Adams to Broomfield to Arapahoe Counties

October 31, 2019

Richard Stevens:

High temperature was 48 degrees.  Winds were 9-10 mph with gusts to 16 mph.

Did not find much when I drove through the Rocky Mountain Arsenal (Adams).  A Say's Phoebe was probably the highlight.  No uncommon waterfowl or gulls were found.

Got a text message about the Black Scoter at Plaster Reservoir and headed up that way.  It only took about 15 minutes to add a new county bird to my lists!

Aurora Reservoir (Arapahoe) was more interesting.  It took an hour or so the scope through the thousands of gulls below the Lower Park Area.  One Lesser Black-backed Gull stood on the shore.  Misses, no Iceland Gulls or other uncommon gulls and no uncommon waterfowl.

Then I walked up from the northwestern parking area.  Thousands of gulls, geese and ducks were near the shore behind the riparian area south of the restrooms. 

An Iceland Gull and another Lesser Black-backed Gull stood among the horde on the shore.  Five Greater White-fronted Geese and two Snow Geese mingled with the many Canada Geese and Cackling Geese.

Two Common Loons were found, one below the northwest end of the dam and the other at the mouth of Lonetree Cove.

Cherry Creek Reservoir (Arapahoe) was a cornucopia of birds.  Highlights among the many common waterfowl included the Red-necked Grebe, two loons, two Bonaparte's Gulls, three Common Goldeneyes and a first year Herring Gull.  

The two Common Loons were not the Yellow-billed Loon reported on 10/28.  I captured witness photos of the loons and grebes; unfortunately, they were too far away for great photos.

Misses included still no Long-tailed Ducks and the Black Scoter was not relocated.

No Short-eared Owls appeared at the DIA Owl Loop as I parked at 88th avenue and 470 toll road.

South Platte Birding Area, Barr Lake & DIA Owl Loop

October 30, 2019

Richard Stevens:

High temperature today was a cold 18 degrees. Winds were 7-8 mph with gusts to 14 mph.

I hiked the South Platte River from 96th avenue south to Hwy 224 and back (round trip about 9 miles).

Just about every type of common duck in Colorado can be found wintering on the Platte River.  Misses included not one Goldeneye duck.  The Barrow's Goldeneye(s), which show up every winter, were not found today.

I also scoped Northern & Southern West Gravel Lakes, the northern end of East Gravel Lake, Dahlia Pond, Tani Reservoir and Spat Platte Lake.  No uncommon waterfowl were encountered.

There were two highlights.  While walking the gravel road that runs east to west from the South Platte Birding Area along the north side of the Northern Gravel Lake I found a flock of eight American Goldfinches, two Pine Siskins and a Common Redpoll.

They were feeding on the Elk Thistle inside the West Gravel Lake fence (south of the road).  Eventually they flew to the deciduous trees in the ditch north of the fence.

One Western Grebe swam on the West Gravel Lake.

The other highlight was a White-throated Sparrow loosely associated with a flock of ten White-crowned Sparrows and four Song Sparrows.  This flock was in the bushes under the tall willows just downstream of the Light Rail Bridge.

A Wilson's Snipe hiding in a cubbyhole of grasses enticed me to set up my scope to make sure it was not an American Woodcock.

One Spotted Sandpiper, six Killdeer and twelve American Pipits walked along the more swallow rocky areas in the Platte.

American Kestrels were the majority raptor with eleven counted, two Red-tailed Hawks (one a dark morph) and one Prairie Falcon were also observed along the River.

On the way to Barr Lake (Adams), I detoured into the town of Barr.  One male Great-tailed Grackle was with hundreds of Red-winged Blackbirds along the main road heading toward the Lake.  

At Barr Lake, one Lesser Black-backed Gull stood off the boat ramp area; no loons found this trip.

My birding day ended searching for Horned Larks and such along the DIA Owl Loop (Adams/Denver).  Numbers were up today at 450+ birds.  No Snow Bunting or longspurs were among them.

Ferruginous Hawks were found at Trussville and 114th avenue and on the fracking material along Piccadilly Road between 128th & 120th avenues.

DIA Owl Loop in Snowstorm

October 29, 2019

Richard Stevens:

High temperature was 17 degrees today. Winds were 15-16 mph with gusts to 22 mph.

It snowed most of the day.  I drove the DIA Owl Loop (Adams/Denver) in the afternoon searching for Horned Larks, Snow Buntings, longspurs and Short-eared Owls.

A few flocks of Horned Larks contained perhaps 150 birds.  No uncommon birds were among them.  Roads were bad enough to discourage a trip into the city.

No Short-eared Owls appeared as I sat at the 88th avenue Bridge over 470 toll road.

DIA Owl Loop & Cherry Creek Reservoir

October 28, 2019

Richard Stevens:

Once the snow stopped, the sun came out and dried out the busier roads.  High temperature was a nippy 21 degrees.  Winds were 3-4 mph with gusts to 10 mph at Cherry Creek Reservoir.

I spent the morning trying to relocate the Snow Bunting Rebecca and I found yesterday.  It was not found.  One flock of 200+ Horned Larks flew north of 114th avenue.

In the afternoon, I drove over to the Cherry Creek Reservoir area.  While scoping from the east side of the Lake Loop I observed a Loon at 60 yards.  The identification was not a simple one.

Field marks for Yellow-billed Loon: the Loon held its bill in upward slant, bill appeared yellow especially at the point, and its back had pale barring

Field marks for Common Loon: dark culmen on 1/2 bill closer to head, in spite of obvious barring on back, the loon appeared darker than Yellow-billed Loons I have seen previously, and some Common Loons can appear to have yellowish bills especially at sunset

I ran into Cole Sage who had several photos of the Loon.  His photos were darker than actually looking at the Loon.  Being there, the Loon was much lighter in appearance.  I am at a lost to call the Loon either species.  

It took quite awhile; eventually I did detect the previously reported lone Black Scoter.  The larger size, similar to the Redheads and American Wigeons around it and darker flanks separated it from the possible male Ruddy Duck.

Two Bonaparte's Gulls flew toward the southwest marina.  Misses included the Red-necked Grebe, Jaeger and Clark's Grebe.

Fourteen American Pipits walked the road to the ranger's office.  One hundred twenty or so Sandhill Cranes circled over the field east of the Campgrounds.  They started to descend; however, I was not able to find them on the ground.

Successful Drive Along the DIA Owl Loop!

October 27, 2019

Richard Stevens:

High temperature today was 30 degrees.  Winds were 16-18 mph most of the day.

In the morning, I went over to Barr Lake (Adams County) to search for the Pacific Loon reported yesterday by Ira Sanders.  The loon was swimming at the northern-center of the Lake.

A lingering Lesser Black-backed Gull stood on the east side of the banding station peninsula.  

Later Rebecca and I drove the DIA Owl Loop in search of flocks of Horned Larks and owls.  A Snow Bunting all by itself surprised us.  First observed south of 112th Avenue where it crosses W. Cargo Road and parallels 114th Avenue.  The Snow Bunting then flew south along and west of Gun Club Road.

We sat at Gun Club Road south of 104th avenue and saw a Short-eared Owl flying over the field to the southeast!  It was quite an enjoyable drive in the snowstorm!

Cherry Creek Reservoir

October 26, 2019

Richard Stevens:

High temperature in Walden today was 28 degrees.  Winds were 5-6 mph, mild for this area.

I went out two hours before sunrise and listened for Boreal Owls.  None called this morning.

No Rosy Finches visited the Colorado State Forest Visitor's Center this morning.  We heard the American Three-toed Woodpecker drumming north of hwy 14 however never saw it.

Reports of severe approaching snowstorms changed our plans and we returned to Denver.

We detoured through Cherry Creek State Park (Arapahoe) to search for the birds reported yesterday by Ben Sampson (Red-necked Grebe, Sabine's Gull, Jaeger).  

Unfortunately, none was found.  We did see two Bonaparte's Gulls and one of the previously reported Black Scoters.

Owling at Pennock & Cameron Passes

October 25, 2019

Richard Stevens:

Temperature was 14 degrees when we arrived in Gould.  Winds were calm this evening.

Rebecca and I headed up to Gould.  We drove by way of Pennock Pass (Larimer) and stopped four times at GPS waypoints of previous Flammulated Owl reports.  Regrettably, none was found tonight.

No Boreal Owls called at Joe Wright Reservoir (Larimer) or Cameron Pass (Jackson)