December 10, 2008
Richard Stevens:
I enjoyed a long day of birding as the weather improved with calm winds and temperatures near 50. That is nice thing about Colorado's weather, snow one day, warm and sunny the next!
My first stop today was a return to Overland Pond Park (Denver County) to give the Pine Warbler another shot; again without success. Thousands of White-cheeked Geese were across the street on Overland Golf Course. A Greater White-fronted Goose was among them.
A coyote and I watched the geese for 30 minutes and then I headed to nearby Marston Reservoir (Denver). I scoped the lake from the east side (not the best vantage point as the sun was toward the southwest). Three Common Loons were still out there; but I was not able to find the Tundra Swans or Greater Scaup that I found Saturday.
I drove through Fort Logan National Cemetery to find Memorial and Veteran's Lakes slush and ice covered. Very few ducks and geese were on them. A pair of Buffleheads was on Memorial Lake.
My next stop was the Highline Canal at Dahlia. Last year hundreds of Bohemian Waxwings roamed the canal lined with Buckthorn Berry bushes. I have been putting off this trip waiting for more wintry weather, assuming the birds would then come to eat at this huge food source.
As it turned out, I was two weeks late. Local birders said that birds had eaten the berries earlier. About 90 percent of the berries were now gone. However, they had not seen any waxwings in the mix of House Finches and Robins.
The homes just south of the Highline Canal and East Quincy Avenue have feeders which attract many birds. In past years White-throated Sparrows and Harris's Sparrows have been found below their feeders. None were around today.
The highlight of the trip was watching two White-breasted Nuthatches take Pinon Nuts from the feeders and "hide" their bounty in the bark and holes in the surrounding cottonwoods. They worked arduously at their task.
Meanwhile 4-5 Black-capped Chickadees watched from neighboring limbs and would fly over and retrieve the nuts when the nuthatches went back for more! Even a Northern Flicker got into the act and fetched some easy food.
A pair of Spotted Towhees, a Townsend's Solitaire, and a male Red-breasted Nuthatch were also observed along the hike from E. Quincy Avenue to the parking area at the end of Dahlia Street. I even found a flock of 5 Cedar Waxwings not far from Dahlia.
My final stop of the day was Cherry Creek Reservoir (Arapahoe). Unfortunately I arrived only an hour before sunset; not near enough time to scope the whole reservoir.
Birding was great as many gulls and waterfowl had arrived since the snowstorm. I never made it to the east end to scope the hundreds of gulls there and to see if last weekends Dunlins were still around; perhaps tomorrow?
When the sandbar at the southwest corner was scoped, I found a Glaucous Gull among dozens of Herring, California, and Ring-billed Gulls. I had planned to return later and walk down the road below the dam and take photos; unfortunately I never made it back before dark. Jerry Petrosky had shown up and I pointed out the Glaucous Gull to him before we headed over to the Bird Observation Platform at the Cottonwood Creek Loop.
From the Bird Platform we found 9+ Bonaparte's Gulls and an adult Lesser Black-backed Gull among dozens of Herring, California, and Ring-billed Gulls standing on the ice just off shore. We checked the snowy mud flats for the Dunlin; they were not there.
It appeared that the Long-tailed Duck was across the lake below the handicapped fisherperson's dock. Later I drove pass there and found it diving there!
Jerry had to leave and I headed over to the dam as thousands of gulls and ducks were just off shore. There must have been a large school of fish for hundreds of Common Mergansers, other ducks and gulls circled below the parking area.
At least 2 Red-breasted Mergansers were among them. A strange duck whose silhouette looked somewhat like a female merganser but half the size was also found. There were so many mergansers that getting clear looks at it or any bird was difficult.
The light was bad as I was on the north side looking into the southwest setting sun. Also I only got 2 looks for about 4 or 5 seconds. The bird easily could have been a Red-necked Grebe. It was not an Eared or Horned Grebe. Guess I will never know.
While watching the hundreds of swimming and flying gulls, I noticed a small Gull. At first I thought it could be a tern as it was quite small. It did not look like a Bonaparte's Gulls, but rather a Little Gull. I watched it until the light was so poor that identification was impossible. Hopefully someone will find this bird tomorrow.
Richard Stevens:
I enjoyed a long day of birding as the weather improved with calm winds and temperatures near 50. That is nice thing about Colorado's weather, snow one day, warm and sunny the next!
My first stop today was a return to Overland Pond Park (Denver County) to give the Pine Warbler another shot; again without success. Thousands of White-cheeked Geese were across the street on Overland Golf Course. A Greater White-fronted Goose was among them.
A coyote and I watched the geese for 30 minutes and then I headed to nearby Marston Reservoir (Denver). I scoped the lake from the east side (not the best vantage point as the sun was toward the southwest). Three Common Loons were still out there; but I was not able to find the Tundra Swans or Greater Scaup that I found Saturday.
I drove through Fort Logan National Cemetery to find Memorial and Veteran's Lakes slush and ice covered. Very few ducks and geese were on them. A pair of Buffleheads was on Memorial Lake.
My next stop was the Highline Canal at Dahlia. Last year hundreds of Bohemian Waxwings roamed the canal lined with Buckthorn Berry bushes. I have been putting off this trip waiting for more wintry weather, assuming the birds would then come to eat at this huge food source.
As it turned out, I was two weeks late. Local birders said that birds had eaten the berries earlier. About 90 percent of the berries were now gone. However, they had not seen any waxwings in the mix of House Finches and Robins.
The homes just south of the Highline Canal and East Quincy Avenue have feeders which attract many birds. In past years White-throated Sparrows and Harris's Sparrows have been found below their feeders. None were around today.
The highlight of the trip was watching two White-breasted Nuthatches take Pinon Nuts from the feeders and "hide" their bounty in the bark and holes in the surrounding cottonwoods. They worked arduously at their task.
Meanwhile 4-5 Black-capped Chickadees watched from neighboring limbs and would fly over and retrieve the nuts when the nuthatches went back for more! Even a Northern Flicker got into the act and fetched some easy food.
A pair of Spotted Towhees, a Townsend's Solitaire, and a male Red-breasted Nuthatch were also observed along the hike from E. Quincy Avenue to the parking area at the end of Dahlia Street. I even found a flock of 5 Cedar Waxwings not far from Dahlia.
My final stop of the day was Cherry Creek Reservoir (Arapahoe). Unfortunately I arrived only an hour before sunset; not near enough time to scope the whole reservoir.
Birding was great as many gulls and waterfowl had arrived since the snowstorm. I never made it to the east end to scope the hundreds of gulls there and to see if last weekends Dunlins were still around; perhaps tomorrow?
When the sandbar at the southwest corner was scoped, I found a Glaucous Gull among dozens of Herring, California, and Ring-billed Gulls. I had planned to return later and walk down the road below the dam and take photos; unfortunately I never made it back before dark. Jerry Petrosky had shown up and I pointed out the Glaucous Gull to him before we headed over to the Bird Observation Platform at the Cottonwood Creek Loop.
From the Bird Platform we found 9+ Bonaparte's Gulls and an adult Lesser Black-backed Gull among dozens of Herring, California, and Ring-billed Gulls standing on the ice just off shore. We checked the snowy mud flats for the Dunlin; they were not there.
It appeared that the Long-tailed Duck was across the lake below the handicapped fisherperson's dock. Later I drove pass there and found it diving there!
Jerry had to leave and I headed over to the dam as thousands of gulls and ducks were just off shore. There must have been a large school of fish for hundreds of Common Mergansers, other ducks and gulls circled below the parking area.
At least 2 Red-breasted Mergansers were among them. A strange duck whose silhouette looked somewhat like a female merganser but half the size was also found. There were so many mergansers that getting clear looks at it or any bird was difficult.
The light was bad as I was on the north side looking into the southwest setting sun. Also I only got 2 looks for about 4 or 5 seconds. The bird easily could have been a Red-necked Grebe. It was not an Eared or Horned Grebe. Guess I will never know.
While watching the hundreds of swimming and flying gulls, I noticed a small Gull. At first I thought it could be a tern as it was quite small. It did not look like a Bonaparte's Gulls, but rather a Little Gull. I watched it until the light was so poor that identification was impossible. Hopefully someone will find this bird tomorrow.
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