Aurora Reservoir & Barr Lake

October 22, 2019

Richard Stevens:

High temperature today was 62 degrees.  Winds were 15-16 mph with gusts measured at 31 mph at Cherry Creek Reservoir and 25 mph at Barr Lake.

I met Terry Michaels at Aurora Reservoir (Arapahoe) and we spent two hours looking for our target bird; without success.  Hundreds of Gulls were again on the swim beach.  Highlights were an adult Lesser Black-backed Gull and Iceland Gull.

After we split up, I spent five and a half hours at Barr Lake (Adams).  A detour to Cherry Creek Reservoir (Arapahoe) again found no shorebirds on Pelican Point.  Eight Song Sparrows wandered around in the willows.  Fourteen American Pipits walked the shore.

While walking to Pelican Point, I caught a glimpse of a sparrow that appeared to be a Sagebrush Sparrow.  Unfortunately, it scurried into the willows at the eastern end of the Point.  The bird had gray head and nape, pale gray-brown slightly streaked back and long tail.  Regrettably, I did not see its breast of face.  Most likely a Sagebrush Sparrow, however I am reluctant to report it was such.

My plan at Barr Lake was to search for shorebirds.  However, activity in the riparian area around the banding station was full of bugs and kept my interest for almost two hours.

The willows below the main trail had a male Wilson's Warbler, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher and Ruby-crowned Kinglet.  A male Hairy Woodpecker drummed on the cottonwoods overhead.

The area north of the willow field and south of the northern east-west banding trail had many birds.  These included an Audubon's Yellow-rumped Warbler, two Ruby-crowned Kinglets, a late migrating Hermit Thrush, a House Wren and Black-and-white Warbler.

Finally, I made it out onto the sandy shore.  A walk along the shore from mile 8.8 to the Pioneer trail (mile 8.1) found only one shorebird.  A lone Baird's Sandpiper stood on the most extreme northern point.

Many Franklin's Gulls and Ring-billed Gull stood at the water's edge.  Highlights were an adult Lesser Black-backed Gull, which has been around since 9/14, and an Iceland Gull.

Later I found one Long-eared Owl in the windbreak along the entrance road.

No Short-eared Owls appeared this evening along the DIA Owl Loop as I parked at the 88th avenue high spot.