Hello, Birders. Here's a recap of a Colorado Field Ornithologists outing yesterday, Sat., Jan. 31, to downtown Denver, Denver County. We got under way with a flyover *Bald Eagle* at Ferril Lake in City Park, and then we pondered the various ducks and geese out on the lake. A highlight was hearing and seeing the courtship displays of drake *Common Goldeneyes; *and we got to witness the strange spectacle of drake *Hooded Mergansers* raising and lowering their mohawks. Several folks saw the park's resident *Graylag Geese,* but those birds eluded me. We were fortunate to have goose aficionado Cathy Sheeter with us, and she gave the group an enlightening tutorial on separating *Cackling Geese* from *Canada Geese*--both of which were present in goodly numbers.
We left the water birds eventually, and found a cool flock of land birds. Denver is a great meeting place of eastern and western bird populations, and the flock provided a splendid opportunity for thinking and learning about population variation. Here's what we came up with in the flock: *2 White-breasted Nuthatches.* Both were Rocky Mountain (western) individuals, by their distinctive calls. *2 Brown Creepers* of unknown geographic origin. Both eastern and Rocky Mountain (western) groups presumably occur here in winter. *4 Northern Flickers.* One Red-shafted (western) and three undetermined. *1 Downy Woodpecker.* Rocky Mountain (western). *3 Dark-eyed Juncos.* One Oregon (western), one Slate-colored (eastern/northern), and one undetermined (perhaps a Cassiar Junco, intermediate between Oregon and Slate-colored). Check back in 10-20 years. The way things are going, DNA-wise, those might all be "new" species! Next we entered the grounds of the Denver Zoo, another fascinating meeting place--not so much of eastern and western bird populations (although there is some of that admixture there), but, rather, of birds that we put in the human-constructed boxes which we call "natural" and "non-natural." Tell that to the zoo's confiding Canada Geese and wary, tree-roosting, nesting-wherever-they-want-to, fully-volant *Indian Peafowl;* or tell that to a hypothetical visitor from another planet tasked with making sense of it all. Anyhow, we birded the zoo's western--and generally birdier--stretches, where we found the flock of *Common Grackles* that has been wintering here for years. We counted 13 today. Here's some audio from the flock: https://soundcloud.com/ted-floyd/1135-cogr You might have noticed in that cut some mutterings by a *Swan Goose.* You want a Swan Goose? Here ya go: https://soundcloud.com/ted-floyd/1135-cogr Note that a grackle gets the last laugh. Grackles and Swan Geese in the same cage. The grackles "count," the Swan Geese don't; our alien overlords are shaking their heads... We also saw and heard *Black-capped Chickadees* and Dark-eyed Juncos, *Barrow's Goldeneyes* and *Black Brants,* *European Starlings* and *English Sparrows,* *Red-crowned Cranes* and *Cinereous Vultures,* wonderfully emblematic of the homogenized, post-wilderness, Anthropocene Epoch in which we find ourselves. Next, we entered Bird World, where saw an ugly *Hamerkop* with an excellent song: https://soundcloud.com/ted-floyd/1231-hamerkop Meanwhile, an outlandishly garish *Paradise Tanager* sang its simple Simon song: https://soundcloud.com/ted-floyd/1217-pata And here's the tanager with a descant from a *Red-faced Liocichla:* https://soundcloud.com/ted-floyd/1219-rfli-pata After lunch, we reconvened at the Eugene Field Branch Library of the Denver Public Library, where we had a lively conversation about the birds and birders of Colorado. Thanks to Colorado Field Ornithologists and the Denver Public Library for sponsoring the fun day, thanks to Carol McCasland (Denver Zoo) and Kristen Monroe (Denver Public Library) for hosting us for part of the day, and thanks especially to the many spirited participants in the day's activities. Ted Floyd Lafayette, Boulder County, Colorado -- 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/3ab453a6-233d-42f0-b3a4-a443fe86ff71%40googlegroups.com. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
