Birding In Adams County

March 22, 2019

Richard Stevens:

I finally made it out of the house around Noon.  High temperature was 55 degrees (early afternoon).  Clouds blew in and temperatures dropped rapidly in late afternoon.  Winds became 15-16 mph with gusts to 28 mph.

Several stops were made on my way to the Spratt Platte Lake Area (McKay and 100th avenue).  One adult Lesser Black-backed Gull remained at Lake Ladora in the Rocky Mountain Arsenal (Adams).

No Burrowing Owls or Eastern Phoebes have shown up yet.  I did see my first of the season pair of  Bank Swallows!

The male Barrow's Goldeneye swam approximately 50 yards north of the southeast corner of the 89th avenue pond.

The Red-throated Loon continued on the western half of the gravel pit across 104th avenue (south of the Elaine Valente Open Space).

Finally, I made it to Spratt Platte Lakes area.  Many gulls again were on the sandbars in the Lake on the southwest corner of McKay Road & 100th Avenue.  Today a Mew Gull and again an Iceland Gull were among the many Ring-billed Gulls and a couple of California Gulls.  Misses: the Glaucous Gull and Glaucous-winged Gull photographed on Monday were not around.

I scoped the many Lakes; the previously reported Neotropic Cormorant was not found among a dozen of Double-crested Cormorants.

Then I headed east to miss rush hour traffic.  A pair of Great-tailed Grackles was again found in the Town of Barr.  Nothing uncommon was observed off the Barr Lake State Park boat ramp.  Osprey have not yet returned to their nesting platform south of the boat ramp.

I drove over to the First Creek Trail (Denver County) and walked from the 56th Avenue Bridge to Pena Blvd and back.  No Rusty Blackbirds were found during my last three hikes.  I did find a Barn Owl and heard a Virginia Rail.

No owls appeared while I drove the DIA Owl Loop.