Richard Stevens:
DIA Owl Loop, late afternoon: temperatures were 82 degrees; winds 9-10 mph with gusts to 22 mph
I planned to catch-up on chores and rest today. Around noon, I received a rare bird report from the CoBus website. Sandy (she wishes no birders to visit) had a large hummingbird visit her Aurora feeders.
I rushed over and we watched her feeders for about 40 minutes when a large hummingbird arrived. It had a long white stripe behind the eye, a long bill, green back and greenish spots underneath. It was a juvenile Rivoli's Hummingbird!
A Rivoli's Hummingbird is distinguished from a Blue-throated Hummingbird by its long bill (short on BLUH), lack of rufous on rump, lack of large black tail and greenish spotted underparts (uniform gray on BLUH).
Unfortunately, it only visited the feeder once in the afternoon. I did get one photo of the hummingbird hovering at the feeders. This will surely become a first Arapahoe County record!
I wandered around the DIA Owl Loop (Adams/Denver) on the way home. Burrowing Owls continued along Gun Club Road and Trussville & 114th Avenue. No Short-eared Owls appeared this evening.
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