Friday, February 26, 2016

Searching for an Iceland Gull in Weld & Larimer Counties

February 26, 2016

Richard Stevens:

What a beautiful "winter" day!  Winds were mild; temperatures reached into the 60s.  I spent my day searching for an Iceland Gull in Weld & Larimer Counties.

While an/the Iceland Gull was never found, several nice birds were.  I enjoyed the drive and walking around some of the two county's lakes.

Black Hollow Reservoir (Weld).  This rather large lake required a good scope to inspect the hundreds of gulls scattered around the shore.
Thayer's Gull
Misses: no Red-necked Grebe for me.  Good luck finding a Mew Gull among the packed groups of Ring-billed Gulls.

The highlight was a lone Tree Swallow, my first of 2016!

Windsor Lake
Mew Gull was swimming among a dozen Ring-billed Gulls along the eastern side of the lake.
Misses: no Greater Scaup for me.

West Windsor Gravel Pits
nothing uncommon

Fossil Creek Reservoir (Larimer)
no gulls during my stay

Duck Lake (Larimer)
again no gulls

Farm pond/lake north of Horseshoe Lake (Larimer)
much ice, no gulls when I stopped

Boyd Lake State Park (Larimer)
It took quite awhile to drive around the large lake.  Few gulls were all Ring-billed Gulls.

Horseshoe Lake (Larimer)
Has been split in two with large dry area between.
Lesser Black-backed Gull
Thayer's Gull

Lake Loveland (Larimer)
almost dry, forty gulls were all Ring-billed Gull

Giving up on gulls, I drove north to Wellington Wildlife Area (Larimer)
three Long-eared Owls in windbreak at CR 64 & CR 3
after sunset, one Short-eared Owl flying like a moth east of CR 3

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