I began well before sunrise at Chatfield SP yesterday morning (July 8) and birded there for a few hours. I was able to learn all about the Chatfield Mosquito, and now we are intimate acquaintances. But it was worth it, not only for the Eastern Screech-Owl that called 3 times from Plum Creek’s forest while Common Nighthawks cavorted overhead.
The most interesting bird was a Dickcissel that flew right over me along the road to the Plum Creek Nature Area, 0.9 miles in off the road that leads to the marina. I heard its little fart calls as it approached and passed over, managed to spot it flying over me, and then it went off over the field and slope to the south. It was flying fairly low, but I did not see any sign that it landed near the road and it may have just kept going. I gather from eBird that it is a pretty good find for Douglas (although the park has a history of records), and I’d have posted on it sooner, but was not fully clear on its status until some research today. Lake levels have dropped and there is shorebird habitat. The Marina sand spit had some migrant shorebirds: Semipalmated Plover (1), Willet (8), Marbled Godwit (8), American avocet (4), Long-billed Curlew (1), Greater Yellowlegs (2), in addition to the summer resident Killdeer and Spotteds. 5 Ruddy Ducks were probably the same as seen later by Deb across C470, likely flushed by lake users after my sighting. And there were 7 Green-winged Teal. Lots of Cedar Waxwings were flycatching and picking insects from the ground at the outer spit. The Platte River Delta had just Greater Yellowlegs (1) and Western Sandpipers (4). Other birds…A Green Heron flew by along Plum Creek, and an Indigo Bunting was near the picnic area lot. Another Indigo was northwest of the horse corrals. Grasshopper Sparrows were singing at the grasslands on the west side of the park (1), along the road to Plum Creek N.A. (4), and near the model airplane strip (2). Eastern Phoebes were at the Plum Creek bridge near the picnic area (2 adults feeding right along the creek at the bridge), singing at Kingfisher Bridge, and singing at the Deer Creek inlet. Red-eyed Vireos were near Kingfisher Bridge (1), downstream of the bridge (1), and near Plum Creek picnic area (3). Least Flycatchers were at Kingfisher area (4), and Plum Creek (3-4). American Redstarts were at Plum Creek and downstream of Kingfisher Bridge. Blue Grosbeaks were fairly common, with 12 tallied in the park. After Chatfield I hiked with my sons at Roxborough SP. I heard an Ovenbird sing a few times only along the west side of the Fountain Valley Trail. A Band-tailed Pigeon flew over in that area, too. Also a group of 6 Bushtits. Another Blue Grosbeak visited my Ken Caryl backyard feeder and was singing, too. Still there this morning. On July 6 I had a Pine Siskin fly over the parking lot at St. Mary Catholic Church on South Prince in Littleton, Arapahoe County. I think this was a good find for Arapahoe in summer (there were no other June records for the county in eBird). David Suddjian Littleton, CO -- 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/CAGj6RopSxHWon5NBrisUYj-7wQvsc8FSSgqWk3azxDxoqK2tNA%40mail.gmail.com. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
