Thursday, November 20, 2014

Additional Visits to Arapahoe County Reservoirs

November 16, 2014

Richard Stevens:

I returned to Aurora Reservoir (Arapahoe County) hoping that the uncommon birds were closer to shore today.  Temperatures were in the low 30s; winds were 10+ mph again.  It felt cold!

Unfortunately birds were again quite far from shore.  I did see three Surf Scoters, a Lesser Black-backed Gull, five Thayer's Gulls, a Bonaparte's Gull, a Greater White-fronted Goose among thousands of White-cheeked Geese, and the Common Loon.

Later I dropped by Cherry Creek Reservoir (Arapahoe).  Conditions were a little better than previous visits.  Temperatures were in the high 20s; winds were 6 mph.  At least the air above the lake was mist/fog free.

I relocated two Common Loons and 14+ Bonaparte's Gulls.  Eared Grebes numbered in the hundreds.  Western Grebe count was less than a couple of dozen.  The Red-throated Loon and Pacific Loons appeared to have moved on to elsewhere?

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