Check on Aurora Reservoir

January 18, 2018

Richard Stevens:

Calm before the next snowstorm, temperatures reached 63 degrees today.  Winds were 4-5 mph and sometimes calm in the afternoon.  Missed the beautiful winter day yesterday, I wandered out for some fresh air.

I managed to get over to Aurora Reservoir (Arapahoe) by back roads.  Anyone driving around Denver these days knows how terrible traffic can be.  Aurora Reservoir is one of the few places I can visit without driving through a busy area.

The two Long-tailed Ducks were swimming around the northwest corner of the lake.  Thousands of White-cheeked Geese, one Snow Goose and one blue Snow Goose were in the same area.  Others report four Long-tailed Ducks; I have only been able to find two on my last couple of visits.

The pair of White-winged Scoters were off the ice shelf at the swim beach.  One of the scoters kept attempting to jump up on the ice.  Every time he succeeded a Gull who move over and push him back into the water.  The activity entertained for over an hour.

Many Ruddy Ducks, American Coots, Gadwall and Lesser Scaup were also around.  I did pick out one Iceland Gull on the swim beach ice shelf.  A dozen or so Herring Gulls mingled with hundreds of Ring-billed Gulls.  No Glaucous Gull or Lesser Black-backed Gull was found today.

I spent the last hour of daylight at Cherry Creek Reservoir (Arapahoe).  A walk around Pelican Point did not find the Swamp Sparrow or any shorebirds.  A wintering Dunlin would have been nice.

Forty two American Tree Sparrows fluttered about the point.  Another twenty American Tree Sparrows flew around the parking area.