Park County Reservoirs

October 2, 2018

Richard Stevens:

Temperatures only reached 54 degrees in Park County today.  Winds were 13-14 mph with gusts to 24 mph throughout the day.

My birding day started at the Park County trio of reservoirs.  Winds made using a scope difficult, which added hours to my search for scoters and loons.  Neither of my target birds was encountered throughout the day.

A Jaeger species chased gulls around Antero Reservoir.  Unfortunately, it was too distant for a proper ID (although I did have a guess).

The best bird at Spinney Mountain Reservoir was a Red-necked Grebe.  It stayed at the western end of the lake.  Western, Horned and Eared Grebes were also swimming around.

Eleven Mile Reservoir also lacked any uncommon birds.  A Sage Thrasher hawked bugs near the boat ramp.  A Chestnut-collared Longspur ran down the southern road.  It allowed nice views for an ID.

I stopped at Trout Creek Pass in late afternoon.  No American Three-toed Woodpeckers were seen this trip.

After dark I set out my two "owl listening stations" along Chaffee CR 304.  Then drove farther north up the road.  Neither the owl stations nor I found any Northern Saw-whet Owls this night.