Great recap Scott! On Monday, September 14, 2020 at 1:59:40 PM UTC-6 Scott Somershoe wrote:
> All, > The birding around Jefferson County (which is most of this report) over > the last week was phenomenal. It was a week to remember, and there were so > many highlights, it's hard to remember them all! As only a couple birds > were posted here on CO-Birds, I thought I’d provide a recap of my > highlights and summarize a bit of what was around, which may be news if you > don’t closely follow the eBird alerts for JeffCo. > > I'll also add that all the birds I'm reporting were seen/found without > driving anywhere. I walked or rode my bike for all the birds in this > report. I've largely given up driving to see birds since Covid started and > it's been awesome! The last bird I drove to see was the Black Phoebe in > Littleton on 9 July because I wanted to get photos and see about Eastern x > Black Phoebe hybrids. I rode and got the phoebe on the 10th for my green > year list. > > My Green Year list is birds found only in my yard and from walking or > riding my bike from my house and back. No driving to Granby and riding my > bike. :) Riding everywhere has been really fun, it keeps me fairly local, > I am learning ALL the shortcuts to get places, finding little spots that > probably no one ever birds, and it's rewarding and satisfying to walk/ride > for all the birds. I honestly don't miss driving hours to see a bird. It'll > take something really special to get me to drive a couple hours, but I'm > sure I'll come around and drive for something one of these years. The black > hawk didn't even tempt me! > > > *Now for the highlights:Tues, Sept 8 -* Windy, snowing, terrible > conditions in Littleton. I birded my patch (Clement Park) and found a first > park record SANDERLING that stuck around for at least 3 days. A bunch of > folks got to see the bird during its stay (Yay!!). While watching the > Sanderling, a CHESTNUT-COLLARED LONGSPUR flew in calling and landed on the > shoreline next to the Sandering! I saw them at the SAME TIME! The longspur > stayed maybe 15 seconds and was gone. A couple great birds for my Green > Year List. Amazingly, this was my 2nd CC Longspur for Clement Park and > third in JeffCo in 11 months. I spend a week or so every June in eastern > Montana surrounded by longspurs, which really helps one learn their calls! > > *Wednesday, Sept 9* was phenomenal. Pure birding magic! Epic is an > understatement. I received reports of some continuing shorebirds at Robert > Easton Park that I wanted for my green list but of course I hit Clement > Park first, because I had to. That was a smart move as I found all the > targets from Easton and then some: PECTORAL (2, later I had 4) and a STILT > SANDPIPER. I also found a BLACK-AND-WHITE WARBLER in the pines on N side of > the Rez behind the strip mall (only my second in JeffCo and an overall > tough bird to find, at least for me). > > I skipped Easton and ended up riding to Harriman Lake about 4.5 miles away > (yes, it was 30F and snowing/sleeting, it stung my face, but sidewalks and > roads were just wet, so why not??). I got there, got muddy, and saw 4 RED > KNOTS! A couple of us also relocated a BLACK-BELLIED PLOVER (apparently > there were 3)! Tons of shorebirds and waterfowl around but everything was > very skittish and viewing conditions were tough. GREAT birds for JeffCo > and, of course, my green list, but I had to get home to do some work. Later > I hit Clement Park again and found park first Baird's Sandpiper (6!). I had > 9 species of shorebird at Clement Park on this day, which is amazing for > that little unassuming place. > > Over lunch, I see a dowitcher report from Robert Easton and get a photo of > the bird from a friend. It looked GOOD for a Short-billed Dowitcher, which > is very tough in JeffCo. I told some folks about a decent looking SB > Dowitcher report because I thought it was worth taking a look. Reluctantly, > I load up and ride my bike over there (4.3 miles but at least it wasn’t > snowing this time). Yes, my second ride in the frigid cold. Two > SHORT-BILLED DOWITCHERS put on a nice show with a good number of other > shorebirds. Another great green bird too! Plus seeing a lot of friends (at > a distance) at these spots was a lot of fun. Now riding 22 miles in 32F and > colder temps was enough for one day! > > By the evening of the 9th, I’d gotten a bunch of new birds for my Clement > Park list, which stands at 149 species. Amazing list for that place. > > *Thursday, Sept 10 - *I birded Clement Park (duh) and had 9 species of > sparrow (missed Spotted and Green-tailed Towhees [the latter was park bird > #149] from the previous afternoon) and tallied 49 species. Not bad! > > *Friday, Sept 11*: I rode my bike to Chatfield because it’s Sabine's Gull > time and there haven’t been any reported yet this fall, and I'd missed > Black Tern 3 times already. On Thursday, TWO people told me to go find a > Little Gull. I get to the sand spit (Douglas Co) and find TWO Sabine's > flying around (Green Year Bird #199). YAY!!! Sabine's are one of my > favorite birds. Then suddenly a third bird was with them on the water way > out, but I couldn’t tell what it was. The vanish and I figure they were in > the S Platte Delta area. I ride to the Heronry overlook and on the way, I > find a N Mockingbird and some Common Nighthawks flying around the > campground (I alerted others who managed to enjoy the nighthawks and got > some AWESOME photos). At S. Platte Heronry overlook, I see three likely > Sabine’s gulls but I only had binocs with me on the bike (fail!) and one > bird was funny looking but I couldn't be sure what it was. They never flew. > Turns out the funny looking bird in the group was the LITTLE GULL that Dale > Pate photo'd with 2 Sabine's from the S Platte delta just 20 min later. > Then Ric Olson arrived a bit later and photo'd the same 3. OUCH. I found > out about the Little Gull not long after getting home. Sting!! > > But I stopped at the sand spit (Douglas Co.) on a total whim on the way > home (I was REALLY late at this point) and found a phalarope that wasn't a > Wilson's. I got others on it. I assumed Red-necked Phalarope because the > bill was thicker and it was darker backed but there was always something > about that bird that left some doubt in my mind. I called it Red-necked and > moved on (Green Year bird 200! Woo Hoo!). Others took photos and the bird > vanished after 5 min. I rode home quite happy (if you made it this far, > keep reading, the plot thickens). > > After getting home, showering, and seeing reports of the Little Gull (and > numerous folks telling me it's there), I reluctantly went back to Chatfield > on the bike. It turns out I can get from my house to the swim beach in 21 > minutes when I'm trying to hurry and my legs are feeling good! I'd already > ridden 28 miles on the morning trip. This one added 23 more to the day. > Ouch! After much searching and texting with folks around the rez for two > hours, no Little Gull. Stinger. I got FORSTER'S and BLACK TERNS for the > green year (201 and 202), so that was really nice. I was very pleased with > that consolation as Little Gull would just be a Green Year bird. Fun > birding with others at a distance too. Then there were continued reports > all weekend of the Little Gull, but I'm busy being dad. > > On Saturday morning, I saw Joey Kellner’s report of a Red Phalarope. I > look at photos by others from Friday morning because of the lingering > weirdness about that bird. Holy Mackerel! Our bird Friday morning was a RED > PHALAROPE and I totally blew it (not the first nor last time that'll > happen)! Green Bird #200! Epic #200 too! Unfortunately that bird seems to > have been a 5 min wonder. And now I still want to find a Red-necked Phal > (and of course one was reported in S Platte all Friday afternoon and I > didn't see it, but I also didn't think I still needed to see one for the > Green Year). > > *Sunday, Sept 13 *- I finally get into the backyard mid-morning and find > my LONG overdue first JeffCo TOWNSEND'S WARBLER! I've been looking hard for > one recently, with no luck. Sometimes getting lucky is better than being > good. Green Year bird #203! Nice yard bird to boot! > > *Monday, Sept 14* - I decided to try for the Little Gull as it was > reported late Sunday (thanks for everyone who eBirded it!). Another slog on > the bike to Chatfield, this time on my heavier off road bike with scope and > tripod. I arrive shortly after sunrise (yes, I left at first light) and the > sand spit is basically dead. Not a good sign. Tom and Claire Hanson arrive > at the Handicapped Fisherman's Pier (Douglas Co) a couple minutes later and > tell me they think they have the Little Gull! I load up the tripod and ride > over. The lighting was perfect. There was NO wind and the water was flat. > It was perfect. I quickly spotted the LITTLE GULL (Green Year Bird #204) > and then I get on the phalarope that they had seen: RED-NECKED (Green Year > Bird #205!). Nice heavily streaked black back. The four Sabine's Gulls were > also lovely and all the gulls flew around putting on a great show. Just a > lovely morning with some sweet birds and some great friends. > > All that said, this was one of my most memorable weeks of birding. I > saw 17 species of shorebird, which is really great for here, esp. since > shorebirds were largely non-existent this spring! Plus I did all the > birding by walking or riding everywhere (and eating tons of food!). > > The best part of this last week was not only seeing fun birds, some > insanely gorgeous birds (Sabine's!), but sharing birds we find with others > and the experiences and memories gained while birding. And in my case, > eating an entire pizza after riding 22 miles in sub-freezing temps was nice > (meaning gluttoness). > > I need a few days to rest and get some work done, so let's cool it on all > the mega-rarities until next week please! And thanks if you actually read > all of this! > > 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 view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/cobirds/bd3e556b-c20f-44ea-8fe9-2f73a7d34eb5n%40googlegroups.com.
