Friday, January 20, 2017

Drive Around Elbert County

January 20, 2017

Richard Stevens:

It was another brilliant Colorado winter day.  Temperatures reached 44 degrees; winds were 6 mph.  Ice and snowstorms recently covered much of the rest of the country.

Rebecca and I drove around Elbert County in search of longspurs.  Lapland Longspurs were found at four locations.  Most were small flocks of 20 or less.  One flock was as large as 200 birds.  No Chestnut-collared or McCown's Longspurs were among them.

At private properties, we added an Eastern Screech-Owl and Long-eared Owl.  Most raptors were represented, Red tailed, Rough legged, Ferruginous Hawks, Prairie Falcons (2), Peregrine Falcon (1), and American Kestrels (6).

After dropping Rebecca off, I drove over to Aurora Reservoir (Arapahoe).  My target birds were the Brant and White-winged Scoter; neither was found in the three hours I walked around the reservoir.

While not focusing on gulls, I do recall two Glaucous Gulls, two Lesser Black-backed Gulls, a Thayer's Gull and the Iceland Gull.

No Short-eared Owls appeared along the DIA Owl Loop again this evening.

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