On March 17 at Chatfield SP the area from Gravel Pond south to the Chatfield wetlands had 2 hunting SHORT-EARED OWLS, 1 GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE (feeding with a flock of Cackling and Canada), a LINCOLN'S SPARROW, and a VIRGINIA RAIL.
Trailmark Lake had 2 CANVASBACKS (the first I'd seen locally since early Dec.), 76 REDHEADS, and a nice mix of other ducks. Viewing the west side of Marston Lake from Old South Wadsworth Blvd had lots of ducks and gulls. Highlights included 1 1st Cycle GLAUCOUS GULL, 6 AMERICAN WHITE PELICANS, 4 CANVASBACKS, 2 EARED GREBES, 1 HORNED GREBE, 1 BALD EAGLE, and a large flock of 73 GREATER SCAUP. Counts of some of the other waterfowl seen from the west side included: 440 GADWALL, 54 AM. WIGEON, 207 NOR. SHOVELER, 21 GREEN-WINGED TEAL, 32 RING-NECKED DUCKS, 42 LESSER SCAUP, 39 REDHEAD, and 37 HOODED MERGANSERS. I went to the east side at Bow Mar Drive. Lighthing was poorer, but there I noted 1 3rd cycle LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL, 2 NORTHERN PINTAILS, 6 MORE GREATER SCAUP, 1 each of HORNED & EARED GREBES. Exploring around in the upper watershed of the South Fork of Deer Creek and encountered an early BAND-TAILED PIGEON at Kuehster Road near Pleasant Run Road, and a female AM. THREE TOED WOODPECKER was at Ridge Road near Pleasant Run Road. Today (March 18) I went back to the west side of Martson Lake, but there were relatively few waterfowl, and many fewer gulls. Last night's big wind maybe moved birds around. The 1st cycle GLAUCOUS GULL was still there, and there were two WILSON'S SNIPE looking out of place as the poked about in the wide open exposed lake bed at the group of small pools in the extreme NW corner. The wintering GOLDEN-CROWNED SPARROW continues at Red Rocks Trading Post. It was mostly staying hidden under the shrubs, but a few short views allowed me to appreciate its dapper plumage. It made me miss my coastal California yard, where GCSP was one of the common wintering birds, and singing lots there by mid-March. And the 29 degrees with blowing snow at Red Rocks was a bit different from the 80 degrees they are having back in CA now. But hey, I'm not complaining! David Suddjian Littleton -- 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 cobirds+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to cobirds@googlegroups.com. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/cobirds/CAGj6RopTVtnpuFOPNCXvYhxwmnf8Qc0S4m1P%3D1tSd%2ByoN2iGSg%40mail.gmail.com. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
