John Cobb, John and Ann Reichardt and I, following a tip from a kind birder whose name we didn't get, saw the 1st-winter Black-legged Kittiwake west of the Dixon Dam (which is north of the southernmost dam called Spring Canyon) of Horsetooth Reservoir. We also saw a Pied-billed Grebe, which is getting late for this species. After my friends left, I lingered a bit longer. Among the 135 or so Common Mergansers were two male Red-breasted Mergansers. As I was leaving I encountered Peter Gent scoping the reservoir. He said he had seen the kittiwake and asked me to look in his scope. In the field of view, distant but distinctive, was a Long-tailed Duck. It's head was quite dark with a large oval, white eye patch, which suggest a male molting into breeding garb. It lacked any long tail feathers. This is a nice species neither of us had heard reported from Horsetooth Res of late (which has been good for this species off and on over the years in early winter before the res freezes up).
Dave Leatherman Fort Collins -- 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/CY4PR0601MB36033966D5F4F50078A1A922C1B10%40CY4PR0601MB3603.namprd06.prod.outlook.com. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
