Ok - this is not the record you expect.
I simply had the oddest day ever at Manitou Lake and Trout Creek downstream of the dam - that I can ever remember having yesterday. After three days (Fri-Sun) hitting the 50's here in Teller County at the end of January, I decided to go see what was popping at Manitou Lake and Trout Creek. I spent 1.5 hours at the lake and walked 500 yards downstream from the dam and back. It was gorgeous outside at 10am; about 46 degrees when I started. I neither saw nor heard a single species of bird the entire time! Not even a raven crossing overhead; nor the usual bunch of crows bothering the ice fishermen on the lake; no song sparrows to be found along the creek or in the marsh; no lone mallard in the few open pieces of water on the creek; no misc sparrows feeding along the south-facing portion of the dam; no chickadees, juncos, nuthatches, tree sparrows, red-tailed hawks, rusty blackbirds, woodpeckers, dipper, NADA! I simply couldn't turn up sight nor sound of a single species of bird while there. I am pretty sure I have never encountered such a situation in 25+ years up here on a visit to Manitou Lake/Trout Creek at any time of the year or time-of-day. Even on the windiest, coldest, worst birding days of the year. I looked for birds on the 5 mile drive back to my home; and only upon entering my neighborhood, did I see my first bird - a raven soaring overhead. (Edgar Allan Poe probably had something to say about this.) Anyway - simply so remarkable - that I felt the need to post about it. p.s. To add to that, I was in the hot tub earlier in the morning at my house, and had a cacophony of bird call/song to listen to. Flickers, white-breasted nuthatch, house finch, cassin's finch all singing; while steller's jays, magpies and all sort of other species chimed in with welcoming calls of their own. What an unexpected inconsistency. Hopefully a little less than 5 months before 'Kotter' shows up on his perch over the hot tub, for his third year in a row, after his winter sojourn in more southerly climes. 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 unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/cobirds/01fc01cf1b79%246f74c4b0%244e5e4e10%24%40JonesTC.com. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
