Saturday, December 5, 2015

Search for Snowy Owl along DIA Owl Loop, Adams County

December 5, 2015

Richard Stevens:

What a beautiful afternoon.  Temperature was around 42 degrees at 4:00 pm; winds were calm.

I managed to get in a couple of hours searching for the DIA Owl Loop (Adams) Snowy Owl.  However, I did not find it (nor heard of a sighting).

Four birders were out looking for Short-eared Owls (do not know if they found any).

As luck would have it, I observed a Short-eared Owl flying along the fence line below the hill at 96th avenue & West Cargo Road.  It flew back and forth several times and then continued south across 96th avenue.

Sixteen minutes later, it was spotted at the east dead end of 88th avenue.

Raptors encountered: 
Ferruginous Hawks (2)
Red-tailed Hawk (2)
Rough-legged Hawk (1)
Prairie Falcon (1)
American Kestrel (2)

Earlier in the morning, I hiked the South Platte Birding Area (Adams) from 88th Avenue & Colorado Blvd to 72nd Avenue.

Many of the common ducks are found wintering along the South Platte River.  Two Barrow's Goldeneyes were found on the Platte and later on Tani Reservoir.

No Long-tailed Ducks were around today.

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