The 56th annual Denver Christmas Bird Count was held on Saturday, December 19. Skies were clear and temperatures were "seasonal" making for a good day to be in the field. With over a third of the Count Area reports and all of the feeder reports still to be tallied, our species count stands at 95. This is remarkable since, except for the Platte River, there was almost no open water in the Count circle following the deep freeze a week earlier . Chatfield Reservoir, Marston Lake, and other major bodies of water that in past Counts have produced grebes, loons, gulls, and a large variety of waterfowl were completely (or nearly so) frozen over. While apparently no new birds were added to the cumulative Count total of 196 species this year, several uncommon to rare Count species were seen These included a Peregrine Falcon (seen twice previously in 1954 and 2000), Say's phoebe (4th record, all since 2003), Chipping Sparrow (2nd record, first in 1997), Field Sparrow (also 2nd record, first in 1991), and Golden-crowned Sparrow (7th record, last seen in 1996). An unexpected bird was a Ring-necked Pheasant, the first since 2000, and thought to be gone from the Count circle. On the other hand, we may have lost a species from the list of birds seen on all of the 55 previous Counts - so far no reports have been received of Western Meadowlark. As compiler, I want to thank all the Area leaders, field observers, and feeder watchers for making the Denver CBC a success. Special thanks go to Patty Echelmeyer and Tina Jones for once again coordinating the feeder watchers.
Dick Schottler, Compiler -- Colorado Field Ornithologists: http://www.cfo-link.org/ 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
