December 24, 2010
Richard Stevens:
I had to be at the Denver Tech Center (Arapahoe) early in the morning. The route just happened to pass Cherry Creek Reservoir (Arapahoe) at sunrise. Therefore, I decided to arrive about an hour before sunrise and search for Short-eared Owls at the cattail fields just west of where the main road crosses Cherry Creek. Unfortunately, none appeared this morning.
Then I scoped the lake for gulls. First from the Lake Loop and then from the swim beach. About 90 percent of the lake was ice covered this morning. Nine Bald Eagles already stood on the ice at 7:30 am. Less than 10 gulls were found.
I had to conclude that the gulls had not returned from their nightly roost (Aurora Reservoir? or where?). While looking for uncommon gulls, I received a call that the birder I was to meet had missed their flight and was not in Denver.
Not to waste a trip, I headed to Aurora Reservoir. Hundreds of gulls stood on the swim beach. An adult Lesser Black-backed Gull was among them.
Aurora Reservoir is deeper than Cherry Creek Reservoir and Chatfield Reservoir and therefore freezes over later than most lakes in Denver. It was 90 percent ice free this morning.
I took the next four hours to circle the 8.8 miles around the lake. Three Ross's Geese and a Greater White-fronted Goose were found among hundreds of White-cheeked Geese.
Later, I stopped at Barr Lake (Adams) on my way home. The White-throated Sparrow came to the back of the Visitor's Center; the Harris's Sparrow never did show. The White-throated Sparrow never came below the feeders west of the Visitor's Center. It only flew below the two small bushes at the right corner (southwest corner) of the building. Half a dozen or so White-crowned Sparrows, 2 Song Sparrows and 1 American Tree Sparrow did grab seeds below the feeders.
Several hundred Great-tailed Grackles were at the Picadilly Tree Nursery feedlot. Rebecca and I drove the DIA Owl Loop and roads southeast of Trussville Street and 114th avenue. We counted 35,000+ Horned Larks, 2 Lapland Longspurs and a Snow Bunting. The question of whether we were on public roads came up; since we do not know, I am not reporting this to the cobirders group. No Short-eared Owls showed after sunset along the DIA Owl Loop.
Richard Stevens:
I had to be at the Denver Tech Center (Arapahoe) early in the morning. The route just happened to pass Cherry Creek Reservoir (Arapahoe) at sunrise. Therefore, I decided to arrive about an hour before sunrise and search for Short-eared Owls at the cattail fields just west of where the main road crosses Cherry Creek. Unfortunately, none appeared this morning.
Then I scoped the lake for gulls. First from the Lake Loop and then from the swim beach. About 90 percent of the lake was ice covered this morning. Nine Bald Eagles already stood on the ice at 7:30 am. Less than 10 gulls were found.
I had to conclude that the gulls had not returned from their nightly roost (Aurora Reservoir? or where?). While looking for uncommon gulls, I received a call that the birder I was to meet had missed their flight and was not in Denver.
Not to waste a trip, I headed to Aurora Reservoir. Hundreds of gulls stood on the swim beach. An adult Lesser Black-backed Gull was among them.
Aurora Reservoir is deeper than Cherry Creek Reservoir and Chatfield Reservoir and therefore freezes over later than most lakes in Denver. It was 90 percent ice free this morning.
I took the next four hours to circle the 8.8 miles around the lake. Three Ross's Geese and a Greater White-fronted Goose were found among hundreds of White-cheeked Geese.
Later, I stopped at Barr Lake (Adams) on my way home. The White-throated Sparrow came to the back of the Visitor's Center; the Harris's Sparrow never did show. The White-throated Sparrow never came below the feeders west of the Visitor's Center. It only flew below the two small bushes at the right corner (southwest corner) of the building. Half a dozen or so White-crowned Sparrows, 2 Song Sparrows and 1 American Tree Sparrow did grab seeds below the feeders.
Several hundred Great-tailed Grackles were at the Picadilly Tree Nursery feedlot. Rebecca and I drove the DIA Owl Loop and roads southeast of Trussville Street and 114th avenue. We counted 35,000+ Horned Larks, 2 Lapland Longspurs and a Snow Bunting. The question of whether we were on public roads came up; since we do not know, I am not reporting this to the cobirders group. No Short-eared Owls showed after sunset along the DIA Owl Loop.
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