Thanks, Dave, for the report and congrats on your sightings, especially the Swamp Sparrows and Tundra Swans, who have produced two offspring. I suspect these Tundra Swans are of the subspecies "Tinkerbelle"--they seem more vivid if you wish REALLY hard. Cheers, Tom Wilberding Boulder, CO
On Sunday, November 25, 2012 6:44:03 PM UTC-7, Dave Leatherman wrote: > > I did my Poudre River circuit today in eastern Fort Collins (Larimer), > starting at the Prospect/Sharp Point intersection just west of the river, > traveling se thru the Prospect Ponds NA to the pond s of the Environmental > Learning Center parking lot, backtracking along the bike trail to the > spillway over the Poudre (about 200 yards north of the ELC suspension > bridge), crossing north over the river into Cottonwood Hollow/Running Deer > NAs, north thru Cottonwood Hollow NA, then further north on the bike trail > under Prospect, then w along Prospect over the river again to the starting > point (probably about 3-4 miles total). > > *Highlights:* > > Brewer's Blackbird (at least 20) in the trees and picking over rocks in > the diminished Poudre River bed well south of the feedlot at the north end > of Sharp Point Drive (southeast part of Prospect Ponds NA, east of the > middle pond). I looked thru all these birds carefully for Rusty Blackbirds > but no luck. I have seen Rusties in this same exact spot in years past. > > Brown Creeper (2) working cottonwood trunks, usually in the loose company > of both species of chickadees > > SWAMP SPARROW (2) - In my experience this species is pretty unusual in the > Fort Collins area, especially now that many of the wet spots are low or > dry. Ted Floyd's recent one-day total near Boulder is nearly equal to my > life total for Larimer County. That said, I will admit many more exist, > particularly at this time of year, than get detected. Both birds today > were along a little ditch with running water south-southeast of the > information kiosk at Cottonwood Hollow Natural Area (best accessed from a > parking lot on the south side of Prospect a half mile east of the Poudre > River). This kiosk overlooks (to the west) what used to be Artist's Point > Pond (now dried up and mostly grass and weeds). In the extreme southeast > corner of Artist's Point "Pond" is a little culvert which carries a small, > but significant flow of water east under the wide trail where it feeds into > a n-s ditch. From the point where this directed water coming out of > Artist's Point Pond joins the ditch to the east, one Swamp Sparrow was 50 > yards north, one was 100 yards south. Both were located by their > characteristic chip note (which to my ear sounds like a staccato Native > American flute note - that is, a lot more musical or "hollow" than, say, a > Song Sparrow chip). I would call both individuals "immature". > > Perhaps a few thousand white-cheeked geese at Prospect Ponds NA, then seen > flying east over Running Deer NA, Canadas comprising maybe 70%. I did not > really check out the Cacklings for unusual subspecies. > > I walked around the building forming the Industrial Park w of Sharp Point > Drive and was surprised to find out the number of swan decoys is actually > 4, not 2, as previously reported over the past few years. I still wrestle > with the ID of these beauties, but the rounded border of the upper > bill/forehead is strongly suggestive of Tundra. They are showing wear > along their waterlines, and surely will be retired to storage soon. [As > we've all recently learned, humor is as tough to detect and ID as Swamp > Sparrows and swans. DO NOT chase or feed these swans. As indicated, they > are DECOYS.] > > Dave Leatherman > Fort Collins > > > -- 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]. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msg/cobirds/-/z5P7fQr-2DAJ. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
