Hi all, I apologize for not posting for ages. I had a serious accident last June and it is taking longer than I thought to recover. It did not help, when I tried to send this and my computer decided not to work.
*Of note, I had my first Broad-tailed Hummingbird show up in my yard APRIL 11th. For my yard, this arrival time is one month earlier than usual. Marston reservoir as of today is full again. On 4/18, I checked Marston from both east and west sides. During unsettled weather, I first looked for birds from the east side. Along Bow Mar Dr., I counted 14 Chipping Sparrows, 3, Mountain Bluebirds, and the trees were full of, more than I could count, many, many, American Robins, and flying over the lake, were more than I could count, Tree Swallows. Barn Swallows were present in much smaller numbers. 3, Green-winged Teal, 8, Mallard, 11, Northern Shoveler, 1, Northern Pintail, 2, Common Goldeneye, 2, Common Merganser, 2, Greater Yellowlegs and 1, Common Loon approaching alternate plumage. I counted 12 Western Grebe and 6, alternate plumage Horned Grebe, and 1, Eared Grebe. Great Horned Owl, a pair of Swainson's Hawk, and 3, Turkey Vulture, 3, Say's Phoebe, and 2, Mountain Chickadee, 3, Bushtit and many Common Grackle were on the east side along the lake. The Heron Rookery on the west side of the lake looked full with Great Blue Heron and Double-crested Cormorant, unfortunately the Cormorants are taking over in numbers. On 4/18, birds seen from the western side[from the metal fence], of Marston were : 14, Franklin's Gull out in the middle of the lake, along with 10, different Horned Grebe, and a different group of 30 Western Grebe. 22, Northern Shoveler, 10, Gadwall, 4, Green-winged teal, and Mallards. 3, Canada Geese[one incubating]. I got a quick look at 16 White-faced Ibis, and 9, American Avocet, because a Bald Eagle alarmed the birds by flying nearby and the birds flew off. From this side of the lake I saw 12 Mountain Bluebird. 3, Say's Phoebe were in this location also. Marston can be good for seeing numbers of Mountain Bluebirds when the weather is bad in April. ***The highlight for me was on 4/15 at Marston. I stopped to look at a Common Loon from Bow Mar Dr.[east side of the lake]. The bird was in prime spectacular, alternate plumage and was swimming towards Bow Mar Dr. It investigated the bank/shoreline of the lake. WOW, I could see the gorgeous RED EYE of the bird. It reminded me of the times I saw them with young on their back, in New Hampshire. Happy Birding !! Tina Jones Littleton, Jefferson 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/SN1PR14MB0544508A0F7EEB832C0D9A44C06E0%40SN1PR14MB0544.namprd14.prod.outlook.com. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
