December 10, 2010
Richard Stevens:
Jacob Washburn and I visited several local reservoirs today. Temperatures were in the 50s, winds mild at first but gained speed as the day continued.
At Barr Lake (Adams County) we first scoped the lake from east of the boat ramp. The only uncommon Gull was the possible Iceland Gull reported yesterday by Bryan and Sue Ehlmann. It stood next to Herring, California and Ring-billed Gulls, which allowed a good size comparison.
There were several hundred geese, but not the numbers of last week. We could see at least two Ross's Geese and half a dozen Snow Geese. No Greater White-fronted Geese were picked out.
Then we drove around to the northwest side (mile marker 4.5) and walked to the southwest end where hundreds of gulls were on the shore. Unfortunately, no uncommon gulls were among them.
Our next stop was Aurora Reservoir (Arapahoe) where we decided to hike the 8.7 miles around the lake. Halfway around the wind picked up to 14+ mph with gusts to 22 mph. This created large waves, which made seeing, and identifying the hundreds of ducks close to impossible.
We did see dozens of Ruddy Ducks, American Coots, Ring-necked Ducks and Western Grebes. No scoters or other uncommon ducks were found.
Geese numbers were in the thousands. They kept coming in flight after flight during out 4 hour trek. At least a dozen Ross's Geese and several dozen Snow Geese could be picked out only because of their white color. If a Brant was among the horde, it went unnoticed.
Finally, at mile marker 7.5, we found two Greater White-fronted Geese! Could have been much more, however the geese were so close together that identification was quite difficult.
As for songbirds, we counted 19 American Tree Sparrows, 7 Song Sparrows and 4 White-crowned Sparrows. Not much else.
As for gulls, we passed hundreds. An adult Lesser Black-backed Gull was the only uncommon Gull found.
We ended our Gull searching day at Cherry Creek Reservoir (Arapahoe). The Iceland Gull reported yesterday by Glenn Walbek was with hundreds of gulls flying over a school of fish off the southwest marina.
We also picked out at least one Mew Gull, a Thayer's Gull and Lesser Black-backed Gull! With common gulls Herring, Ring-billed and California, it was a seven Gull afternoon!
Richard Stevens:
Jacob Washburn and I visited several local reservoirs today. Temperatures were in the 50s, winds mild at first but gained speed as the day continued.
At Barr Lake (Adams County) we first scoped the lake from east of the boat ramp. The only uncommon Gull was the possible Iceland Gull reported yesterday by Bryan and Sue Ehlmann. It stood next to Herring, California and Ring-billed Gulls, which allowed a good size comparison.
There were several hundred geese, but not the numbers of last week. We could see at least two Ross's Geese and half a dozen Snow Geese. No Greater White-fronted Geese were picked out.
Then we drove around to the northwest side (mile marker 4.5) and walked to the southwest end where hundreds of gulls were on the shore. Unfortunately, no uncommon gulls were among them.
Our next stop was Aurora Reservoir (Arapahoe) where we decided to hike the 8.7 miles around the lake. Halfway around the wind picked up to 14+ mph with gusts to 22 mph. This created large waves, which made seeing, and identifying the hundreds of ducks close to impossible.
We did see dozens of Ruddy Ducks, American Coots, Ring-necked Ducks and Western Grebes. No scoters or other uncommon ducks were found.
Geese numbers were in the thousands. They kept coming in flight after flight during out 4 hour trek. At least a dozen Ross's Geese and several dozen Snow Geese could be picked out only because of their white color. If a Brant was among the horde, it went unnoticed.
Finally, at mile marker 7.5, we found two Greater White-fronted Geese! Could have been much more, however the geese were so close together that identification was quite difficult.
As for songbirds, we counted 19 American Tree Sparrows, 7 Song Sparrows and 4 White-crowned Sparrows. Not much else.
As for gulls, we passed hundreds. An adult Lesser Black-backed Gull was the only uncommon Gull found.
We ended our Gull searching day at Cherry Creek Reservoir (Arapahoe). The Iceland Gull reported yesterday by Glenn Walbek was with hundreds of gulls flying over a school of fish off the southwest marina.
We also picked out at least one Mew Gull, a Thayer's Gull and Lesser Black-backed Gull! With common gulls Herring, Ring-billed and California, it was a seven Gull afternoon!
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