>From July 10-13, Paul Slingsby, Jim Duggan, Nina Routh and I visited various >reservoirs in North Park as part of Rocky Mountain Bird Observatory's Project >ColonyWatch. We also checked two breeding bird atlas blocks. On July 11, Tom >Bush joined our group. Here are highlights.
4 Marbled Godwits and a single Baird's Sandpiper were at North Delaney Lake July 10. 37 Willets, a godwit (presumed Marbled), and a Long-billed Curlew were at MacFarlane Reservoir that date. A Prairie Falcon and Golden Eagle were at Hebron Slough on the 11th. At 18 Island Reservoir on that date, there were many Eared Grebes with young while others were on nests visible from the observation area. Also present were Willets, 2 Greater Yellowlegs, 17 Lesser Yellowlegs, 25 White-face Ibis, Forster's Terns and Franklin's Gulls. At Lake John, the water level had left part of the Wester Grebe colony at the north end of the reservoir vulnerable to predation. Few nests remained active, but there were many adult Westerns around the lake with young. At Walden Reservoir on the 12th, we heard Sora and Virginia's Rail on the east side of the reservoir. The extensive pink-flowering smartweed over much of the reservoir made the trip worthwhile. Of course, the hundreds of Western and Eared Grebes greatly contributed to the fun. The time is right to catch grebe young piggybacking a ride from the grownups. The easterly islands on the reservoir were also packed with Double-crested Cormorants (adults and young on the nest), American White Pelicans (100s of adults as well as a hoard of young not yet ready to leave the nest area), and California Gulls (adults with 100s of nearly fledged young). There are also about 7 Snowy Egrets at one end of the larger island. All-in-all, it's a great time to visit North Park, though you'll want an ample supply of DEET. Despite the friendly suggestion from one Walden resident that we take the pelicans home with us, we left them there for all to see. Chuck Hundertmark 2546 Lake Meadow Drive Lafayette, CO 80026 Phone/fax: 303-604-0531 Cell: 720-771-8659 [email protected] --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ Colorado County Birding: http://www.coloradocountybirding.com/ 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 -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
