Well, it was cold. And humid. And it snowed all day. We called this year's Black Friday birding excursion The Great Colder Caper. Participation was down by close to 90% from last year, but the handful of us who ventured out on Boulder County's ice-packed roads had a nice time. I can (sort of) feel my toes again.
We started out at Walden Ponds <http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S26022366>, where we saw several small flocks of *snow geese* flying over. We had nice studies of a *Harlan hawk,* and we briefly glimpsed a large falcon--we thought it was a peregrine, but not sure. Down by Boulder Creek at 75th Street <http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S26022451>, we saw another *Harlan hawk* and a nice *ferruginous hawk.* >From Boulder Creek we traveled north to McIntosh Lake <http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S26022577>, full of birds--although nothing really out of of the ordinary. We saw decent numbers of *California gulls* and *herring gulls,* plus 3 *Bonaparte gulls* still hanging on. Also all 3 merganser species and 2 ridiculously cooperative *bald eagles.* Next we stopped in at Teller Farms <http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S26022785>, which hosted the long-present *golden-crowned sparrow* and an interesting junco. We wound down the day at Valmont Reservoir <http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S26023029>, where the highlight was--wait for it--a *downy woodpecker.* This was no ordinary downy woodpecker: It was burrowing in the snow! For sure, it was cold. And the birding was so-so. But the day was beautiful, the human company was wonderful, and a few of us survived <https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1010947445632987&set=a.1010947382299660.1073741875.100001532230844&type=3&theater> to tell about it. Ted Floyd Lafayette, Boulder County -- 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/57530143-0456-4ee2-812c-5da7f92088b6%40googlegroups.com. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
