November 19, 2008
Richard Stevens:
Gary Weston and I were at Jackson Reservoir (Morgan County) about an hour before sunrise. Our target birds were owls. Temperatures today were 10+ degrees colder than yesterday and wind much stronger (15-25 mph).
No Short-eared Owls showed at the northwest corner of the park. We could not find any Eastern Screech-Owls in the western campgrounds or along the south shore. We did see a pair of Great Horned Owls at the northern campgrounds and found 2 Long-eared Owls farther south. Also a few Yellow-rumped Warblers and many Robins at the southern campgrounds.
Hunting season is still on and there were a few hunters out there. We skipped the northeast wildlife area and drove north on CR 4. Several flocks of Horned Larks were accompanied by half a dozen Lapland Longspurs.
After returning to Denver, I drove over to Cherry Creek Reservoir (Arapahoe) to end my birding day. It was not as comfortable (60 degrees, 20+ mph winds) than yesterday's (78 degrees, calm winds).
I did not circle the whole park but stayed mostly at the Bird Observation Platform at the Cottonwood Creek Loop. With the lack of boats (only 2, compared to 23 yesterday) the gulls and waterfowl were scattered across the lake and not grouped at the bird platform as yesterday.
The Bonaparte's Gull count was 9 among only several hundred Ring-billed Gulls and a few California Gulls. The Lesser Black-backed Gull if still around never came into view.
Both the pair of Pacific Loons and pair of Common Loons eventually came into view but not as the same time as yesterday. I was there 2 hours before finding the Long-tailed Duck in the high waves. Today it stayed mainly off the east side of the Lake Loop. The Black Scoter was never found.
To escape the wind for a few minutes, I walked over to the footbridge over the inlet canal. It only took two minutes to find a Virginia Rail walking the muddy shore (north of the bridge). I watched it for 20 minutes and returned to the bird platform.
On the way back, I ran into a flock of 9 American Tree Sparrows, 3 White-crowned Sparrows, and 2 Song Sparrows.
My birding day ended under another colorful fall sunset!
Richard Stevens:
Gary Weston and I were at Jackson Reservoir (Morgan County) about an hour before sunrise. Our target birds were owls. Temperatures today were 10+ degrees colder than yesterday and wind much stronger (15-25 mph).
No Short-eared Owls showed at the northwest corner of the park. We could not find any Eastern Screech-Owls in the western campgrounds or along the south shore. We did see a pair of Great Horned Owls at the northern campgrounds and found 2 Long-eared Owls farther south. Also a few Yellow-rumped Warblers and many Robins at the southern campgrounds.
Hunting season is still on and there were a few hunters out there. We skipped the northeast wildlife area and drove north on CR 4. Several flocks of Horned Larks were accompanied by half a dozen Lapland Longspurs.
After returning to Denver, I drove over to Cherry Creek Reservoir (Arapahoe) to end my birding day. It was not as comfortable (60 degrees, 20+ mph winds) than yesterday's (78 degrees, calm winds).
I did not circle the whole park but stayed mostly at the Bird Observation Platform at the Cottonwood Creek Loop. With the lack of boats (only 2, compared to 23 yesterday) the gulls and waterfowl were scattered across the lake and not grouped at the bird platform as yesterday.
The Bonaparte's Gull count was 9 among only several hundred Ring-billed Gulls and a few California Gulls. The Lesser Black-backed Gull if still around never came into view.
Both the pair of Pacific Loons and pair of Common Loons eventually came into view but not as the same time as yesterday. I was there 2 hours before finding the Long-tailed Duck in the high waves. Today it stayed mainly off the east side of the Lake Loop. The Black Scoter was never found.
To escape the wind for a few minutes, I walked over to the footbridge over the inlet canal. It only took two minutes to find a Virginia Rail walking the muddy shore (north of the bridge). I watched it for 20 minutes and returned to the bird platform.
On the way back, I ran into a flock of 9 American Tree Sparrows, 3 White-crowned Sparrows, and 2 Song Sparrows.
My birding day ended under another colorful fall sunset!
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