sabine's Gull flying off to the north of the handicapped fisherperson's dock. Two Common Terns were east of the marina. A walk at Plum Creek Delta only added 1 Townsend's Warbler to my day list. I could not find the Lesser Black-backed Gull reported yesterday by Walbek.
My final stop of the day was Cherry Creek Reservoir (Arapahoe). I figured that if the Long-tailed Jaeger reported yesterday by Petrosky was still there, it would remain all day. As it turned out, I did not find it. I scoped the lake from 6:00pm to 7:15pm (dark) and only found 1 Sabine's Gull (juvenile at eastern end), 1 or 2 Bonaparte's Gulls (middle of lake), and one small "Sterna" tern that was too far away to Identify.
Great Blue Herons were plentiful (21). They out numbered the 17 Snowy Egrets and 2 Great Egrets. Two Blue-winged Teal swam near the jet ski rental area. The only shorebirds were again Killdeer. There were dozens of American White Pelicans and only a few Double-crested Cormorants. Where did the Double-crested Cormorants go this fall? They usually out number pelicans.
There were hundreds of American Coots, about 60 Western Grebes (no Clark's Grebes that I could see), 2 Horned Grebes and 2 Eared Grebes (no Red-necked). Gulls were mostly Ring-billed with a dozen or so California Gulls. No black backed gulls and only 1 Herring Gull that I could find.
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