Date: 2 July 2014 Time: 0500 - 1030 Notes: After a long drive and high elevation hike for birds yesterday, I decided to take a rest from birding. Being a birder, however, that meant just doing some very local birding for only a few hours (turned out to be a bit over five). There had been some high quality birds sited at the arsenal in the previous days. That and the fact that it is one of the nearest birding spots from where I live made it an easy decision where to go. Perhaps it was because I was feeling so lazy, but I missed a lot of the birds that had been posted. It also could have been due in part to the fact that the sun shared in my lackadaisical mood and failed to make an appearance for most of the morning (Of course, one might argue that the sun was working as hard as ever to shine, but the clouds were working harder to conceal it; which would make me the only sluggard in the group. I suppose that is a question for philosophers and logicians).
Anyway, I did see a few of the reported species and maybe a few others. Some of which are: Common Nighthawk - first bird of the day, peenting as I drove in Great-horned Owl Cattle Egret - I believe just one bird, although seen in at least three different areas (Lake Ladora, Havana Ponds, flyover at the entrance as I came in) Say's Phoebe - Dozens, perhaps. They seemed to be everywhere Black-crowned Night Heron - Havana Ponds, Rod and Gun Pond Belted Kingfisher Blue-winged and Cinnamon Teals American Avocets Blue Grosbeak - One couple and another adult male Wilson's Phalarope - Havana Ponds Spotted Sandpiper A very Pectoral looking Sandpiper - (Is it too early to watch A Very Brady Christmas? Good cinema is good cinema) Blue-gray Gnatcatcher Lark Sparrows Redheads - five at Rod and Gun club pond Yellow-headed Blackbird Grasshopper Sparrow - Prairie Trail (Prairie Loop? I forget) Two seen, one heard Peregrine Falcon - Fly overhead while I was at the parking lot by Lake Ladora, and I later took pictures of it at the tower it had flown to Sage Thrasher - at least three (for the record, in case you didn't get the sarcasm earlier, Bad cinema is also bad cinema at any time of the year) Red-tailed Hawk - at least two that got no peace at all due to harassing Western Kingbirds Western Wood-pewee - East side of Arsenal seen from Buckley Road Loggerhead Shrikes - a family unit of at least three birds, seen on the far east side of the Arsenal from Buckley Road Just to underline my belief that it was the universe and not just me who was lazy this morning, here is a picture of a bug that was too lethargic to even walk, so he asked a friend to carry him across the road (It has been brought to my attention that I may be misinterpreting his intentions): https://www.flickr.com/photos/breitschbirding/14556177541/ Also, just for fun, here is a mixed species duet of, "I've got You, Babe": https://www.flickr.com/photos/breitschbirding/14373132447/ As is often the case, I will end my post with an apology. This time it is for the nomadic ramblings of my mind and the countless parenthetical asides that make this post read a bit like an algebra equation. John Breitsch Denver, Colorado https://www.flickr.com/photos/breitschbirding/ -- 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/35ad2b14-2692-4083-8b96-702d5611bcc2%40googlegroups.com. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
