Hello, Birders. Bill Kaempfer and I traveled from Boulder County to Grand Junction, Mesa County, and back these past few days, Jan. 28th-30th. Here's a summary of what we found:
Jan. 28, Silverthorne, Summit County. 32 Barrow's Goldeneyes at the sewer treatment plant on the north side of town. Jan. 28, High Canyon (Bair Ranch) rest area, I-70 @ m.p. 128, Garfield County. 3 Wild Turkeys and 1 American Dipper. Jan. 29, Highline State Park, Mesa County. With Jim Beatty. 2 Cackling Geese, 1 Wilson's Snipe, 1 Brown Creeper, and 5 Great-tailed Grackles. Jan. 29, Connected Lakes State Park, Mesa County. With Jim Beatty and Maggie Boswell. 7 Gambel's Quail, 1 Ring-necked Pheasant, 2 Great Horned Owls, 375 American Robins (including an adult male with an entirely white throat), 2 Brown Creepers, and an intriguing "chip" note (perhaps that of some warbler other than Yellow-rumped). Jan. 30, Walker State Wildlife Area, Mesa County. With Maggie Boswell. 1 Ruby-crowned Kinglet, 22000 European Starlings, and 5500 Red-winged Blackbirds. Jan. 30, Delta, Delta County. With Maggie Boswell. Just northwest of town, a flock of 597 Greater Sandhill Cranes. Jan. 30, Confluence Park, Delta County. With Maggie Boswell. 1 Sandhill Crane, 1 Northern Shrike, 1 Bewick's Wren, 2 Ruby-crowned Kinglets, 1 Myrtle Warbler, 35 Audubon's Warblers, and a surprising Lincoln's Sparrow. Jan. 30, Fruitgrowers Reservoir, Delta County. With Maggie Boswell. 2 Merlins, 1 Marsh Wren, and 71 Mountain Bluebirds. Jan. 30, Hotchkiss, Delta County. With Maggie Boswell. 4 Lewis's Woodpeckers, 10 Western Bluebirds, 1 bluebird sp., and 55 Evening Grosbeaks. Jan. 30, Paonia, Delta Couty. With Maggie Boswell. 1 Lewis's Woodpecker and 1 Brown Creeper. Jan. 30, High Canyon (Bair Ranch) rest area, I-70 @ m.p. 128, Garfield County. With Maggie Boswell. The Wild Turkey flock had ballooned to 49 individuals. Bill and I saw at least 19 widely scattered Bald Eagles during the course of our wanderings. And WHY were we wandering, you might be wondering?--why, in preparation for the 2011 COLORADO FIELD ORNITHOLOGISTS' (CFO) ANNUAL CONVENTION, to be held May 20-23 in Grand Junction. Members of the CFO board spent much of Saturday planning for the convention, which looks to be one of our finest yet. More information on the convention will appear on COBIRDS in the weeks and months to come. In the meantime, you can get started with planning your own excursion to Grand Junction by checking out our convention website: http://www.cfo-link.org/events/convention.php One final observation. It's not avian, but it was mesmerizing. A bit after sunrise on Jan. 29th, Bill and Jim and I found ourselves situated in such a way that the rising sun illuminated the ice-covered shrubs and small trees so as to create a kaleidoscope of tiny glowing balls of color. This was a refractive (prismatic) effect, of course, but the distribution of color was seemingly random: RedOrangeRedGreenVioletYellowRedVioletIndigoGreenOrangeOrange, etc. At one point Bill teased (he does that a lot...) that a farmer had strung tiny Christmas tree lights all across the landscape, and...for a few moments, he had me going. But the lights were more brilliant, shinier, more beautiful; and, of course, they were real. Has anyone ever seen this phenomenon? Does anyone know what it's called? It was otherworldly; mesmerizing, as I said; it was bewitching. ------------------------------- Ted Floyd Editor, Birding Blog: http://tinyurl.com/2g2staq Twitter: http://tinyurl.com/2ejzlzv Facebook: http://tinyurl.com/2wkvwxs ------------------------------- -- 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.com/group/cobirds?hl=en.
