December 8, 2007
Dave King and I went up to Boulder County to look for Long-eared Owls and Rosy Finches. The roads were bad and we decided not to go up to Allenspark. Only 2 Brown capped Rosy Finches reported, so we did not miss much.
We did manage to hear a Long-eared Owl on private property. May have gotten a glimpse of the shadow as it flew by us. Not very satisfying looks for Dave as a lifebird.
Instead of heading toward Allenspark we searched the old Boulder neighborhoods where Bohemian Waxwings have been reported in the past. We did not have any luck west of Broadway from Foothills Community Park south to Chautauqua Park. In the neighborhood along Paragon Drive, south of Boulder Road we found one Bohemian Waxwing flying around. It never stopped and was not joined by others.
Visibility was bad, so we skipped the many Boulder Reservoirs and headed back east.
On the way over to Barr Lake State Park, we stopped along the S. Platte River at Colorado Blvd & 88th Avenue. Relocated the male Barrow's Goldeneye on the Platte River at about 40 yards south (upstream) of the green/white tower.
A drive around the neighborhoods northeast of Barr Lake (Bromley Lane east to Gun Club Road) did not find any Great-tailed Grackles or Waxwings.
At Barr Lake visibility was poor and little could be seen on the lake. No uncommon sparrows visited the Visitor Center's feeders during an hour watch. A male and 3 female Bobwhites did wander under the feeders. These must be escapees from somewhere.
After a late lunch we checked out LakeCrest, Emerald Strand, and the Airport Park n Ride. The most geese were on the Airport Park n Ride Pond. No Ross's or Greater White fronted Geese.
With about an hour of daylight (rather dim) left, we drove the DIA Owl loop in search of Short eared Owls, what the heck, maybe a Snowy Owl.
None were found, but we found 3 huge flocks of Horned Larks. The flock at 5.2 miles east of Tower Road and 96th Avenue was accompanied by a Snow Bunting! The flock would fly up from the plowed field and weedy field to the west on the south side of the road whenever a car would pass by honking their horn. The area is just east of the only Oil Storage Tank close to the road.
Many of the Horned Larks would land on the road and people would nice enough to honk at them before running them over. The flock also flew to the north side of the road several times.
Two additional huge flocks were not far away by flight. Driving around to see them was several miles. Both flocks were on the east side of same road which twists and turns as it heads east from Tower Road.
Dave King and I went up to Boulder County to look for Long-eared Owls and Rosy Finches. The roads were bad and we decided not to go up to Allenspark. Only 2 Brown capped Rosy Finches reported, so we did not miss much.
We did manage to hear a Long-eared Owl on private property. May have gotten a glimpse of the shadow as it flew by us. Not very satisfying looks for Dave as a lifebird.
Instead of heading toward Allenspark we searched the old Boulder neighborhoods where Bohemian Waxwings have been reported in the past. We did not have any luck west of Broadway from Foothills Community Park south to Chautauqua Park. In the neighborhood along Paragon Drive, south of Boulder Road we found one Bohemian Waxwing flying around. It never stopped and was not joined by others.
Visibility was bad, so we skipped the many Boulder Reservoirs and headed back east.
On the way over to Barr Lake State Park, we stopped along the S. Platte River at Colorado Blvd & 88th Avenue. Relocated the male Barrow's Goldeneye on the Platte River at about 40 yards south (upstream) of the green/white tower.
A drive around the neighborhoods northeast of Barr Lake (Bromley Lane east to Gun Club Road) did not find any Great-tailed Grackles or Waxwings.
At Barr Lake visibility was poor and little could be seen on the lake. No uncommon sparrows visited the Visitor Center's feeders during an hour watch. A male and 3 female Bobwhites did wander under the feeders. These must be escapees from somewhere.
After a late lunch we checked out LakeCrest, Emerald Strand, and the Airport Park n Ride. The most geese were on the Airport Park n Ride Pond. No Ross's or Greater White fronted Geese.
With about an hour of daylight (rather dim) left, we drove the DIA Owl loop in search of Short eared Owls, what the heck, maybe a Snowy Owl.
None were found, but we found 3 huge flocks of Horned Larks. The flock at 5.2 miles east of Tower Road and 96th Avenue was accompanied by a Snow Bunting! The flock would fly up from the plowed field and weedy field to the west on the south side of the road whenever a car would pass by honking their horn. The area is just east of the only Oil Storage Tank close to the road.
Many of the Horned Larks would land on the road and people would nice enough to honk at them before running them over. The flock also flew to the north side of the road several times.
Two additional huge flocks were not far away by flight. Driving around to see them was several miles. Both flocks were on the east side of same road which twists and turns as it heads east from Tower Road.
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