January 20, 2008
I had to get out of the house today and decided to hike the S. Platte River at 88th avenue.
The Long-tailed Duck seen on 1/12 was not expected to still be around. The single digit temperatures at night shrunk any open water in the lakes along the river. In fact, there were only small open water areas at East Gravel Lake and the northern West Gravel Lake.
I hiked from 88th avenue to Highway 224. Then hiked Clear Creek from the confluence with the Platte River to the east to Washington Avenue (and back). In the past, several nice flocks of sparrows wintered along Clear Creek. Only one flock of 7 American Tree Sparrows, 2 Song Sparrows, and 3 White-crowned Sparrows was found today.
The return trip to my car did not add anything uncommon. There are many ducks wintering on the Platte; the only uncommon one seen was again the male Barrow's Goldeneye (around the green & white tower, about 1.0 miles south of 88th avenue).
Hawk count was 2 Red-tailed Hawks and a Prairie Falcon. A Northern Shrike was on the east side of the Platte River about 20 yards north of the confluence with Clear Creek.
I will have to check the numbers; in my mind the duck count is down from past years. With the surrounding lakes frozen, I would expect most of the area ducks to be on the river (thus giving a good count).
My next stop was the subdivision of homes northeast of Bromley Road & Gun Club Road (Brighton Van-Aire Estates, Adams County). A flock of 50+ Bohemian Waxwings were first found at the southwest corner of 157th Avenue and Duquesne Circle. When I left, they were at the northern end of Duquesne Circle.
My final stop of the day was to look for Short-eared Owls at Banner Lakes Wildlife Area (Weld). None showed up this evening. I could pick out 2 or 3 American Tree Sparrows, just about it. Oh, one Red-tailed Hawk, two Rough legged Hawks and one Northern Harrier.
I had to get out of the house today and decided to hike the S. Platte River at 88th avenue.
The Long-tailed Duck seen on 1/12 was not expected to still be around. The single digit temperatures at night shrunk any open water in the lakes along the river. In fact, there were only small open water areas at East Gravel Lake and the northern West Gravel Lake.
I hiked from 88th avenue to Highway 224. Then hiked Clear Creek from the confluence with the Platte River to the east to Washington Avenue (and back). In the past, several nice flocks of sparrows wintered along Clear Creek. Only one flock of 7 American Tree Sparrows, 2 Song Sparrows, and 3 White-crowned Sparrows was found today.
The return trip to my car did not add anything uncommon. There are many ducks wintering on the Platte; the only uncommon one seen was again the male Barrow's Goldeneye (around the green & white tower, about 1.0 miles south of 88th avenue).
Hawk count was 2 Red-tailed Hawks and a Prairie Falcon. A Northern Shrike was on the east side of the Platte River about 20 yards north of the confluence with Clear Creek.
I will have to check the numbers; in my mind the duck count is down from past years. With the surrounding lakes frozen, I would expect most of the area ducks to be on the river (thus giving a good count).
My next stop was the subdivision of homes northeast of Bromley Road & Gun Club Road (Brighton Van-Aire Estates, Adams County). A flock of 50+ Bohemian Waxwings were first found at the southwest corner of 157th Avenue and Duquesne Circle. When I left, they were at the northern end of Duquesne Circle.
My final stop of the day was to look for Short-eared Owls at Banner Lakes Wildlife Area (Weld). None showed up this evening. I could pick out 2 or 3 American Tree Sparrows, just about it. Oh, one Red-tailed Hawk, two Rough legged Hawks and one Northern Harrier.
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