I took my family camping at Jackson Lake SP, Morgan Co., Sat and Sunday nights. Managed plenty of birding while there.
Highlights: Two dark *Rough-legged Hawks* along I-76 in Adams Co. Saturday evening: *Eastern Screech Owl *wouldn't quit singing at our campsite. Not that it was a problem, except for me getting sleep. Multiple Great Horned Owls calling it up as well. Sunday afternoon I did a hard count of *Western Grebes*, which were insanely numerous. The water was perfectly flat and viewing conditions excellent. I counted in 10's when they were not mixed with ducks and gulls and counted individually when mixed up. I counted 4850 Western Grebes. Many were diving and feeding, so I'm sure I missed hundreds more, plus some more were around the marina spit and I couldn't see them from my vantage and they were not included. Plus 1000+* ruddy ducks*, 1000+ *Gadwall*, plenty of *Am* *Wigeon *and other waterfowl mixed in, 2 *Common Loons *(one ad, one imm), 1 adult *Lesser Black-backed Gull*, and a group of 95 *Sandhill Cranes* flew over the edge of the lake. I'm still annoyed I couldn't find a Pacific Loon or a scoter, but there were about 12,000 waterbirds to look through and a 3 yr to entertain! http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S25562635 After dark the owls were going nuts again (screech perched on a snag directly over our tent, providing nice looks) and the grebes were making a lot of noise. Flocks of waterbirds were getting up and flapping and splashing off and on, so I guess something was harassing them. I also heard at least one *Clark's Grebe's* calling. Sunday morning - dark *Harlan's Red-tailed Hawk*, *White-throated Sparrow, *and a most unexpected flyover *White-faced Ibis* flew by close and low and in excellent light, making a bright red eye visible. Relocated one *Common Loon* and the *Lesser Black-backed Gull* with minimal scoping. http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S25562713 Good birding, Scott Somershoe 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/CAJmtx%2BWz6AYB4um_QYaqk2jNo6%3DGn6t1zSj3wH%2BcyUuLywm5VQ%40mail.gmail.com. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
