Wednesday, December 25, 2019

Aurora Reservoir to Lookout Mountain to Arvada (Brant)

December 24, 2019

Richard Stevens:

I ran over to Aurora Reservoir (Arapahoe) when they opened.  The loons that Dave King reported yesterday were still on the far eastern side of the lake.  I could make out two Common Loons and the Pacific Loon.  A fourth loon was larger than the Common Loons and may have been the Yellow-billed Loon.  It was too far away to be sure.

High temperature was a comfortable 50 degrees in Arvada.  Winds were mild at 4-5 mph with gusts only to 9 mph.

Rebecca and I have a tradition of birding in the foothills on Christmas Eve.  Today we searched unsuccessfully for the Williamson's Sapsucker reported a few days ago at the Lookout Mountain Visitor's Center.

On the drive back to Denver, we detoured to Lake Arbor.  The Brant was not around at Noon so we tried Far Horizons Park (no geese), Pomona Lake #2 (no geese), Indian Tree area and Fireman's Park (no geese).

We returned to Lake Arbor; the Brant had returned (or perhaps we had just missed it on our first stop).  The goose hunkered down and there was little photo opportunity.

After lunch and grocery shopping (stores closed early), we returned to Lake Arbor hoping for a better photo.  The Brant was not around.  We sat on a bench and waited for sunset.  Around 4:45 pm geese started to return in large number to the lake.  At 5:01 pm, the Brant was observed flying back to the Lake.   Unfortunately, it was too dark for any photos.

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