Monday, December 28, 2009

Gull Search in Arapahoe County

December 26, 2009

Richard Stevens:

I returned to Aurora Reservoir (Arapahoe County) just before sunrise. Gulls were again grouped below the eastern end of the dam and at the swim beach. There was too much snow (besides being quite cold) to walk the complete 8.0 mile bike path that circles the reservoir.

An adult and 1st cycle Thayer's Gull stood on the ice below the east end of the dam. Fourteen Herring Gulls, two California Gulls, and hundreds of Ring-billed Gulls were with them. It required over 1.5 hours to find the Thayer's Gulls as all of the gulls appeared to hunker together for safety or warmth?

Hundreds of Ring-billed Gulls were at the swim beach. I scoped the group for 45 minutes. If the Mew Gull was there, I could not pick it out of the horde of Ring-billed Gulls. At least 3 Herring Gulls and a California Gull were there also.

Among the thousands of White-cheeked Geese (mostly Canada Geese) out on the reservoir, I was able to pick out a Ross's Goose and 7 Snow Geese. If the Greater White-fronted Geese were still out there, I could not pick them out.

While finding a Mew Gull across the lake was beyond my equipment's abilities, I am pretty sure that if the Glaucous Gull was still around, I would have been able to see it looming over the smaller gulls.

Many gulls fly north to DADS (Denver Arapahoe Disposal Site) for the day. The uncommon gulls could still be around, just not during my 4 hour stay.

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