Thursday, November 24, 2011

Birding Some Metro Denver Lakes

November 20, 2011

Richard Stevens:

I began with a late start to birding today. What another wonderful day of weather in Colorado. Temperatures in the 60s; winds were mild.

On a drive through Cherry Creek State Park (Arapahoe County), I stopped at the Rowing Club. There was no sign of yesterday's Harris's Sparrow or Long-eared Owl. Several Bonaparte's Gulls flew along the Lake Loop's shore.

A Red-necked Grebe swam close to a raft of Western Grebes in the middle of the lake. American White Pelicans have appeared to abandon the lake. It looks to be a little early this year?

A Greater White-fronted Goose accompanied several hundred White-cheeked Geese at the southwest picnic area (tables with gull wings as covers).

I arrived at Lakecrest (Denver County) at approximately 3:00 pm. Thousands of White-cheeked Geese were again swimming on the lake. (They tend to fly off around 3:30 or 4:00 pm to feed in nearby fields). Five Greater White-fronted Geese and a Ross's Goose were amongst the horde.

Three Snow Geese were the biggest geese on the lake. Truly, this indicates that thousands of Cackling Geese were out there!

My birding day concluded at Barr Lake (Adams). From the boat ramp, I could see two juvenile Tundra Swans in the southeast corner (below the dam).

Scoping the north edge of the lake added 2 Common Loons and a Pacific Loon to my day list.

A Ross's Goose was with many White-cheeked Geese at the Niedrach Trail.

Been without internet access for awhile now. Catching up on some interesting birding times the past nine days.

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