March 8, 2015
Richard Stevens:
I returned to the South Platte River at McKay Street today. The South Platte was higher than yesterday; several of the "sandbars" were now under water. I walked the south side of the River from McKay to 104th Street and back. Sparrows between the River and the Pond to the south (300 yards east of McKay) included 165 White-crowned Sparrows, 14 Song Sparrows and my first Lincoln's Sparrow of 2015.
I scoped the northern shore of the Platte River carefully. On the return trip, the Dunlin was found! An outlet for the lake to the north is a hundred yards east of McKay. Twenty feet east of this overflow outlet is a small white branch about four feet long lying horizontal. The Dunlin was on a flat rock five feet east of this branch.
Unfortunately, my cell phone battery died and I was not able to call anyone. The time was 5:17 pm. My arrival had been planned for 4:00 pm as it appeared the most previous sightings were at 4:30 pm (yesterday's time, 5:30 pm today, as we started daylight savings time.
Several photos were put on the Colorado Birding Society's website "favorite photos" link.
Afterwards I drove over to the DIA Owl Loop. The Burrowing Owl was not out/around when I arrived. Several birders were going to continue to search. I was hosting a party on my ranch tonight and could not stay to see if any Short-eared Owls would appear. Last party I hosted I never showed up. Rebecca strongly suggested that I make this one for sure :-)
What a fantastic winter day it is. Temperatures in the high 50s and little wind!
I forgot to mention yesterday, the Iceland Gull at McKay Lakes was not the same one I photographed at Aurora Reservoir on 2/28/2015. The McKay bird was darker.
I returned to the South Platte River at McKay Street today. The South Platte was higher than yesterday; several of the "sandbars" were now under water. I walked the south side of the River from McKay to 104th Street and back. Sparrows between the River and the Pond to the south (300 yards east of McKay) included 165 White-crowned Sparrows, 14 Song Sparrows and my first Lincoln's Sparrow of 2015.
I scoped the northern shore of the Platte River carefully. On the return trip, the Dunlin was found! An outlet for the lake to the north is a hundred yards east of McKay. Twenty feet east of this overflow outlet is a small white branch about four feet long lying horizontal. The Dunlin was on a flat rock five feet east of this branch.
Unfortunately, my cell phone battery died and I was not able to call anyone. The time was 5:17 pm. My arrival had been planned for 4:00 pm as it appeared the most previous sightings were at 4:30 pm (yesterday's time, 5:30 pm today, as we started daylight savings time.
Several photos were put on the Colorado Birding Society's website "favorite photos" link.
Afterwards I drove over to the DIA Owl Loop. The Burrowing Owl was not out/around when I arrived. Several birders were going to continue to search. I was hosting a party on my ranch tonight and could not stay to see if any Short-eared Owls would appear. Last party I hosted I never showed up. Rebecca strongly suggested that I make this one for sure :-)
What a fantastic winter day it is. Temperatures in the high 50s and little wind!
I forgot to mention yesterday, the Iceland Gull at McKay Lakes was not the same one I photographed at Aurora Reservoir on 2/28/2015. The McKay bird was darker.
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