Fruitgrowers Reservoir (aka Harts Basin) was really hopping yesterday! First birds I saw as approaching the area were two loons flying north away from the reservoir. One was definitely a Common Loon and the other I wasn't certain about. The Snowy Plover was the highlight and a few other shorebirds were present also. The waterbird breeding colony was very active with 53 Great Blue Heron and 42 Double-crested Cormorant nests! This is the only known place on the west slope where cormorants breed. The number of Western Grebe was very impressive and hopefully they will have another good breeding season there this year. I didn't see any Clark's Grebes but they were probably there. Four Sandhill Cranes were seen on the west side of the reservoir in a pasture (far from the road).
The list of species that breeds in this area is very impressive: Pied-billed Grebe, Eared Grebe, Western Grebe, Clark's Grebe, Double-crested Cormorant, Great Blue Heron, and Willet. American Bittern and Sandhill Crane probably breed here too! This data was entered into eBird. Species Number reported Canada Goose 12 Gadwall 4 American Wigeon 2 Mallard 22 Blue-winged Teal 2 Cinnamon Teal 3 Northern Shoveler 21 Northern Pintail 2 Green-winged Teal 32 Redhead 8 Ring-necked Duck 1 Common Merganser 33 Ruddy Duck 4 Common Loon 1 loon sp. 1 Pied-billed Grebe 3 Eared Grebe 8 Western Grebe 225 American White Pelican 7 Double-crested Cormorant 55 Great Blue Heron 75 White-faced Ibis 95 Sharp-shinned Hawk 1 Red-tailed Hawk 2 American Coot 65 Sandhill Crane 4 Snowy Plover 1 Killdeer 6 Greater Yellowlegs 1 Willet 2 Least Sandpiper 6 Bonaparte's Gull 2 Franklin's Gull 11 Ring-billed Gull 2 Eurasian Collared-Dove 2 Mourning Dove 3 Broad-tailed Hummingbird 1 Belted Kingfisher 2 Western Kingbird 4 Common Raven 2 Tree Swallow 285 Rock Wren 2 Marsh Wren 5 European Starling 4 Spotted Towhee 1 Chipping Sparrow 6 Song Sparrow 3 White-crowned Sparrow 1 Red-winged Blackbird 14 Western Meadowlark 5 Yellow-headed Blackbird 24 Brown-headed Cowbird 3 House Finch 2 52 species total! Good Birding! -- Jason Beason Special Monitoring Projects Coordinator Rocky Mountain Bird Observatory -- 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] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/cobirds?hl=en?hl=en
