December 8, 2017
Richard Stevens:
Rebecca Kosten and I walked the First Creek Trail today. Temperatures reached 56 degrees. Winds were a strong 10-11 mph with gusts to 16 mph.
The Harris's Sparrow continued to hang around with a flock of 36+ American Tree Sparrows and two Song Sparrows about 1/4 mile west of Buckley Road. The usual raptors were also around.
Afterwards, we decided to bird south-central Weld County. Our first stop was Horse Creek Reservoir. Bring a scope; the reservoir is quite far from a public road. The previously reported (thee days ago), Tundra Swans were not on the water. Only a couple of Ring-billed Gull flew around in the high wind. The shore was lined with hundreds of White-cheeked Geese and several hundred Snow Geese.
Our next stop was Prospect Reservoir. Again, the lake is quite far from a county Road (CR 59) and needs to be scoped. A Glaucous Gull flew around or we would not have been able to find it. A few hundred Ring-billed Gulls stood on the far shore. In the high winds, our scope was not stable enough to get identification of the distant birds. The previously reported Iceland Gulls and Greater Scaup may still be out there.
Thousands of White-cheeked Geese were accompanied by a couple hundred Snow Geese. A few were small enough to be Ross's Geese.
Our next stop was Ireland Reservoir #1. We thought our chances of finding the previously reported Swamp Sparrow close to zero in the surrounding cattail marshes.
However, a lone sparrow working the cattails at the water's edge turned out to be a Swamp Sparrow! The cattails were at the northeast corner of the lake about 40 yards west of the five or six dead snags sticking out of the water.
Ireland Reservoir #5 had hundreds of White-cheeked Geese swimming around its ice-free waters. Several thousand additional White-cheeked Geese and over one hundred Snow Geese fed on the hill east of the lake.
Then we drove to nearby Banner Lakes Wildlife Area and walked the north side from Pond #5 down to Pond #8. One Long-eared Owl hid in the thick cottonwoods west of Pond #7. American Robins were the majority birds around.
Most of the ponds are now ice covered. The few waterfowl in the small open pools were Gadwalls and Mallards.
Our birding day ended back at the DIA Owl Loop. We parked for an hour at my favorite spot about 0.2 miles south of West Cargo Road and Third Creek. The location offers nice 360 views of the surrounding rolling prairie. No Short-eared Owls appeared tonight.
Raptors that flew by included two Red-tailed Hawks, two adult and two subadult Bald Eagles, two Ferruginous Hawks and three Northern Harriers.
Richard Stevens:
Rebecca Kosten and I walked the First Creek Trail today. Temperatures reached 56 degrees. Winds were a strong 10-11 mph with gusts to 16 mph.
The Harris's Sparrow continued to hang around with a flock of 36+ American Tree Sparrows and two Song Sparrows about 1/4 mile west of Buckley Road. The usual raptors were also around.
Afterwards, we decided to bird south-central Weld County. Our first stop was Horse Creek Reservoir. Bring a scope; the reservoir is quite far from a public road. The previously reported (thee days ago), Tundra Swans were not on the water. Only a couple of Ring-billed Gull flew around in the high wind. The shore was lined with hundreds of White-cheeked Geese and several hundred Snow Geese.
Our next stop was Prospect Reservoir. Again, the lake is quite far from a county Road (CR 59) and needs to be scoped. A Glaucous Gull flew around or we would not have been able to find it. A few hundred Ring-billed Gulls stood on the far shore. In the high winds, our scope was not stable enough to get identification of the distant birds. The previously reported Iceland Gulls and Greater Scaup may still be out there.
Thousands of White-cheeked Geese were accompanied by a couple hundred Snow Geese. A few were small enough to be Ross's Geese.
Our next stop was Ireland Reservoir #1. We thought our chances of finding the previously reported Swamp Sparrow close to zero in the surrounding cattail marshes.
However, a lone sparrow working the cattails at the water's edge turned out to be a Swamp Sparrow! The cattails were at the northeast corner of the lake about 40 yards west of the five or six dead snags sticking out of the water.
Ireland Reservoir #5 had hundreds of White-cheeked Geese swimming around its ice-free waters. Several thousand additional White-cheeked Geese and over one hundred Snow Geese fed on the hill east of the lake.
Then we drove to nearby Banner Lakes Wildlife Area and walked the north side from Pond #5 down to Pond #8. One Long-eared Owl hid in the thick cottonwoods west of Pond #7. American Robins were the majority birds around.
Most of the ponds are now ice covered. The few waterfowl in the small open pools were Gadwalls and Mallards.
Our birding day ended back at the DIA Owl Loop. We parked for an hour at my favorite spot about 0.2 miles south of West Cargo Road and Third Creek. The location offers nice 360 views of the surrounding rolling prairie. No Short-eared Owls appeared tonight.
Raptors that flew by included two Red-tailed Hawks, two adult and two subadult Bald Eagles, two Ferruginous Hawks and three Northern Harriers.
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