Went to North Park to check birds and conditions Sunday and returned this morning. Water on most major water bodies is now open. Lake John and Delaney Lakes are exceptions, being partly open and thawing rapidly. Water levels remain high.
Strong winds made birding challenging Sunday and Monday. Rosy-finches were absent from the State Forest Moose Visitor Center and feeders in town. At the Moose Center, a male Pine Grosbeak showed up Sunday and today. About 8 Cassin's Finches were also present today. Best show was put on by an American Crow hunting a mouse or other small mammal. The crow would jump and jab at the mammal, pick it up and drop it. The victim attempted to scramble off once or twice before being incapacitated. Finally, the crow flew off with the morsel. At Walden Res, Sunday 2 American White Pelicans were back. Today, the number had increased to 20. Double-crested Cormorants were back and several appeared to be on nest. California Gulls were back in good numbers as were two Franklin's Gulls. The Western Grebe count was up to 37 this morning. Two Eared Grebes were also present. Two Greater Yellowlegs were present today. The usual mix of ducks was well represented. At Lake John, the Barrow's Goldeneyes previously reported had apparently moved on, though other ducks were highly visible. Most were congregated at the southern end of the Annex. Most entertaining were a half dozen muskrats spaced along the western edge of the melting ice dining on aquatic plants and crayfish. Along various roads, were 2 Turkey Vultures, a Ferruginous Hawk, a Rough-legged Hawk, and athe usual Golden Eagle along CO125. Along CR18 near the North Platte bridge, seven Sandhill Cranes were feeding in the same field were six cranes were seen several times last summer. Another crane was at the edge of Cowdrey Lake Monday. At the Diamond J SWA, beside the old rr track bed, the was a cow or steer carcass coated with profuse bird droppings, like from ravens or crows. The carcass had not been "opened". Bernd Heinrich noted that ravens can't penetrated the hide of large carcasses with their beaks so must wait for large predators to open the carcass. Between the town of Walden and the reservoir, The Bald Eagle nest that had been occupied for several years is now occupied by a Canada Goose. On Monday, at Walden Res, I saw what at first looked like a white domestic duck with two Canada Geese. A look with the scope suggested Snow Goose but the distance was great. After a gradual approach with camera, rounded head, stubby pink bill with no grinning patch and small size confirmed a Ross's Goose. The Arapaho NWR Auto Tour was interesting. In high winds yesterday, there was a plethora of the usual ducks and little else. This morning, most of the duck were gone. Livening things up, however, were a Black-bellied Plover and two Baird's Sandpipers. At the Coalmont lek this morning, while enjoying the grouse dance, I heard a Short-eared Owl several times. -- Chuck Hundertmark 2546 Lake Meadow Drive Lafayette, CO 80026 303-604-0531 Cell: 720-771-8659 [email protected] -- 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/CACZCCxeBXyGjBSBGP3TAO_N_cdBc_GSZvQaaHHds65e5RTHB4w%40mail.gmail.com. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
