January 21, 2008
Rebecca Kosten & I were going to head to Lafayette and Greenlee Preserve and look for the Swamp Sparrow. At the last minute the single digit temperatures and falling snow changed our minds. Instead we drove back to the Highline Canal at Dahlia Street (parking area south of Quincy Avenue, Arapahoe County).
As soon as we stepped out of the car, we could see 70+ Bohemian Waxwings in Buckthorn bushes along the canal and about 50 yards north of the footbridge. At least 4 Cedar Waxwings were also observed in the flock once we were close enough to ID them.
We continued our hike north to Quincy Avenue, stopping several times to look for the Northern Mockingbird. It was never found. We did run into a local birder who had seen the Northern Mockingbird on 1/19. It was along the canal and just east of the Margie Woods bench (midpoint of the wildlife pond, about 900 yards north of the Dahlia parking area).
A flock of 12+ Cedar Waxwings were eating Buckthorn berries between the two houses just south of Quincy. The local birder also mentioned that a large flock of Bohemian Waxwings were drinking from her gutters earlier this morning. It sounded as if there were more Bohemian Waxwings than we had observed further south?
We did find one of the Eastern Screech-Owls on the return trip to our vehicle.
It was pretty cold. About 9 degrees plus whatever the 10+ mph wind added. So we only stood at the north side of the wildlife pond for about 10 minutes. In that time we saw 3 Spotted Towhees, 7 White-crowned Sparrows, 1 White-throated Sparrow, 1 Song Sparrow, a dozen House Finches, and 2 Northern Flickers. It was just too cold to stay longer.
When we returned to the Dahlia parking area, the Bohemian Waxwings had moved about 50 yards south of the bridge. The "old mockingbird spot" near the Kent School sign has virtually been stripped of Buckthorn berries. Bushes further north and south still have plenty of berries. The Mockingbird and Waxwings should stay in the vicinity.
Rebecca Kosten & I were going to head to Lafayette and Greenlee Preserve and look for the Swamp Sparrow. At the last minute the single digit temperatures and falling snow changed our minds. Instead we drove back to the Highline Canal at Dahlia Street (parking area south of Quincy Avenue, Arapahoe County).
As soon as we stepped out of the car, we could see 70+ Bohemian Waxwings in Buckthorn bushes along the canal and about 50 yards north of the footbridge. At least 4 Cedar Waxwings were also observed in the flock once we were close enough to ID them.
We continued our hike north to Quincy Avenue, stopping several times to look for the Northern Mockingbird. It was never found. We did run into a local birder who had seen the Northern Mockingbird on 1/19. It was along the canal and just east of the Margie Woods bench (midpoint of the wildlife pond, about 900 yards north of the Dahlia parking area).
A flock of 12+ Cedar Waxwings were eating Buckthorn berries between the two houses just south of Quincy. The local birder also mentioned that a large flock of Bohemian Waxwings were drinking from her gutters earlier this morning. It sounded as if there were more Bohemian Waxwings than we had observed further south?
We did find one of the Eastern Screech-Owls on the return trip to our vehicle.
It was pretty cold. About 9 degrees plus whatever the 10+ mph wind added. So we only stood at the north side of the wildlife pond for about 10 minutes. In that time we saw 3 Spotted Towhees, 7 White-crowned Sparrows, 1 White-throated Sparrow, 1 Song Sparrow, a dozen House Finches, and 2 Northern Flickers. It was just too cold to stay longer.
When we returned to the Dahlia parking area, the Bohemian Waxwings had moved about 50 yards south of the bridge. The "old mockingbird spot" near the Kent School sign has virtually been stripped of Buckthorn berries. Bushes further north and south still have plenty of berries. The Mockingbird and Waxwings should stay in the vicinity.
We ended our birding day back at Lakecrest (northeast of Chambers &
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