Jamie Simo and I surveyed Golden Ponds and Rogers Grove parks in Longmont, Boulder County on this overcast and drizzly morning. Our main highlight was an apparent pair of Eastern Phoebes on St. Vrain Creek in Rogers Grove Park.
The first individual was seen from the west side of Hover St bridge, perched in some brush near the water just under the other side of the bridge (east/Rogers Grove side). It moved downriver maybe 50 meters, where we watched it sallying for several minutes on the bank opposite the path (north bank), at which point the second individual appeared on the near bank. After surveying Rogers Grove, we walked back this way again and watched both birds sallying and perching near each other on the north bank of St. Vrain Creek about 150+ meters east of Hover St bridge (seen from near where the creekside trail bends south on its way to rejoin the concrete bike path) for some time. One individual appeared to be slightly larger than the other, with higher-contrast plumage (darker head and whiter throat and breast) - possibly the male of the pair? The second individual is slightly duller, with light dusky patches at the sides of the breast. Neither bird was heard vocalizing, but both were doing the characteristic tail-wag of Eastern Phoebe. Jamie got some photos, including a few with both birds in the picture. Accompanying eBird checklists will be posted as soon as I process the morning’s survey data. Other highlights for us this morning included our FOS Say’s Phoebes (another apparent pair) at Golden Ponds, a pair of Wood Ducks seemingly checking out a large tree on private property south of Golden Ponds for nesting opportunities (plus several other WODU), our FOS Double-crested Cormorant at Golden Ponds, and our FOS Common Grackles at both parks. Most of the Ospreys appear to be back as well, with birds at both the Boulder County Fairgrounds nest and 9th Ave nest, and birds checking out the gray high-voltage power pole just north of Golden Ponds atop which a nest had been started last year - this nest has since been removed and replaced by a baffle. I also saw my FOS Yellow-rumped Warblers (Audubon’s) last Friday (3/22) at Golden Ponds, but Jamie and I did not see or hear any YRWA today. Looking forward to the arrivals of more spring migrants! Happy birding, Sarah Spotten Longmont, 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/c75c972f-a782-478d-b665-0a975423dcb4%40googlegroups.com. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
