Cobirders,
I birded with my Birding for Beginners class at the north end of Fountain Creek Regional Park, Big Johnson Reservoir and along Goldfield Drive below the BJ dam. We saw and heard 65 birds on a rather cold, breezy and occasionally drizzly morning. Beginners are usually "fair weather" birders and these new birders learned some new lessons on outdoor dress (we too often assume people know better in Colorado to dress in layers and be prepared for anything) and that "lousy" weather often provides some great birding. While we didn't see anything out of the ordinary, nearly all the birds were extraordinary for these beginners. It is wonderful to encourage this joy and excitement of birding. Best birds at Fountain Creek Park included a pair of American Kestrels, 1 Great-Horned Owl, 8 Yellow-rumped Warblers (all Audubon's), 1 Snowy Egret, 5 Black-crowned Night-Herons with plumes extended, Say's Phoebe. Birding at Big Johnson was much more tolerable than last week. Hundreds of Western Grebes are present (John & Dan Maynard reported a Clark's Grebe that we were not able to relocate), also Horned and Eared Grebes. Also Willet, American Avocet, Wilson's Phalarope, 1 Red-breasted Merganser, Common Loon, Franklin's, Bonaparte's and California Gulls and the usual waterfowl. Also 1 Western Kingbird, Say's Phoebe and all six swallows. I am sure we might have found other birds but did not bird the eastern or northern side of the reservoir as we ran out of time. Below the dam in the irrigated hayfield on Fountain Valley School property we observed 12 Willets, 6 or more Great-tailed Grackles, observed one American White Pelican fly over within 50 feet of us, followed by a skein of about 40 Pelicans flying over Big Johnson to the east. To top off the morning, a flock of 15 White-faced Ibis landing in the hayfield. Great birding for everyone, Ken Pals Colorado Springs --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ Join us at the 2009 Convention in Alamosa: http://cfo-link.org/convention/index.php You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.as/group/cobirds?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
