Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Cherry Creek Reservoir and Rocky Mountain Arsenal

August 13, 2010

Richard Stevens:

After owling all night Thursday and not getting home until noon, I needed a few hours of sleep. Woke up at 4:00 pm and read about the Little Blue Heron report at Cherry Creek Reservoir. I drove over and found 4 Snowy Egrets at the Cottonwood Creek Loop. With the high cattails, not all of the wetlands can be seen. Although I suspect a mis-calculation on the Little Blue Herons. Close inspection is required to separate juvenile Little Blue Herons from Snowy Egrets.

I walked over to the Bellevue Wetlands (new wetlands east of the model airplane field). The water here is quite high, not much shore. One Solitary Sandpiper walked the little bit of exposed land.

Fourteen additional Snowy Egrets were found at the southeastern sand spit of the lake proper. When I approached for a closer look at the egrets, another Solitary Sandpiper was seen.

Rebecca Kosten was waiting at Rocky Mountain Arsenal and I had to leave. We biked outside the eastern side (Buckley Road from 56th to 88th avenue).

Burrowing Owl count was down to 3 owls (2 in Denver County, 1 Adams). Swainson's Hawk count was 9 including one intermediate adult. American Kestrels 5 and 1 Ferruginous Hawk.

Movement of birds was quite evident. We saw 287 Common Grackles, 160+ Red-winged Blackbirds and 51 Western Kingbirds.

Three Sage Thrashers were around the fenced in pipe line near the cement barrier about halfway along the trip. Other birds included 1 Loggerhead Shrike, 1 House Wren, 3+ Grasshopper Sparrows, 1 first year Bullock's Oriole, 1 adult Black-headed Grosbeak, 21 Horned Larks and 1 Song Sparrow.

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