COBirders, I had some time late this afternoon (1/13) to run around Boulder county to improve my year list. I headed straight for Teller Farms because I was lacking sparrows and there have been many there recently according to eBird. I came up with all the recent sparrows being seen there: White-crowned, GOLDEN-CROWNED, HARRIS'S, Tree, and Song. Also important for my year list there were BREWER'S BLACKBIRDS.
Moved on from there to Boulder Creek at 75th St to find an AMERICAN DIPPER (my FOY). It was under the bridge in the girders (heard it before I saw it). While there I also had a BROWN CREEPER (my FOY). Raced up to Lagerman Reservoir with high hopes for a Short-eared Owl on a whim as it was getting close to dark. Arrived at 5pm with more than enough light to still look around and get acquainted with all the weird lumps on the ground and in the trees just in case I was going to be fooled by something after it got darker. I parked at the intersection of N 67th St and Prospect Rd at the pulloff on the southeast side of the intersection. It provided the best view of the drainage into Lagerman and the surrounding grassy/marshy fields. I was hoping for Short-eared Owl because of the nice habitat and incidental reports from David Waltman although none recently (thanks to you David for making think of doing this tonight). I waited for 20 minutes when I thought it was time to get home for dinner when a SHORT-EARED OWL took flight from just south of the intersection, flew toward the reservoir, then curved north toward the expensive-looking horse farm (Swede Lakes). It passed over the ridge and didn't return to where I could see it. I drove over the ridge and spotted an owl on top of the horse barn. It turned out to be a GREAT HORNED OWL which made me feel hopeless when it comes to finding a Short-eared Owl. Yet, luck was with me this evening, because about 10 fenceposts in front of me, there was the Short-eared Owl perched up just waiting for me to find it. Great views even with the failing light and cloud cover. Full lists below signature. Thanks to everyone who has been reporting all these birds (Scott Severs for originally finding the Golden-crowned Sparrow years ago, Cade Cropper, Dan Brooke, Cheryl Teuton, Cathy Sheeter, Steve Mlodinow, and likely others for reporting on the sparrows since, and David Waltman again for incidentally finding Short-eared Owls at Lagerman and posting them to eBird). It made my afternoon jaunt of a little more than an hour well worth it for my year list. Bryan Guarente Instructional Designer The COMET Program University Corporation for Atmospheric Research Boulder, CO ==================================================== Teller Farm & Lakes, Boulder, US-CO Jan 13, 2013 4:05 PM - 4:25 PM Protocol: Traveling 0.6 mile(s) 28 species Cackling Goose (Branta hutchinsii) X Canada Goose (Branta canadensis) 1500 Flyovers on their way to Valmont presumably. Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) 15 Northern Shoveler (Anas clypeata) 1 Common Merganser (Mergus merganser) 4 Red-breasted Merganser (Mergus serrator) 1 Northern Harrier (Circus cyaneus) 1 Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) 1 Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis) 2 1 Dark morph adult Ring-billed Gull (Larus delawarensis) 4 Eurasian Collared-Dove (Streptopelia decaocto) 2 Downy Woodpecker (Picoides pubescens) 1 Northern Flicker (Red-shafted) (Colaptes auratus [cafer Group]) 2 American Kestrel (Falco sparverius) 1 Blue Jay (Cyanocitta cristata) 1 Black-capped Chickadee (Poecile atricapillus) 1 American Robin (Turdus migratorius) 1 European Starling (Sturnus vulgaris) 16 American Tree Sparrow (Spizella arborea) 12 Song Sparrow (Melospiza melodia) 2 Harris's Sparrow (Zonotrichia querula) 1 White-crowned Sparrow (Zonotrichia leucophrys) 18 Golden-crowned Sparrow (Zonotrichia atricapilla) 1 Adult with unmistakable golden forehead. Darker than other zonotrichias around. Easy to find when you knew what you were looking for. Started on the south side of the road then moved to the north side to join the Harris's Sparrow. Dark-eyed Junco (Oregon) (Junco hyemalis [oreganus Group]) 3 Red-winged Blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus) 1 Brewer's Blackbird (Euphagus cyanocephalus) 26 House Finch (Haemorhous mexicanus) 2 House Sparrow (Passer domesticus) 3 ==================================================== Walden & Sawhill Ponds--Walden Ponds (only), Boulder, US-CO Jan 13, 2013 4:35 PM - 4:37 PM Protocol: Traveling 0.3 mile(s) 4 species Canada Goose (Branta canadensis) X American Wigeon (Anas americana) 1 Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) 4 Ring-necked Duck (Aythya collaris) 3 ==================================================== Boulder Creek--75th St., Boulder, US-CO Jan 13, 2013 4:37 PM - 4:39 PM Protocol: Stationary 7 species Cackling Goose (Branta hutchinsii) X Canada Goose (Branta canadensis) 400 Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) 7 Common Goldeneye (Bucephala clangula) 4 Common Merganser (Mergus merganser) 2 Brown Creeper (Certhia americana) 1 American Dipper (Cinclus mexicanus) 1 ==================================================== Lagerman Reservoir, Boulder, US-CO Jan 13, 2013 5:02 PM - 5:32 PM Protocol: Traveling 1.5 mile(s) Comments: Went solely searching for Short-eared Owl (being a little too optimistic). 4 species Canada Goose (Branta canadensis) X Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis) 1 Rufous morph. Great Horned Owl (Bubo virginianus) 1 Short-eared Owl (Asio flammeus) 1 -- 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 https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
