Birding Around Denver

January 7, 2017

Richard Stevens:

The warmish Colorado winter continued with temperatures reaching the high 40s.  Winds varied from 5-6 mph o 14-15 mph.  

Rebecca Kosten headed west to check on several bird sightings.  It has been a great start to my 2018 checklist and January in particular.  I have to look it up, but I think my January checklist record is 124 species (or could be 128).  The plan is to try to beat each month's record this year.

A walk at along the Van Bibber trail (Jefferson) found one of the resident Eastern Screech-Owls!  Nothing uncommon was found during a brief stop at Mt. Olivet Cemetery.

We scoped Coors Pond (Jefferson) and found both the previously reported Long-tailed Duck and Red-necked Grebe.  If a second Long-tailed Duck was around it was not relocated.

We were going to stay around Standley Lake until sunset to update any Snowy Owl sightings.  However, it was not necessary as the Owl was on the dam in the afternoon!

Instead, we headed back toward Rocky Mountain Arsenal with a stop at the Black Phoebe site near York and 64th avenue.  We accessed the S. Platte River by way of 69th avenue and the gravel road running along the north side of I270.  It saved a longer walk from parking at York & 64th avenue.

The Black Phoebe was catching bugs and perched on a short bush about 15 yards south/upstream of the Greenway footbridge just south of I270.

A quick drive through Rocky Mountain Arsenal (Adams) found four Bald Eagles standing on the ice at Lower Derby Lake.  The 89 gulls were all Ring-billed.  Nothing was on/at Lake Ladora, which was completely, ice covered.

After dropping Rebecca at home, I returned to the First Creek Trail (Adams/Denver).  Neither the previously reported Harris's Sparrow nor Swamp Sparrow was relocated.

No Short-eared Owls appeared this evening while I was parked uphill of the Third Creek/Cargo Road prairie dog village.