Greetings All,
So, the bird of the day was the Tufted Duck at what I've been calling the FIRESTONE GRAVEL PITS, mainly because they are in Firestone, and they are old gravel pits. These can be reached by going e. from I-25 on CO-119 a short ways to a dirt road, WCR 9 3/4 - yes, nine and three-quarters. The huge piles of gravel and sand can be readily seen from 119 before you turn. Go past the active operation, and you'll come to two ponds on your left and one on your right, just past WCR 24.5. By the way, at this point, 9 3/4 has become WCR 9.5 These ponds have been birdy pretty much since I arrived here in March. Beyond today's TUFTED DUCK, there was also a BLACK-LORED WC SPARROWS (either of the mountain or eastern race) and 2 GREATER SCAUP. Cool, but of lesser rarity was a Ferruginous Hawk and a Prairie Falcon. Notably, these ponds hosted a nice male Mexican Duck in May. After leaving the Tufted Duck in the care of Willy Schmoker, Mark Miller, and others, I went home for a bit of a stretch, but was called forth by VIREOMAN's (that'd be Joey Kellner) swans at FREDERICK RECREATIONAL AREA. Despite arriving there within one hour of his sighting, the swans were gone. Methinks that birds were really moving in front of this cold front. Waterfowl were simply flying south overhead. However, geese poured into the Frederick Rec Area. This area has much landbirding as well as waterbirding (for as long as water stays open) potential and should be visited with some frequency. I wish that I'd known of it before. Highlights, despite the conspicuous absence of swans, included a BLUE GOOSE, 6 GT GRACKLES, and a SNOW BUNTING. Early in the day, I started at the exotically named PANAMA RESERVOIR, where there were > 1000 shovelers. There was a HARRIS'S SPARROW at a feeder just n. of the reservoir. The feeder was towards the southeastern corner of the last development west of the road as you approach Panama Res from the north. At LUNA RESERVOIR, there were about 2000 each of Lesser Canada and Richardson's Cackling Geese. It was hard to tell true numbers as birds were coming and going the entire time I was there. There was also a ROSS'S GOOSE, 2 SNOW GEESE, and 1 G WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE as well as a 2nd cycle THAYER'S GULL, 4 GREATER SCAUP, and 7 EARED GREBES (I know, far more of these at Union). The PRINCELY PONDS and ERIE RES in Boulder County were frozen and essentially bird-free zones. Good Birding Steven Mlodinow Longmont CO -- 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.
