Afternoon At Aurora Reservoir

November 9, 2017

Richard Stevens:

I exhausted the morning taking care of chores and preparing for a weekend trip to Jackson County.  Temperatures today only reached the middle 40s.  Winds were 5-6 mph with gusts to 13 mph.

A call to Bill Cryder who can see the southern end of Aurora Reservoir from his deck found no sighting of the reported Tundra Swan.

Therefore, I checked the scuba beach area first.  About 1800 gulls on the beach were all Ring-billed Gulls.  It was strange to not have at least one other species.  No swans or other uncommon birds were observed from that vantage point.

Next, I scoped the lake from the upper parking area for the swim beach.  Two Greater Scaup were less than 100 yards off.  Other 2000+ gulls were on the beach at mile 4.0.  This was excessively far away to identify most.  A large white Gull or black backed Gull might have stood out; none did.

Finally, I spotted a Swan at the mouth of Senac Cove.  I drove around to the south end of the Reservoir.  Bill and I walked rapidly down to the shore and received great looks at a Tundra Swan. 

A quick scoping of the lake found one Common Loon in Lone Tree Cove, no scoters, Long-tailed Ducks, etc.  We had to rush back out before the southern gates were closed.  These gates close 30 minutes before the Reservoir proper.  Presently that time is 5:30 pm.