Wednesday, November 26, 2014

Cherry Creek Reservoir in a Snowstorm

November 24

Richard Stevens:

Chores kept me busy until late afternoon.  I arrived at Cherry Creek Reservoir (Arapahoe County) at 4:10 pm.  A drive through a mini blizzard almost turned me around, however, the sun shone through the clouds at 4:15 to 4:28 pm.

The sunlight lit up the large raft of ducks in the middle of the lake.  I was able to pick out the White-winged Scoter and a dozen Bonaparte's Gulls before sunlight was lost.  If the Long-tailed Duck was out there, I could not find it.  For the first time since 11/2, no Common Loons were spotted.  Best viewing point was off the Lake Loop.

Temperature was 38 degrees at 4:15 pm.  Anemometer readings were steady at 12 mph.  It felt cold.

NOTE: After looking at the 200 digital photos I took, I notice that I had captured a Red-necked Grebe in three of them.  The camera has helped in finding gulls also.  I just take shots of as many groups of gulls as possible and examine the photos later.  A large white Gull turned out to be a Glaucous Gull and not a Herring Gull as I had expected.  Captured shots of two Lesser Black-backed Gulls and a Gull looking good for a Thayer's Gull.

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