Wednesday, December 4, 2013

Search for Dusky Grouse in Jefferson County and Barrow's Goldeneyes in Adams County

December 3, 2013

Richard Stevens:

On the way to pick up some birders near the foothills, Bryan Ehlmann and I made a quick stop at Aurora Reservoir (Arapahoe County).  A Lesser Black-backed Gull and the possible Glaucous-winged Gull were the only uncommon gulls found.

Nate Williams, Karl Clark, Billy Blake and I made a good effort to find Dusky Grouse at Reynolds Park later this morning.  Temperatures were 20 degrees colder than yesterday (in the 40s) and winds 10+ mph, gusts to 21 mph.

We made the whole circuit (Raven's Roost to Eagle's View to Oxen Draw to Elkhorn trails.  No sign of any Dusky Grouse, one can only give it a good try.

A female American Three-toed Woodpecker crossed Oxen Draw trail just north of the Eagle's View/Raven's Roost intersection.  Three species of nuthatches, one Brown Creeper, four Red Crossbills and Pine Siskins were also seen.

After dropping them off at their motel, I decided to hike the South Platte River from 88th and Colorado Blvd to Highway 224 and back (east side of Platte south, cross over and west side back to 88th). 

There was a report of eleven Barrow's Goldeneyes on the Platte River yesterday.  Eventually I found four male and one female Barrow's Goldeneyes.  Three males were on the Platte River and a pair of Barrow's Goldeneyes was on East Gravel Lakes.

Other interesting birds observed included a Golden Eagle, Prairie Falcon, two Red-tailed Hawks and a Northern Shrike.

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