Wednesday, November 11, 2015

Fantastic Fall Day at Cherry Creek Reservoir

November 10, 2015

Richard Stevens:

On perhaps one last nice day before winter comes to Colorado, I drove over to Cherry Creek Reservoir (Arapahoe) to see if the Black Scoters first found Saturday were still around.  The Black Scoters were never reported by anyone today.

I scoped the reservoir from the Lake Loop for about two hours.  The Pacific Loon was cruising in the northeastern section.  Half a dozen Bonaparte's Gulls flew overhead during my scoter/loon search.  Somehow, the Common Loons were missed.

Finally, a stop at the Mountain Loop found three scoters.  Were the two Black Scoters joined by a third?  All three kept their heads in their backs for 35 minutes.  Finally, a noisy helicopter flew over and the scoters briefly looked up to the sky.  All three scoters were Surf Scoters!

After a late lunch, I returned to Cherry Creek Reservoir looking for a photo opportunity and hoping the scoters were closer to shore.  By now, the scoters were no longer off the Mountain Loop. 

I again scoped the reservoir from the Lake Loop.  The three Surf Scoters had traveled to the extreme southeastern corner of the lake.  Just north of the trio, three Common Loons swam and dove for food.  Then I noticed the silvery back of the head of a Pacific Loon, just north of the Common Loons!

Regrettably, the birds were farther away than before; there were no photography opportunities.

After dark, I returned to Coal Creek for some owling.  The Eastern Screech-Owl did not respond tonight.  However, the two Great Horned Owls called as they did last night.

My fantastic birding day finally ended.  Winds were 8 mph to calm most of the day; temperatures reached the low 60s.

No comments: