November 11, 2018
Richard Stevens:
High temperature was 30
degrees. Winds were 12-13 mph with gusts
to 16 mph.
I could not find anyone who wanted to go birding in the snowstorm. I walked into Aurora Reservoir (Arapahoe) from the south gate by myself.
A Black Scoter swam around in Lone Tree Cove. Two Iceland Gulls and a Lesser Black-backed Gull were among hundreds of gulls at mile 2.5. Most were Ring-billed Gulls; I did see at least two Herring Gulls and a dozen California Gulls.
By the time I reached Cherry Creek Reservoir in the afternoon, visibility was quite pathetic. Less than half the lake could be seen from any viewpoint.
The four Tundra Swans reported earlier in the day appeared to have left. In my experience, four of the five times, I have observed swans here; they had flown in after 4:00pm and departed before 9:00am the next day. Staying to watch sunset can be advantageous.
Only a couple of Killdeer walked the mudflats off the bird platform area, Prairie Loop. From the southeast corner of the Lake Loop, I could see two Rusty Blackbirds walking the mudflats, which cannot be seen, from the bird platform.
Next, I hiked the Cherry Creek Reservoir Dam trail from Pelican Bay to the Dam's Tower. Eight White Pelicans and many Ring-billed Gulls were on the sand spit. The Mew Gull was not here today.
Waterfowl were closer than usual from the shore probably because visibility was so poor. Best sighting was a White-winged Scoter among a group of Goldeneyes. I had to wait quite a while for it to flat its wings and cement the ID.
At least ten Bonaparte's Gulls joined Ring-billed Gulls diving for food below the dam. Misses: the previously reported Black Scoter, Red-necked Grebe, Long-tailed Duck and Common Loon were not found. That may have been due to low visibility?
No comments:
Post a Comment