On a drive from Big Johnson Resevoir; out along Squirrel Creek Rd; back via Hanover Rd and Chico Basin Ranch - I had some good finds.
At Fountain Blvd and Marksheffel Rd where I used to occasionally find wild turkeys before all the development; there were 14-20 turkeys feeder at a grain feeder in someone's front yard. Certainly wild and not fenced. Along Squirrel Creek Rd (SCR); east of Peyton Hwy in a field about 50 yards off the road was a single Chihauhaun Raven. I feel fairly confident of this even though it was solitary (better for Common Raven). It was feeding on something on the ground and would occasionally hop and flutter/float off the ground a few feet in the gale-force winds that were hitting the plains. The tail, although wedge-shaped, was not nearly as distinctly and prominently wedge-shaped as the several common ravens I watched with a flock of crows feeding on road-kill in Woodland Park a half hour earlier. The bill was heavy (too heavy for crow) but the bird overall was definitely more crow-sized than common raven sized. It did not vocalize and I was not close enough to get any read on the nasal bristles. We did have a lone soaring Ferruginous Hawk along the north-south portion of SCR. Hundreds of horned larks; but could not pull a single longspur out of any of them. The ponds at the Chico Basin Ranch held: Bufflehead, Canada Goose, Common Goldeneye, Gadwall, Green-winged Teal, Mallard, Redhead. And a Northern Harrier. The ponds were 90% open water and you could have surfed on the waves at the HQ pond being whipped up by the wind! :) There was a flock of American Tree Sparrows at Dearing and Myers Rds. Jeff J Jones ( <mailto:[email protected]> [email protected]) Teller County - 8500' - Montane Woodlands -- 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.
