Monday, February 11, 2008

Birding in Boulder County

February 10, 2008

Rebecca Kosten & I enjoyed a great day of birding in Boulder County.

Our first stop was McIntosh Lake in Longmont. On the way there, we encountered a flock of 80+ Bohemian Waxwings along 17th avenue just east of Lakeshore Drive. We drove around the lake but did not find any additional waxwings around the park.

From there we drove south along Airport Road to Mountain View Drive, then east to Columbia Street. Along Columbia Street we found about 400+ Bohemian Waxwings. Many of them eventually flew north. We relocated them along Baylor Street (just south of Pratt Park). The numbers had grown to 600+. Photos on CoBus website.

The Bohemian Waxwings entertained us for an hour as they came down to the ground and ate snow and crabapples that had fallen from the trees.

Our next stop was Fairground Park (Hover & Rogers Roads). White-cheeked Geese were coming and going. A Greater White-fronted Goose was with one of the flocks.

After lunch, we stopped at Thomas Reservoir. Here we observed an adult Lesser Black-backed Gull among 500 Ring-billed Gulls and a few Herring Gulls. After a time, most of them took off in the direction of Erie Landfill.

Our next stop of the day was Valmont Reservoir. We again enjoyed success here. An adult Great Black-backed Gull came by briefly. Two Lesser Black-backed Gulls were among several hundred gulls. We also could pick out at least 1 adult and 1 1st cycle Thayer's Gulls. The prize however was the gull that has been called a 1st year Iceland Gull!

We stopped at the Bobolink Trail in Boulder to search for an Eastern Screech-Owl which I had seen on a previous trip. Unfortunately, it did not respond to my recording this evening.

At our final stop of the day, Mesa South Trailhead, we again searched for Eastern Screech-Owls. None could be enticed to show this day.

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